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OK for what it's worth, I just sent this to the nrl.com/conact us "comments" section: https://www.nrl.com/contact-us I also sent it to: feedback@nrl.com.au To whom it may concern, I’m a 57-year-old Sydney man who has been a fanatical rugby league supporter since the age of age 11, when I first discovered my beloved North Sydney Bears. I am writing to express my complete and utter disgust at the ARLC decision to boycott the World Cup. This event has been five years in the planning, has attracted record sponsorship, yet the ARLC has shown absolutely no regard for the massive damage it is doing to the international game of rugby league by this action. The idea that this is about safety concerns surrounding Covid does not wash, as the RLWC organisers have bent over backwards to deal with those concerns. You also say the players need to rest, yet half the teams will be back after two weeks of the tournament when they are eliminated, a week later another four teams will be back after the quarter-finals, and so on. Only the two teams in the final will be there for the last week. The ARLC has thrown an atomic bomb into the middle of international rugby league, risking the game worldwide – and there is no hyperbole in saying that. I can't emphasise enough how absolutely disgusted beyond belief I am in this short-sighted decision. Regards etc

I've never posted on this site but as a RL fan of almost thirty years, coached, run a club and I've been to have been associated with the sport. But today I feel that the sport is really on a precipice. This world Cup was vital and could have really ignited the game and put RL in the shop window. Sadly that usual inward looking trait often associated with the sport has put paid to that. I struggle too believe the NRL can't see the benefits of having a strong International competition and all the benefits that can bring. They have sabotaged a World Cup, removed playing opportunities and caused untold damage to the sport with the full ramifications not yet apparent. I'm not sure where we go from here but I can't see how this relationship with the NRL can be salvaged, particularly with the way this news broke and the contempt shown by them. A very sad day.

Well, I didn't think anything positive would come out of this shambles but at least I have found a new hobby. I find sarcastically replying to Phil Gould's inane Tweets to be remarkably therapeutic.

But you continue to ignore the real reason, which is what Phil Gould and all the other Anzac commentators are saying : this is about not disrupting the NRL pre season and nothing else.

Having digested a load of official and unofficial comment online over the past 24 hours, I think that the IRL should push the following: - it is not possible to 'delay' or 'postpone' the 2021 RLWC; moving it means cancellation followed by the organisation of a(n almost) new event - shut down anyone using the phrase 'postpone for 12 months' and use the phrase 'cancel the 2021 RLWC' - ARLC, NZRL, Gus Gould, and other sympathisers have conspicuously failed to mention the women's and wheelchair RLWCs - shame them about it - keep pushing Simon Johnson forward

What’s good about the coverage is it isn’t disparaging the sport it’s actually sticking up for it for once

Jamie Peacock has his say: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/world-cup-withdrawals-selfish-nothing-24603628

The have for 2021 I think. It's called a World Cup.

24hrs on and the dust far from settling, I am very, very disappointed. If we can keep in the PI teams then we need to proceed with the tournament. We have to make a stand. But dont be fooled that getting the tournament on is the end of this. We need fundamental change. If this isnt the catalyst we need to ensure we have a regular NH series and competition and look to capitlise then we are doomed. The control over SH RL shown by the NRL, for their own means, ensures we cannot and probably will not trust them for a very long time. I do not see an Eng vs. Aus series for a very long time indeed and do we seriously think they will treat a French world cup in 2025 with any more respect? Already a risky venture for FFR, it just got a whole lot more risky. We have to use this emotion and motivation in the right way and build NH International RL. Yes, it might not draw the same level of crowds and interest to start with. But we need to find a way to financially support other international federations alongside our own RFL if we really want RL to develop across Europe and the NH. The last 24hrs has proven this is the only trustworthy way to drive revenues, awareness and a longer term future for international RL.

