Expected crowds for the tournament

[undertaker]

Realistically, what crowds should we be expecting for the matches in this World Cup?

Starting with the easiest, the final at Old Trafford should get in the vicinity of 65-72k (based on the crowds of SL GFs in previous years gone by). Hopefully we'll get 67k+, which will eclipse the crowd for the '95 RLWC final at Wembley.

The semi-final double header at Wembley....it'd be safe to say that the big 3 - Australia, New Zealand and England - will be there. One of the semis should be either Australia vs NZ or England vs NZ (largely depending on the result of the opening group match of Australia vs England). The crowd....have absolutely no idea. The fact that it starts at 1pm should be an incentive for potential fans in London to come out for a day at the footy. Also, 15 of the 90k capacity at Wembley are for Wembley stadium members. How many will turn out is another question. 42k turned out for the double header in the 2011 Four-Nations tournament, but remember we're talking about World Cup semi-final matches here...

Opening double header at Millenium Stadium.....again, have no idea what it will draw. The double header in the infamous 2000 WC surprisingly drew nearly 20k. I'm hoping this time around we'll get more than double that amount. 40-50k will still sound good on tv, given it's in an indoor stadium. I do hope the Welsh folk come out in full force and get behind their team when they play in the 2nd match.

England's other two group matches + Q/F should sell-out.

France's two games in France should also sell-out as well.

Hopefully the Aussie and Kiwi fans turn up in numbers to watch their teams' group matches.

The other games though is anyone's guess

 

[deal.with.it]

Millennium will be tough to predict. I'm hoping for 40k+ but realise it could be in the 25-35k mark which would be disappointing.
Wembley should get 50k.
Old trafford 65k+
France should sell out home games.
Expect PNG and Fiji to attract good numbers from the cities they're staying in.

 

[deal.with.it]

And thommond park to get about 10k

 

[miguel de cervantes]

France in Avignon will sell out, not so sure about Perpignan. Certainly if the first game goes well.

A lot of the late sales will probably hinge on England putting in a good performance in the early games, especially if they beat Australia. If England get flogged first up then it will be a winge-a-thon from that game through to the final.

Actually, my one main wish for this tournament is that Austraila go horribly bad. Shoot me.

 

[undertaker]

Millennium will be tough to predict. I'm hoping for 40k+ but realise it could be in the 25-35k mark which would be disappointing.

Anything less than 40k will be unacceptable. The England/Australia game ALONE should be able to draw that amount. Cardiff is only about 2 1/2 hours drive from London, so hopefully the fans from both countries turn out in full force. Wales I understand are playing vastly lower team in Italy, but hopefully the Welsh fans will still turn out to support their team. We are seriously going to be the laughing stock of the media if only 25-35k turn out, not a good start to the tournament

Wembley should get 50k.

Again, that should be the absolute minimum. Given that the double header in the 2011 4-nations got 42k, and most likely the big 3 will feature in the semi-finals (Aus/NZ or Eng/NZ being one of the semis), we should DEFINITELY get more than that for a WC semi-final double header. Come on! I know the weather will also play a part in this, but the fact that both games are kicking off during the daytime should be more of an incentive for the British, Aussie and Kiwi fans to turn out in numbers. I'd really like to think that "The Big Hit" could at least get 60k.

 

[undertaker]

Actually, my one main wish for this tournament is that Austraila go horribly bad. Shoot me.

As much as I'd love to see Australia win the tournament, it would be good for the international game if they didn't win it.

A step further, I'd love to see a team outside of Australia/New Zealand/England at least make the final, but I think it's going to be at least another decade before we see that happen. The winner of the opening Australia vs England match will get the saloon passage into the final (with the loser most likely facing New Zealand in the semis) and I absolutely cannot see any of the potential semi-finalists who will meet the winner of England vs Australia - PNG, France, Samoa, Fiji or Ireland - remotely challenging either England or Australia in the semi-finals. Those 5 minnows are going to need a Houdini-like performance like what Wales produced in the 1st half of the 2000 semi-final vs Australia (before they got their arse completely wiped in the 2nd half), but will need to perform like that for 80 minutes instead of just the first 40.

Now, that would be a huge boost for international RL.

 

[deluded pom?]

