DoubleD

Does he have mental health issues or would he just rather live in the south of France rather than East Hull?

https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/2021-rlwc/match-day-squads-confirmed-for-european-qualifiers-for-rlwc2021 The match day squads have been confirmed for the first round of games in the final European qualifiers for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. Next Saturday (26 October), Spain face Ireland in Valencia (5pm kick off) in Pool A, Italy completing the group, and Scotland host Serbia in Glasgow (3pm) in Pool B, Greece the other contenders. SPAIN 22-MAN TOURNAMENT SQUAD Luc Franco, Gaetan Estruga, Maxime Garcia, Simon Juárez (Albi RL), Romain Franco (Catalans Dragons), Anthony Delgado, Alexis Escamilla, Julien Agullo, Romain Pallares (Carcassone), Daniel Garcia (Crosfields), Antonio Puerta, Juan Mudarra, Rafael Garcia (Custodians RL), Walid Bouregba (Lezignan), Alex Doutres (Palau), Kevin Aparicio (Rennes etudiant club rugby) Miguel Blanco- Charters (Seaton Rangers), Hadriel Mehamed Gonzales, Miquel Tomas Enrique (Torrent Tigres) Ludovic Renu (VARL), Adria Alonso, Carlos Font (Xativa Roosters) IRELAND 22-MAN TOURNAMENT SQUAD Sam Cullen (Barrow Cudas, Carlow), Michael Ward (Batley), Joe Keyes (Bradford), Martyn Reilly (Dewsbury), Matthew Towey (Galway Tribesmen), Oliver Roberts, Ronan Michael (Huddersfield), Ethan Ryan (Hull KR), Gregg McNally (Leigh), James Mulvaney, Matthew Coade (Longhorns RL), Roland Podesta (Manly), Danny Bridge, Zack McComb (Oldham), Tyrone McCarthy (Salford), James Bentley (St Helens), Frankie Halton (Swinton), Bob Beswick (Toronto), George King (Wakefield), Pat Moran (Warrington), Liam Byrne (Wigan), Dec ODonnell (Workington) SCOTLAND 22-MAN TOURNAMENT SQUAD David Scott (Batley Bulldogs), Brandan Wilkinson (Doncaster), Lewis Clarke (Edinburgh Eagles), Matt Hogg (Edinburgh Eagles/Newcastle University), Scott Plumridge (Glasgow RL), Ben Kavanagh (Halifax), Danny Addy, Will Oakes (Hull KR), Davey Dixon, Kieran Moran (Keighley Cougars), Nick Glohe (Lakes United Seagulls), Callum Mclelland (Leeds Rhinos), Ben Hellewell (London Broncos), Dan Turland (Murwillumbah Mustangs), Sam Luckley (Newcastle Thunder), Adam Walker (Salford), Luke Douglas (St Helens), Oscar Thomas (Swinton Lions), Ryan Brierley (Toronto Wolfpack), Alex Walker (Wakefield Trinity), Joe Mclean (West Wales Raiders), Dale Ferguson (Unattached) SERBIA 22-MAN TOURNAMENT SQUAD James Mirceski (Asquith Cheetahs Magpies), Jason Muranka (Keighley Cougars), Ilija Radan (Narabeen Sharks), Dragan Jankovic, Dzavid Jasari, Nikola Srbljanin (Partizan Belgrade), Lazar Zivkovic, (Radnicki Nis), Aleksandar Djordjevic, Milos Zogovic, Predrag Keglic, Stefan Nedeljkovic, Vladislav Dedic, Vojislav Dedic (Red Star Belgrade), Zane Bijorac (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Daniel Marjanovic (Sydney University), Stevan Stevanovic (Tasmajdan Tigers Belgrade), Milos Calic (Villefranche XIII), Vladica Nikolic (Villenueve XIII), Vladimir Milutinovic (Villeneuve Minervois XIII), Daniel Burke (Warilla Gorillas), Ben Stevanovic, Rajko Jankovic (West Tigers)

If Luke Lewis can get a gig, it shouldn't be too difficult for Sam

That could be down to your internet connection though, rather than an our league issue

Just a point on the coverage, the fawning of certain NRL players by Anasta and Walters was vomit inducing. Up there with Terry O’Connor and ‘he’s a quality player’. In particular their constant praise of Brian To’o. The guy is average at best. He can bust a tackle for sure but for every other one he does, he makes a mistake

Nah it’s always the prejudiced English refs fault

Back on topic, and this has probably been discussed in the 32 pages already but England’s side was predictably ineffective. They do not have the mobility or agility in their side. Players like Gildart, Newman should’ve been there and others would’ve got in from Saints (like Makinson) if it wasn’t for the Grand Final. The likes of Handley, Hall and McGillvary are not mobile enough. It was disappointing we couldn’t showcase our true ability. The likes of Bateman, Currie and Hodgson would also have been good to see. Tomkins and perhaps Graham were the only ones who impressed. Watts was surprisingly disappointing It was also an eye opener how far the women’s team are behind Australia and NZ - we just don’t have the athletes they do. I’m sure we’ll make vast improvements over the coming years but the schism is vast at the moment. Hardcastle impressed me though

That's pretty decent and better than i expected

What are the international rules for 9’s? I look forward to seeing this IRL branding in 2021 . Lets be honest this was a last minute put together to meet Australia’s commitment from the last WC. It served a purpose and set a platform for a potential future in this form of the game. Let’s not get hung up on the smaller picture

What do you want to see? How will the WC2021 over here look any different?

Same difference. My point being that unlike the 4 nations which are solely run by the individual nations, this is an IRL led tournament. The IRL don’t run them directly as there are only about 4 full time employees in the organisation

Semantics. The NRL are running it but the profit (if any) goes back to IRL. The cynic makes me think they are funding this and 2023 as compensation for not meeting the minimum agreed profit from the last World Cup.

Not when they don’t run an academy, otherwise they’re not increasing the pool, they’re taking from the amateur game. The whole point of the reserves is to fill the pathway from academy u18s to first team

Not sure, I do think the England brand has greater pull for neutrals and casual sport fans

The NRL ‘tendered’ to host it, hence why they organised it all