I am so sad about all of this. All of us on this forum are here for one reason ONLY we are RL fans. I personally discovered this game by accident in 1974 whilst working in Hull then after a lapse of a few years took an interest again in 1980 when Fulham entered Division 2 of the old championship. OMG there are a few scars out there when I was younger however I am still here and totally in love with this beautiful game ( And I am a pure born and bred Southerner living in Kent when I am in the UK) In my later years and happily having my wife run the 2 business successfully it allows me time to spend on things that I love Radio/Train set/Cricket/Rugby League The next few years of my life until I drop dead LOL all I want to see is RL progress in various countries around the world and 100% get back on its feet again in France we are very lucky that we have the ability to assist. Trent Robinson would be a godsend for FRL I cannot explain so much being in marketing how much he would mean to getting FRL back on its feet again. A successful France will have huge positive implications for RL in the UK. All I can say is we really do need this WC to happen personally I think the players want it to happen as we all do. Now is the time for the worldwide RL community to come together our hopes are with the fantastic players to stand up to this and make it happen. Paul

At some point that will be true yes. COVID's here forever, once you've vaccinated everyone you've got to open up sometime. Sitting waiting for it to go away is not an option.

I'd have thought the chances of France getting government funding to host the world cup in 2025 have been greatly reduced in the last 24 hours or so, courtesy of Australia and New Zealand

That's some gym that has 50k cases a day. Do you really believe that they are making the Oz/NZ teams share a gym with the public? "After you on that machine please cobber?" Give over.

Morning Peter

https://www.rlpa.com.au/rlpa-rlwc-statement/ Link to the official players association statement. Indicates players from other countries still intend to compete in the tournament, the RLPA is disappointed that in Australia's case the decision has been taken away from the players.

In the long term this has to be a wake up call to everyone in the game from Junior amateur club Chairmen and coaches right the way through every level of the professional game and the RFL. Most of all the warring Chairmen and Chief Execs of Superleague need to stop bickering, stop being selfish and stop being myopic about their own club and understand they are charged with the wellbeing of this great game. We need to pull together like never before and become stronger than we’ve ever been! I mean that in every sense of the sport, financially, participation, player pathways, marketing, broadcasting and media to name but a few areas into which we need to pour effort and resources. We need to be vibrant and strong so that we can bring into effect a balance of power across the two hemispheres. If this episode doesn’t drive that message home to those who matter then they themselves are part of the problem!

I think we simply have to crack on with the World Cup and not give in to what essentially is blackmail by the ANZACS / NRL hierarchy . They expect strong arm tactics to work and that WC stakeholders will fold . I think cancelling or postponing it to the end of next year would be terrible , the window is now . Go on with it and don’t capitulate or you’ll be totally emasculated and the NRL will be more powerful than ever . Let players choose to bolster heritage sides and put the best show on we can . And legally stop them playing any tests down there . Time to stand up to these and not back down

NZ and Australia trying to strong arm the pacific islands with sweeteners of end of season tests and future tests in places like Tonga is pretty much as low as it gets.

And on the track? The judoka and Greco Roman wrestlers sweating over each other? The long distance runners spending up to 3 hours close to others in a marathon? Yeah not at all the same. No, the Aussies have seen an opportunity to show that the NRL has more clout. Well if you're not in it , you can't win it. We could still put them in the draw and give their opponents a 24-0 win . And put that in the record books.

Best for who? They have a choice between doing what is "best" for the NRL and what is "best" for the sport and those players who are more than willing to travel to play in a World Cup because they understand that they will be protected and are more likely to be put at risk chopping tomatoes for dinner than by Covid in the UK as young professional athletes.

It has everything to do with Covid, a lot of the World does not agree with the UKs approach. Tell me how is the Super League season going? But.. but the experts tell us we will have herd immunity and no cases soon after the spike.. maybe.