The RFL's spokesperson claimed that 40% of WC tickets have currently been sold with a high percentage of those having been sold to people with addresses outside of the heartlands.

 

[deal.with.it]

When was that said pom?

 

[Misanthrope]

As much as I'd love to see Australia win the tournament, it would be good for the international game if they didn't win it.

A step further, I'd love to see a team outside of Australia/New Zealand/England at least make the final, but I think it's going to be at least another decade before we see that happen. The winner of the opening Australia vs England match will get the saloon passage into the final (with the loser most likely facing New Zealand in the semis) and I absolutely cannot see any of the potential semi-finalists who will meet the winner of England vs Australia - PNG, France, Samoa, Fiji or Ireland - remotely challenging either England or Australia in the semi-finals. Those 5 minnows are going to need a Houdini-like performance like what Wales produced in the 1st half of the 2000 semi-final vs Australia (before they got their arse completely wiped in the 2nd half), but will need to perform like that for 80 minutes instead of just the first 40.

Now, that would be a huge boost for international RL.

I go into every tournament, World Cup or otherwise, hoping Australia lose. We stack the deck in our favour and still have the audacity to circle jerk about how great we are afterwards.

It's pathetic.

 

[Billythekid]

France in Avignon will sell out, not so sure about Perpignan. Certainly if the first game goes well.

A lot of the late sales will probably hinge on England putting in a good performance in the early games, especially if they beat Australia. If England get flogged first up then it will be a winge-a-thon from that game through to the final.

Actually, my one main wish for this tournament is that Austraila go horribly bad. Shoot me.

The best result of the game is to have someone win besides Australia and NZ. Despite NZ winning the last WC and 4 nations tournaments people still think International league is a joke. I'm not sure that will change until we see someone else win a big tournament.

England winning would be great for the International game in England but also in Australia imo.

 

[hutch]

My hope is that one of the big 3 gets knocked off by a different nation. I will always support Australia but the best result for rugby league would be an England victory at old Trafford which I think is a possibility.

 

[deal.with.it]

No doubt England HAS to win the wc final.
It would be great to see one of the big 3 lose a match to a lesser nation.
It would rely on say Australia picking up a few injuries early in the match, and the opponent having a flawless first half, and then hanging on in the second half. Intercepts happen. Drop balls over the try line.
But it could happen

 

[Springs]

I go into every tournament, World Cup or otherwise, hoping Australia lose. We stack the deck in our favour and still have the audacity to circle jerk about how great we are afterwards.

It's pathetic.

And circle jerk even when we lose the damn tournament.

It can be quite annoying being an international league fan in Aus. If Australia lose I get shit about how shit Australia is, if Australia win I get shit about how shit international league is (from league fans as well as union/soccer fans).

I stopped going for Australia when we became so arrogant we wouldn't even commit to tournaments, thinking we were too good for everyone else. The 07 and 12 test season boycotts were the real joke, not international league. Throughout the 08 tournament I copped shit from everywhere about how much of a joke it was so I went for the smaller teams to win. I'll be going over to England as a fan of international league, not Australia. I do enjoy watching Australia win live but I want what's best for the international game.

And it's another thing for media to whack on about. The union/soccer international team goes well, they carry on about how great the sport is and how great it is we are winning. The league test team wins, they complain about lack of competitiveness. The league team loses, they complain about how bad the team is. Can't win.

As for crowds, I think it should be a good turnout. The fact that it's more like the 95 World Cup should benefit us. Hopefully the double header gets 40-50k+, the England group matches 20k+ and the other group A matches 10k+. Hopefully all group b matches get over 10k apart from the Hull matches maybe 7-8k. Group C, maybe 5-6k+ considering the stadiums. The Gnoll should sell out and Wrexham around 10k, no idea about Bristol. Wembley should surely get over 50k and Old Trafford should go very close to selling out given how many tickets are already sold.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

The RFL's spokesperson claimed that 40% of WC tickets have currently been sold with a high percentage of those having been sold to people with addresses outside of the heartlands.

