National Rugby League officials "considered playing the season-opening clash between South Sydney and Brisbane at London's Wembley Stadium and may take the first-round match to the iconic venue next year," according to Brad Walter of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Rabbitohs and Broncos, who will kick off the 2015 season at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday, March 5, "are in England for the World Club Series and do not return home until midway through next week." Serious thought "was given to the proposal, however officials could not make the time frame work." The move "would have also provided a massive boost to the game in the English capital, where Brisbane's sister club, the London Broncos, have been struggling for survival and are now playing in the second tier after being relegated from Super League." Such a move "would promote the NRL brand to a wider audience, as Major League Baseball did by playing the opening games of the 2014 season between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks at the SCG." It "is understood that doing so this year would have proved too difficult from a logistical point of view as there was not enough lead in time to organise it." Super League GM Blake Solly said that "it was intended that the World Club Series would be staged in England again next year and consideration is expected to be given to opening the 2016 NRL season overseas" (SMH, 2/18).
