Quote Old Feller="Old Feller"Shouldn't the main criticsm here be aimed at the whole Rugby League community who can't even fill Wembley for international games involving the national side, nor for one of the two showpiece events of the year, whereas the RU community can fill it for a normal league game?'"
Union has a much bigger fan and player base, particularly in the "casual" fan category. Clubs may not get huge crowds week in for normal games but there are lots who have little affiliation but would turn out to a showpiece event just for the beer and the day out.
I was at London Irish Sunday for the game against Leicester (the St Patricks day manufactured marketing event). Frankly I barely noticed the game, it was a day out for our entire minis section (and for 15 other clubs). It's a comfortable stadium and unlike when they play football there they actually treat you like adults and leave the bars open all through the game and after.
I don't know why we don't fill wembley anymore for CC or internationals (well maybe here the small shred of optimism we all had during the 80's and early 90's has finally been crushed out of us).