This is the most encouraging and important thing. The achievable objectives of the cup I imagine are:

- Promote league in the UK, notably southern England, London and Wales, hopefully bolstering superleague, improving visibility in the media.
- Improve the image of international league by putting on a well run cup (useful for selling the next one to media, cities)
- Make some money to put into development, more internationals in the meantime.
- Inspire developing nations to strive for qualification

Can't really hope for more anywhere else. Any impact to the non-league public will be realistically restricted to England, Wales and a very small population in France. Outside of these zones only leaguies will take much of an interest in proceedings (except possibly the more community orientated pacific islands participating).

 

[undertaker]

The best result of the game is to have someone win besides Australia and NZ. Despite NZ winning the last WC and 4 nations tournaments people still think International league is a joke. I'm not sure that will change until we see someone else win a big tournament.

England winning would be great for the International game in England but also in Australia imo.

If the bolded bit is the criteria, England is the only team besides Australia and New Zealand that will be lifting the World Cup at Old Trafford. However, not only are they behind Australia and NZ (the two front-runners to win it) in terms of talent, they're also going to have to put a long 4 decades of failure and near misses on the field behind them if they are any chance of winning it.

Can they exorcise the demons of the past remains the big question. A lot of this hinges on how they go in the opening game vs Australia. If they either win, draw or lose by a small margin, they will still have confidence and feel that they've got a chance. However, if they get their arse wiped right off the park like they did against Australia in the last World Cup, it's going to not only damage their team's confidence in a big way, but out will come the "Oh! Here we go again" mentality from the majority of English RL supporters and the British media that has been used to decades of failure and falling short when it mattered the most, which will subsequently rub off on their team. The pressure will be on them right from the get-go in that opening match and irrespective of the scoreline, they'll need to put in a competitive 80 minute performance for their legion of fans.

As I said, the next tier of teams beneath the big 3 that are in contention for that last semi-final spot - Ireland, Samoa, Fiji, PNG, France- are going to need a Houdini-like performance on the field as well as every other external factor go their way (such as a plethora of injuries to the big 3, favourable refereeing decisions in matches etc.) if they are any chance of making the final, let alone lifting the World Cup.

Since the World Cup reverted back to a single tournament format in 1995, there's only been two teams that have come remotely close to achieving that feat:

1) Wales in the 2000 WC semi-final are the team that have come closest to achieving that Houdini-like performance. They were able to produce it in the first half vs Australia (leading 20-8 after 28 mins) but ran out of puff and got smashed in the second half.

2) This is closely followed by Tonga in the 1995 WC where they fell agonisingly short of knocking New Zealand out during the group stages where they narrowly lost by the faintest of margins in their opening match: 25-24. Had they won that game, NZ would've been out of the tournament before NZ took the field for their final match since Tonga drew their next game against PNG meaning they would've been on 3 pts and hence NZ couldn't overtake them on points.

 

[undertaker]

This is the most encouraging and important thing. The achievable objectives of the cup I imagine are:

- Promote league in the UK, notably southern England, London and Wales, hopefully bolstering superleague, improving visibility in the media.
- Improve the image of international league by putting on a well run cup (useful for selling the next one to media, cities)
- Make some money to put into development, more internationals in the meantime.
- Inspire developing nations to strive for qualification

Can't really hope for more anywhere else. Any impact to the non-league public will be realistically restricted to England, Wales and a very small population in France. Outside of these zones only leaguies will take much of an interest in proceedings (except possibly the more community orientated pacific islands participating).

Do you think it would've been better if all 3 of France's group matches were held in France (and likewise with Ireland, Wales etc.)?

 

[deal.with.it]

France yes, ireland, wales no.
Wales will struggle to sell out neath and wrexham.
Ireland sales are slow. Only one stand is open!
If the game was held tomoro, only about 4k would turn up to limerick.

 

[JonNgog]

You say 'only 4k' but I believe that would be Ireland's largest crowd for an RL game! I see it getting somewhere near 10k in the end.

 

[roughyedspud]

apparently we've sold 40% of the tickets for the whole RLWC...so about 170k ish

 

[Springs]

France yes, ireland, wales no.
Wales will struggle to sell out neath and wrexham.
Ireland sales are slow. Only one stand is open!
If the game was held tomoro, only about 4k would turn up to limerick.

Well that's why it isn't held tomorrow.

Most of the grounds started selling with one or two stands open.