I know that the World Cup organisers, in consultation with the Government, said they addressed NZRL's reasonable concerns - so if one of them was sharing a gym with the public, they are not being asked to share a gym with the public. I would go as far as to say I can't imagine that they ever were being asked to share a gym with the public and suspect it is convenient exaggeration / misrepresentation from an agenda driven interview. Surely if you are going to make such an enormous decision as to pull out of a World Cup you would set out all these concerns more clearly to help people understand? Unless it wasn't actually the real reason I suppose. . . . .

The way the NRL are going about this makes me think their plan for international RL is a Tri-Nations series - of New Zealand, New South Wales and Queensland. On a serious note though, one point that nobody seems to have mentioned is that not only does this harm top level international sides, but It's a complete kick in the balls for sides like Jamaica and Serbia, not only in that they have enthusiastic coaches and supporters who built their teams and the game's presence in these countries from virtually nothing, but for the players who, in the case of the domestic Jamaican players for example, are living in rough areas and most likely in financially tough situations, if not outright poverty. This could go for domestic Easetern European and Lebanese players also. What was the appeal of RL? The same thing that motivates someone to chase a football or NFL dream - here's a sport that just might offer a way out to something better. I remember someone posted the interview with the Jamaican RL head when they qualified for the WC and the theme he kept hammering home was that here was a chance to make something of yourself, potentially have an overseas career, if nothing else, everyone could see YOU representing the nation. And now all that is potentially taken away because Gus Fool and Peter V'Wankdys think the world ends not at the borders of Australia, but at the internal state borders of Queensland and NSW. I could see some of the developing nations thinking "why should we even bother any more?"

Was just reading that New Zealand want to play Tonga instead of going to the world cup, in return they will play Tonga in Tonga next year, sh*thousary of the highest order this

If England do end up playing against France and other NH nations instead then we all need to get behind it and make them a big occasion regardless of the scoreline. We should all now push for a regular NH competition.

That would just rub salt into the wounds. Meninga and Maguire have done so much damage even just discussing this possibility. It's what the NRL want. I love international RL but I want no part of watching that.

Phil Gould does not care one bit about the women’s game or the wheelchair game, he cares about SOO first then the NRL everything else is irrelevant in his mind

As long as players are willing to do it, the tournament needs to go ahead without Australia and NZ. This is a big moment for international RL. The players have the chance to expose the administration for what they are by playing, sacrificing two weeks of leave to turn up to training earlier and making the tournament a success. Tonga beat Australia last start and beat NZ at the last world cup. Fiji knocked NZ out of the last world cup. Samoa has a potentially world class side. The tournament can still be a good one and it can show arrogant Sydney administrators that the game is bigger than them.

The real reason is power and money. They want to control/run the game. And they don’t want to share any money that involves Australia (or New Zealand). The WC funds go to the IRL after all; not the NRL/NZRL.

Doesn't it make the whole competition more exciting? More unpredictable, with some of these great players spread across the competing Nations? The Australian and New Zealand withdrawal, not only (ostensibly) improves England's chances of winning but it could produce another (more than one) Tonga. A dark horse, coming out of the shadows, enhanced and emboldened by a sprinkling of great heritage players. It also opens up the prospect of the USA, Brazil or Serbia taking part making the whole tournament more colourful, more interesting, more intriguing. I just hope this goes ahead, despite the antipodeans arrogance, I can't wait!

Interesting to read the last paragraph in particular. Sounds to me like the WC organisers have already jumped through every hoop that's been asked of them and the ARL and NZRL have still stuck two fingers in their direction under the patently false covid concern banner. The bull which has been flowing from them in the last 48 hours seems even more contemptuous. I sincerely hope we're able to continue with the WC and don't bow down to the bullies, put on a fantastic festival of RL without them and maybe even show a few of the players who choose to switch to a tier two nation what the international scene is capable of if they commit to a world which doesn't revolve around Australia and their NZ lap dog. Or failing that we sue their asses into the ground.

If that happens, and it does pretty well, then I look forward to France's trailers for RWC2025 coming out and the Australians/Kiwis ringing them up and saying "hey, what about us?" It'll have to be a nice HD internet call to capture the epic Gallic shrug they receive in reply.

