The 10 hour (October) or 11 hour (February) time difference makes it really tough to schedule a common time slot suitable for both hemispheres.
Probably the best you could do would be mid October with a 12 noon Saturday kick off for matches held in England (10pm Saturday night AEDT, 12am NZDT, 8pm AWDT). And then a 8.00pm Saturday night kick off for matches held on the Australian east coast (10.00am Saturday morning in England, 10pm NZDT, 6pm AWDT).
With only a two hour difference as the match alternates between northern and southern hemisphere from year to year we could eventually develop it into a traditional slot. The midday kickoff in England probably makes it a harder to draw crowds but the flip side is that there's probably a much better chance of selling the match for live telecast on the BBC as the opener for their Saturday afternoon sports lineup. Any time we can get a big League event on free to air in the UK is a major bonus.
A 10pm Saturday night telecast on the Australian east coast for matches hosted in England is probably as late as you could go and still give the networks an attractive match in terms of ratings potential. Tucking the match away in the early morning is one of the real obstacles to getting the Australian networks to treat the match seriously and actually promote it as an event. And without the local broadcaster pushing it, the event is always going to struggle to fulfill its potential in this country.
Legh.
