Copa

I can now understand why some ex players want to try boxing. That’s probably more than he made as an NRL player and he’s never had to fight anyone elite. https://www.news.com.au/sport/boxing/25-million-in-three-years-paul-gallen-reveals-eyewatering-boxing-fortune/news-story/709cd249a74ba30bdee521bf8a1a891d?amp

I hope Ukraine can participate without hassles.

I might actually get to the WC in France. I’ve never been to France and am keen to see the sites.

Wait until you hear about http://www.worldrugbyleague.org/ !!

Some female players in Australia can earn around $60,000 a year when including regular round plus representative matches. Marquee players can earn more. ”In 2018, when the NRLW first started, we had 10,000 registered female participants across the country and that is now going to be close to 40,000 at the end of this year.” - Andrew Abdo, 2022 The WC will help it grow even more.

The Iroquois Nation has a team in the lacrosse world championships but that’s only because lacrosse derives from one of their indigenous games. I’d keep the RLWC as it is.

Many of the England players were clearly disabled so I’m keen to know what the French coach meant when he said that.

What’s the deal with the French coach saying the English didn’t focus on disabled players and went for spectacle and a show? Does it operate differently in France? I guess the sport is young and rules will adapt as issues arise.

Brilliant!

I’ve chatted online to US folk of Samoan and Tongan descent who say the haka is what some of the young in their community think is Islander culture. To see the Siva Tau and Sipi Tau is a good cultural reminder.

That’d be fantastic if it’s PNG. It’d signal growth in the international game if PNG does tours to the UK.

It’s a great example of how “heritage” teams are perfectly acceptable to some nations/cultures.

They definitely know how to party!!

But there’s still money to be made, especially in Australia and NZ. That money can be invested into investing into growth and expansion.

It may not bring in the big $ one would get from bigger economies but will definitely squeeze more money out of the TV market in Oceania. Having more competition against Australia and NZ makes for more valuable tv products to sell into the biggest RL tv market.

Australia has accepted a PNG, Fijian and NZ teams into Australian based RL competitions. They enter the competition that’s at their level of skill and the players improve and develop and are signed by other Australian based clubs. Even before we had a Fijian team playing in a nsw competition there were very large numbers of Fijian players recruited by regional clubs all over nsw. This really picked up in the lead up to the 2008 World Cup in Australia and they kept on coming. So there’s a good reason that Fiji pushed NZ all the way in the quarter final match. They’ve been developing in Australia where they are welcomed by many levels of the game. Australia has been expanding and developing the game in its region at a rate that leaves the RFL’s rate of development and growth in its region for dead.

It’s looking stronger than ever.

My English partner found class issues in Canberra worse than anything she’d ever experienced in the UK. I very much agree with her. It’s also quite obvious and frustrating in Sydney. Australians spend an awful lot of time trying to convince themselves class isn’t an issue in Australia when for the most part it’s an issue in large parts of the country… those who can’t recognise it either live in a regional area or are marginalised without being aware they are marginalised.

As an Australian, I’m really hoping the kiwis win.

Good evening!

My partner is so impressed by the wheelchair rugby league she said she’d watch it as a regular TV sport if it was on every week.

France are outstanding. I didn’t even know some of the things I’ve seen them do were possible.

It’s worse if they lose and they haven’t booked flights as they might take a while to find space on another flight so quickly.

Skills, drills and plays … apparently https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2015/03/31/complete-league-coach-and-player/ “350+ skills, drills and plays all with instructional video and coaching commentary are included as well as 270+ ready-made sessions.“