WORLD CUP WRAP #6 - That's all folks!

Well, that's all folks! 61 matches, three tournaments, six magnificent weeks of all the Rugby League you can handle! And let's not forget the matches we had in the PDRL tournament too. It's almost time to enter into our off-season hibernation but before we do, let's reflect on the past six weeks and think about what the future holds.

Before the three World Cup finals this weekend, Rugby League World Cup Chief Executive Jon Dutton hailed the tournament as a 'resounding success'. Whilst there were successes, I wouldn't go as far as to use the word 'resounding'.

Scratchy Ticket Sales

We initially aimed to sell 1 million tickets, then we downscaled to 750,000, then aimed to beat the 2013 total of 453,483.

On a technicality, we beat the last of those. We only do that if you include women's and wheelchair matches that we did not have in 2013.

Making a direct comparison, men's tournament in 2013 (when England last hosted) to 2022, we fell well short of our ambitious goals and fewer people attended.

There are obviously mitigating factors. Train strikes. A postponement of the tournament. A squeeze on personal finances not seen in a generation. Every obstacle that could be thrown in front of this tournament has been. Yet the inescapable truth is that in terms of ticket sales, we missed every target that we set and by a significant margin.

That's why you hear organisers now talk of ticket revenue rather than numbers. A pivot that any leading politician would be proud of.

There were some positives, including strong turnouts for England matches and non-heartland fixtures holding their own (or even beating) attendances at heartland venues. 

The record attendance for a wheelchair rugby league fixture was repeatedly broken and the sight of a packed out LNER Community Stadium at York for the women's semi final between England and New Zealand represents growth for the women's game that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

Even with the men's game, we saw a record crowd for England v France, a record crowd for a match in Sheffield, a record crowd for a quarter final and unprecedent crowds for England matches not against Australia or New Zealand.

Booming TV Audiences

Despite missed ticket targets, the tournament reached far more eyeballs than ever before. That was aided by every match from all four tournaments being shown live on free-to-air, BBC television. We have come a long way since the 1995 World Cup, broadcast by L!ve TV, a short-lived TV channel (in)famous for such programmes as 'topless darts' and 'Britain's Bounciest Weather'.

We have come a long way since 2013 and 2017 too, with these tournaments mainly being shown on Premier Sports who, whilst a valued partner of the sport, are a niche subscription service with limited reach.

The organisers can rightly claim that this tournament has had greater reach than before. The BBC were clearly impressed, with schedule changes throughout meaning that matches that were planned to be shown via iPlayer only were moved to the main channels as the tournament progressed.

The England v Samoa men's semi final drew the highest viewing figures for a rugby league match in the UK since England's 2013 semi final loss to New Zealand. The wheelchair sport gained a cult following, drawing near-universal praise. Some of the women's matches got higher viewing figures that the men's Super League Grand Final.

If there are lessons to be learned here, it's that free-to-air coverage is crucial and so are internationals. The sport, to its credit, is widely shown on free-to-air. Channel 4's coverage of Super League in 2022 has been a welcome boost, expanding further next year by showing the Penrith v St Helens World Club Challenge. The BBC shows regular rugby league every year. An excellent supplement to our subscription offerings.

On-Field Action

Lots of world tournaments have 'blow-out' scores in group stages. The Rugby League World Cup format was a little different this year and there were blow outs. We would all love more competitive matches and there is a way of doing that. And that is to fix the draw.

We have tried that before with the 'super group' of 2008, which in effect used Papua New Guinea as sacrificial lambs. We did the same, to a lesser extent, in 2013 and 2017. This led to a farcical situation in 2017 where Ireland won 2 out of 3 group games and were eliminated, meanwhile Samoa lost two group games and drew one and progressed to a quarter final. That is indicative of a tournament that lacks credibility and is unserious.

I therefore supported the idea of a more 'traditional' draw in 2022. We showed that we can stage a big opener without fixing the draw to be England v Australia, as has been on the opening day of every World Cup since it was expanded in 1995.

The consequence of this was more blow out scores. Even in those blow outs, there were gems. Jamaica's joyous celebrations after scoring a try against the mighty Kiwis and watching Greece overcome oppression and brutality to just take the field, a victory in its own right for a sport that was illegal to play in Greece a matter of months before.

I'd argue that blowouts are a price worth paying to have a tournament with greater credibility, greater spread, greater growth and moments like these.

I must confess, after watching the first two men's quarter finals, I was feeling a tad deflated. Whilst blowouts are a natural occurrence of a group stage (which at times sees Championship players lining up against the cream of the NRL), I had hoped for more in the quarter finals. I didn't think it was great for the tournament to have two quarter finals that were over before they started, in Australia v Lebanon and England v Papua New Guinea.

After those matches though, the tournament sprung into life. We watched as Fiji pushed New Zealand to their very limits. Samoa and Tonga slogged it out in an epic. In the semi finals, Australia and New Zealand fought one of the greatest rugby league test matches of all time and England pushed Samoa into extra time in the most dramatic of styles before having their hearts broken in time-honoured fashion.

Even in the final, whilst Australia's victory was rarely in doubt, the margin of victory was less than the last two finals held in England, where Australia defeated New Zealand in 2000 and 2013.