Trying to be positive today so putting this out has a positive answer to the problem !!!! So the Aussies & Kiwis don't want to play in our World Cup OK so lets invite the USA & Serbia to take their places & invite the USA & Serbian press to a conference to announce they will be replacing the Aussies & Kiwis plus work with organizations in the UK to get the message out to citizens from the states & Serbia that live in the UK use any papers that are printed for them, Social Media sites to spread the word. Also afterwards try to organize a thank you game in the USA plus a game in Serbia with England to say thanks for stepping in to keep the World Cup on. Our future is playing the likes of France plus encouraging other European Country's to play each other whenever possible one off games, small tournaments to build up the European brand invite the likes of Jamaica , Lebanon & Greece plus Italy with invitations to USA & Canada let the Aussies & Kiwis be the so called big fish in their own pond.

Have you considered the existnece of quarantine? RL playersd are no more likely to bring Covid back to Australia than any other athletes or humans in general if they follow the rules.

So you are saying there was no isolation bubble at all? Maybe that is why the Kiwis were worried? I am neither for or against what has happened but some of the mad rubbish posted on this site in the last two days makes you wonder.

The whole thing that could smash this open is the Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns, I really hope they come out swinging about the hypocrisy and the fact that they weren't even consulted. A lot of them play for tiny match fees and this is basically the highlight of their whole careers (and they were getting the same pay as the men for the WC). It could make the ARLC/NZRL look pretty pathetic if the Wheelchair athletes kicked off too and made it really uncomfortable for the selfish NRL clubs. Misogyny and discrimination in one big bundle!

Various posts removed. NO PARTY POLITICAL SOAPBOXING IN THE RUGBY LEAGUE FORUM. Thank you.

Can you not,I don’t for a second believe there is level the NRL will not sink to in order to get their way.

I expect other countries will withdraw as well. The NRL clubs will lean on the ARL and NZRL and they will lean on the governing bodies of the PI nations to ensure their key players don't come over. It would be absolutely wonderful if the players took a stand but it's a power play and I won't blame anyone who doesn't stand up to the body that pays their wages. But I will forever blame the NRL and won't forgive or forget.

Do you still believe that a fat man in a red suit brings you presents at Christmas?

It is nothing but complete bastardry by the self-interested NRL clubs, and the likes of PVL and Phil Gould put "Twitter" and "Phil Gould" into google and see his tweets today … they are absolutely staggering in their arrogance

Four minutes.

It was obviously good enough for them last week when they signed up to the world cup, strange how now its terrifying.

Those NRL players that come out and play for their nations should be treated with enormous respect - as they will have done so despite pressure from their clubs to pick up a "knock" or blame Covid concerns for not travelling. Those who would have played for Oz/NZ and opt to play for other countries to participate in a WC should be given a hero's reception - as it will be they who best encapsulate the hollow "player protection" excuse that is being pushed by the ARLC and NZRL. My concern is that the arrangement of alternative Australia / NZ internationals at the time of the WC is designed specifically to combat this risk and will ensure that we don't see the players representing other nations. I could even see the Australians picking an unusually large squad and naming three different teams in such a series just to spite the IRL - it's their style.

The more that comes out from down there the more you see COVID is a convenient excuse .

I still think the way through this is to get to a point where there are enough NRL players declaring for other nations where it becomes absolutely pointless that Aus/NZ aren't competing. They don't want their pre-season being affected, make it so it's affected anyway. Create a situation where it would be easier for them to U-turn than to carry on. We know from previous tours how fragile the Australian RL ego can be, if you can pull away enough of their players, you then start working on the "too scared", "don't want to risk losing" aspect in press.

I expect the Aussies will be working hard behind the scenes to get this cancelled/delayed

I also sent an email to the RLPA telling them of my email above. Their email is: enquiries@rlpa.com.au