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the pieman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 3:16 pm

josie andrews wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 11:35 am

the pieman wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 11:20 am

its sad to see, but if we all took that attitude, then it will completely die

Tonga / Samoa are 2 very good international sides, but it feels like the English fans are only interested in playing v Oz. With some of the names on show on Saturday, there should be 25k fans there to watch it. Again, we will have complaints about ticket prices , lack of promotion /coverage but it think thats just that RL fans love to moan about everything and anything

i've posted previously that international rugby needs a defined calendar which all nations buy into. Samoa were a replacement this year for Tonga, who decided not to your cos the NRL put pressure on them, however, it should be proper 3 test series, with a warm up match (1 minimum), so they are at least prepared for the intensity of a test. they looked goosed at points on Saturday

i know we'll never get back to the tours of the 80s / 90s that i 1st remember when the Ozzies came over / GB went over there and played 3 tests, plus a host of club matches too. However, we should embrace international RL as the pinnacle of a players career and give them the stage and crowds to perform, at the minute the game is failing the players big time

And the New Zealand tours of that era

I went to both the England Wheelchair & Men’s game this weekend & looking forward to next week

to be honest Josie, i think the NZ touring sides took a few years to catch up with the Ozzies in terms of how our fans perceived them, but there were many great contests between our 2 nations as we are / very similar in ability. however, we regularly had big crowds on for the club matches and test matches

that's why i made my comment about Tonga / Samoa. They have some excellent RL players who are playing top grade NRL and Super League. Jerome Luai is considered one of the best 1/2 backs in the world at the minute, plus Roger Tuivasa-Shack (i know he's getting on a little) plus Tonga had Jason Taumalolo here last year. We really should be getting 20k plus, and hopefully if those teams continue to come over here, then they will get rewarded with appropriate crowds

Southern Softy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:29 am I got very bored very quickly.

Not a patch on decent club RL (by which, of course, I mean Wigan).

fozzie58 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 5:47 pm

Southern Softy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:29 am I got very bored very quickly.

Not a patch on decent club RL (by which, of course, I mean Wigan).

I’d agree it was far from a classic but there was flashes of how good Samoa can be just a shame we didn’t get the 3rd game (yes yes I know it’s 2 games but it should be 3)I feel that would have been a belter and I’d think Saturday will be a step up from yesterday

the pieman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 8:34 am

fozzie58 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 5:47 pm

Southern Softy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:29 am I got very bored very quickly.

Not a patch on decent club RL (by which, of course, I mean Wigan).

I’d agree it was far from a classic but there was flashes of how good Samoa can be just a shame we didn’t get the 3rd game (yes yes I know it’s 2 games but it should be 3)I feel that would have been a belter and I’d think Saturday will be a step up from yesterday

this is the point i was making earlier about the old tours, and why there should be a warm up match pre the 1st test. For example if Samoa came over here on the 16th Oct, and played a club game / Cumbria (19th) as a warm up, then 3 tests on the 2nd, 9th and 16th, they could have done 3.5 weeks over here, 3 tests and a warm up, plus experienced all of the UK, which is something they may never get chance to do again

i know we'll never go back to the old style tours, but i agree, 2 tests isnt enough and i personally feel Samoa players deserve more. It almost feels like they're 2nd class but as i've already posted they have some fantastic players available to them, so lets give them the platform (along with our England / GB team) they deserve

WarriorWinger wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 10:38 am

the pieman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 8:34 am

fozzie58 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 5:47 pm

I’d agree it was far from a classic but there was flashes of how good Samoa can be just a shame we didn’t get the 3rd game (yes yes I know it’s 2 games but it should be 3)I feel that would have been a belter and I’d think Saturday will be a step up from yesterday

this is the point i was making earlier about the old tours, and why there should be a warm up match pre the 1st test. For example if Samoa came over here on the 16th Oct, and played a club game / Cumbria (19th) as a warm up, then 3 tests on the 2nd, 9th and 16th, they could have done 3.5 weeks over here, 3 tests and a warm up, plus experienced all of the UK, which is something they may never get chance to do again

i know we'll never go back to the old style tours, but i agree, 2 tests isnt enough and i personally feel Samoa players deserve more. It almost feels like they're 2nd class but as i've already posted they have some fantastic players available to them, so lets give them the platform (along with our England / GB team) they deserve