In the men's game, more teams than ever are now competing at the top of the international game. Challenges persist in improving the depth in the northern hemisphere though. Progress seems slow, especially when we compare ourselves to other sports. But on the field, this was a step in the right direction.

Women, Wheelchair and PDRL tournaments

You hear a lot of organisations claim that they are 'inclusive' now, often with little substance to back up the rhetoric. I'm proud to be a fan of a sport which has backed up the rhetoric with meaningful action.

As we chew the fat of the tournament that has just passed, there is a strong argument to say that the women's, wheelchair and PDRL tournaments are the greatest successes of all.

I don't think that anyone involved in wheelchair rugby league could have dreamed of the profile increase that this sport has had in the last few weeks. The England v Australia group match was a seismic moment for the sport. One that introduced people to the beauty and brutality of this form of the game. Even seasoned rugby league fans.

It seemed as though that would be difficult to top, yet the France v England final did so. A match where points were relatively scarce, goal kicking was crucial and the result hung in the balance to the end. And from the perspective of a partisan English viewer, a dream ending! I'd argue the highlight of all four tournaments.

Sometimes, wheelchair versions of sports can bear little resemblance to its able-bodied equivalents. Is it controversial to say some are not marvellous spectator events? And, yes, there are adaptations for wheelchair rugby league, but this sport is easily recognisable as a form of rugby league. I cannot think of anything that is lost by comparison to the more traditional sport. This is every much a spectator event as any other version of Rugby League.

The success is reflected in TV viewing figures, sell-out crowds and widespread praise for its incredible athletes. And all of this is entirely deserved. This version of the sport, I am confident, will go from strength to the strength. And if it doesn't, then shame on us.

I've always been critical of the women's sport been seen as an add on or warm up act to the men's game. I think this tournament took a step away from that. Big crowds at Headingley and York showed that there is an appetite for women's rugby league in its own right and not just people watching it because it happens to be part of a double header with the men's game.

The England women's football team smashed a glass ceiling in the summer for all women's sport. They showed a pathway to on-field success and off-field recognition. Our England players took time off work to play in this tournament. They aren't professional athletes. They are some of the most committed people to this sport that you are ever likely to see.

And one day, when all of these players have long since retired, they may be looked back on as trailblazers for the next generation. England fell short at the semi final stage but showed evidence that the game with Australia and New Zealand is reducing. A defeat to New Zealand, yes, but far closer than they were in 2017.

The NRLW is a different beast to the women's Super League, so you do wonder whether that gap may start to increase again? These are questions for another day. For this day, women's Rugby League took a step forward thanks to this tournament.

Finally, the PDRL competition. Let's start with the important part. ENGLAND WON! Well, it's important from my point of view anyway. Again, all matches were shown on the BBC as a key contributor to its commitment to disability sport. This tournament being placed on an equal footing with the other three was quite a late decision but it was the correct one.

We want to be an inclusive game. The decision to stage this tournament in itself was evidence of that commitment.

Lessons for the future

What else we (should) learn is that the international game has an appeal that our club game can never reach. With the greatest respect in the world, even our biggest matches in the club game, say a St Helens v Wigan doesn't hugely appeal to casual viewers. Many have not even heard of a lot of the towns that play our sport.

England offers an entity that can be supported anywhere in the country. It's why, if you went to the England v Samoa matches at Newcastle or London, you probably heard a lot more local accents than you ever will at a Magic Weekend or Challenge Cup Final. 

England is our gateway to the country as a whole. The club game is not. That takes us nicely on to the lessons that we should learn.

If we are happy with the game as it is, then there's little need to change focus. If we want to grow the sport, you do that through internationals. Cricket and Rugby Union have an international-first mentality and reap the rewards of it in terms of greater publicity and revenue.

We need to follow up thought. In 2013, we saw an excited 7,000+ crowd in Bristol watch USA face Cook Islands. A professional match has not been played in the city since.

In 2016, we saw 21,000 go to Coventry to watch England play Scotland (over 4,000 more than saw England face New Zealand in Hull two years later). 

In 2022, this World Cup saw a record crowd for a rugby league match in Sheffield and crowds posted in Middlesbrough and Coventry were higher than places like Leigh and Warrington.

What we usually do in this sport is that we identify an opportunity and do nothing to capitalise on it. To an extent, the absence of competitive northern hemisphere rivals hampers us. 

With all competitive nations in the Pacific, the need for those countries to travel here is reduced. I could write about that in length. But there's little need, as the BBC's Dave Woods has done so with far greater skill than I could ever dream. Here is that excellent piece, if you haven't read it.

Sometimes it's possible to over-analyse everything. Perhaps this piece is even guilty of that, This World Cup, whilst I wouldn't say a 'resounding success' has certainly had its positives. We have enjoyed coverage of our sport the likes of which we have never seen, and for the most part, it's been very entertaining. Maybe the better approach is not to worry and enjoy what we have?

Our sport is fantastic. The Australia v New Zealand semi final (and even the England v Samoa semi final) were two of the finest exhibitions of competitive sport you could ever wish to see. Lots of people, old and new to the game, would have been gripped. We should appreciate what we've got.