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THE Wallabies have agreed to play the Great Britain rugby league team in a $10 million hybrid-game spectacular at Wembley Stadium next year.
London's most famous football venue has been booked for December 6, a week after the Wallabies' last game on their 2014 spring tour.
The game will pit the likes of Israel Folau and Quade Cooper against the Burgess brothers, Gareth Widdop and Sam Tomkins in front of an anticipated full house of 92,000 fans.
All up, organisers are expecting to raise $20 million through gates, corporate sales, TV, sponsorship and merchandise.
An agreement was reached between the two football codes at a secret meeting in London last month.
The codes will be paid $5million each and the players will earn around $50,000 each for a one-off appearance.
On November 11, English Rugby League boss and World Cup tournament director Nigel Wood secretly met with Wallaby supremo Bill Pulver at London's swish Grange Holborn Hotel.
They both agreed to the game, subject to commercial terms, which will be finalised by the new year.
Wood was desperate for the opportunity to promote rugby league in London on the back of the recent World Cup.
The London Broncos are struggling to stay afloat in the Super League because of lack of interest.
A global media company is in the process of selling world-wide television rights and major sponsorships.
A consortium of Australian businessmen and rugby legends Bob Dwyer and Mark Ella were involved in the talks in London that secured the historic agreement.
One half will be played with 15 players with rugby union rules and the other half with 13 players with NRL rules.
The plan was to originally stage a Wallabies v Kangaroos game at ANZ Stadium in December.
NRL chief executive Dave Smith met with Pulver and the promoters but, after showing initial interest, knocked it back.
So the promoters took their $10 million proposal to England.
London based promoter Steve Berrick has been hired to oversee the game.
He has previously been in charge of Barbarians games and major events in the UK.
This will be the first of what organisers believe will become a regular showpiece on the football calendars.
The All Blacks have also been approached and showed initial interest in a game against the Kangaroos.
Previously, Wigan played Bath in a hybrid game in the UK and two Australian school teams played in a trial game at Brookvale Oval.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...#ixzz2mnHDVO4Q
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