Do they limit the number of tests now based on the fact that ticket sales can be poor some times, if England win the first two then there may be no appetite for what could be the deciding game if it were a 3 test series and all square after the first tow games, maybe they are limiting it to two to try and ensure better ticket sales.

the pieman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 8:34 am

fozzie58 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 5:47 pm

Southern Softy wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:29 am I got very bored very quickly.

Not a patch on decent club RL (by which, of course, I mean Wigan).

I’d agree it was far from a classic but there was flashes of how good Samoa can be just a shame we didn’t get the 3rd game (yes yes I know it’s 2 games but it should be 3)I feel that would have been a belter and I’d think Saturday will be a step up from yesterday

this is the point i was making earlier about the old tours, and why there should be a warm up match pre the 1st test. For example if Samoa came over here on the 16th Oct, and played a club game / Cumbria (19th) as a warm up, then 3 tests on the 2nd, 9th and 16th, they could have done 3.5 weeks over here, 3 tests and a warm up, plus experienced all of the UK, which is something they may never get chance to do again

i know we'll never go back to the old style tours, but i agree, 2 tests isnt enough and i personally feel Samoa players deserve more. It almost feels like they're 2nd class but as i've already posted they have some fantastic players available to them, so lets give them the platform (along with our England / GB team) they deserve

the pieman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 12:27 pm

WarriorWinger wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 10:38 am

the pieman wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2024 8:34 am

this is the point i was making earlier about the old tours, and why there should be a warm up match pre the 1st test. For example if Samoa came over here on the 16th Oct, and played a club game / Cumbria (19th) as a warm up, then 3 tests on the 2nd, 9th and 16th, they could have done 3.5 weeks over here, 3 tests and a warm up, plus experienced all of the UK, which is something they may never get chance to do again

i know we'll never go back to the old style tours, but i agree, 2 tests isnt enough and i personally feel Samoa players deserve more. It almost feels like they're 2nd class but as i've already posted they have some fantastic players available to them, so lets give them the platform (along with our England / GB team) they deserve

Do they limit the number of tests now based on the fact that ticket sales can be poor some times, if England win the first two then there may be no appetite for what could be the deciding game if it were a 3 test series and all square after the first tow games, maybe they are limiting it to two to try and ensure better ticket sales.

i genuinely dont know the answer to that one, but it seems pointless to have a test series of only 2 matches, especially if it goes 1 each. Touring sides generally start slowly, and build throughout the tour, so it wouldnt shock me if Samoa won on Saturday, then we are left with it at 1 each, and the fans looking forwards to a decider . To me they've gone appropriate sized grounds for the Samoa tests with 25k poss at Wigan and say 20k at Leeds, and it should be realistic to sell out those 2 matches. 15k at Wigan was quite disappointing IMO, but i did see a few from Hull / Hull KR as i took my daughter back to leeds after the game, so fair play to them for travelling over

re ticket sales etc, i have posted many a time that the RFL and some RL fans are our own worst enemies. The RFL seemingly do very little to promote the games. They should be bombarding fans of all clubs, plus fans who have purchased off them for the recent world cup from as soon as they knew Samoa had accepted to come and tour. I've just watched the GF highlights back, and they mention the 1st test as the coverage is going off. Why not get a couple of minutes before, and after the BBC coverage to push the game, with some real quality international highlights. Its a real gripe of mine that as a game we dont get / push the coverage, but when the RU 5 nations is on, we see adverts for weeks before, so the RFL should be doing the same