JOHN Kear feels that it’s time to start shouting from the rooftops about international rugby league.

A crowd of just 17,649 watched England win a thrilling first Test against New Zealand in Hull – nearly 6,000 down on when the two countries played there in 2015.

RFL chiefs are hoping the figure will top 25,000 when the teams clash again at Anfield on Sunday.

But that estimate is still well below the 40,042 who saw Australia beat the Kiwis there to win the Four Nations final two years ago.

Kear, whose Wales side play their next qualifier in Scotland tonight, believes a lot more has to be done to market the international game to the wider public.

He said: “It’s the only way that you’ll get consistently on national media.

“We love Bradford Bulls and we’ve all got our own clubs. But if the game’s going to go forward, we’ve got to pay attention to the national game and give it the respect it deserves.

“We’ve got to work hard at developing it and marketing it.

“I went to Anfield when Australia played New Zealand and it was fantastic. It’s a stadium that’s right on top of the pitch and generates a great atmosphere.

“It will be an absolute belter especially when you consider New Zealand have got to win to stay alive.

“You’ve got to feel the players and coaches who are striving really hard to put on great entertainment on a consistent basis. But it’s not being rewarded by the people off the field.

“That is something that needs addressing. The first Test was close, exciting, tense and won by a stroke of genius.

“It deserved a full KCOM Stadium – not a half-full one.”

With the World Cup three years away, Kear believes the sport must do more to push the international feelgood stories to promote public interest.

He added: “You look at Tonga and Fiji and they are fairy-tale stories.

“You see the size of Tonga as a country and look at the quality of rugby league and support they generate and that wall of red.

“That’s what they should be marketing it upon – the very great positives. They need to be transferring them to the northern hemisphere.”

Kear’s Wales were beaten 54-18 by favourites France in their opening European Championship group game last weekend.

But a victory over the Scots in Galashiels would set them up for a potential winner-takes-all qualification showdown with Ireland on November 11.

Kear, who trained with his Welsh squad at Odsal on Wednesday, said: “In all honesty, we sat down as a playing group and coaching staff and our goal was to make the third game a meaningful one.

“I wasn’t kidding myself when you looked at the French squad. I wasn’t being defeatist, I was being realistic.

“We need to perform well against Scotland and post a positive result. I feel France will beat Ireland, which will make our game with Ireland the qualification one.”