Man of Kent

Same as this year, then. At least the Premier League is scheduled to pause by 12 November next year!

We don't know what the media coverage would be for 2022. Assuming it doesn't clash with the FIFA World Cup, I can see no reason why the BBC wouldn't stay committed to showing all 61 games.

I keep hearing that the RLWC is up against lots of other tournaments next year but they aren't all on the same time, and nor are they all in the UK. The general public doesn't really care about tournaments - I'm thinking about the Olympics in particular - until they are actually on, or perhaps a few days beforehand. 2022 is not ideal but it's doable.

Not necessarily. It's another year to sell it out.

Me too. Fiji etc.

Better than cancellation but what a ballache with reorganising venues etc. On the plus side, I hope we see England have better prep than the pathetic Combined Nations effort, and that Super League and the RFL work together to ensure other NH nations can play warm-up games next year.

Postponed: https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/rugby-league-world-cup-postponed-5736052?utm_source=leeds_live_newsletter&utm_campaign=rugby_league_lve_newsletter&utm_medium=email The decision is understood to have been made based on the impact to broadcast revenue along with a series of other logistical and financial reasons.

You’re not wrong about the importance of Australia and New Zealand but it doesn’t mean England cannot hold a successful tournament without them or winning the World Cup wouldn’t be an achievement. I think of it in Olympic terms like the boycotts of 1980 and 1984, and to a lesser extent the peculiar Russia thing at Tokyo. They diminish the games, sure, but they don’t negate them.

Many a true word spoken in jest.

Jon Dutton on Sky Sports for the Leeds Vs. Wire game. Doesn’t sound like a man who’s about to pull the plug on the RLWC.

Certainly worth exploring. Old f@rts of a conservative bent seem to hate The Hundred but it's a solid gold hit. It's essentially putting an old product in new packaging, of course, but I think they've done a fantastic job of making cricket appear young, fresh and exciting.

V’landys talks to Triple M about the World Cup (10 minutes in). Says the NRL doesn’t require clubs to release players for other nations and the clubs could stop them playing. https://omny.fm/shows/triple-m-rocks-footy-nrl/peter-vlandys-on-the-covid-shutdown-nrl-grand-fina

That statement reminds me of a hostage video where the victim is recanting sins while a gun is held to their head.

Joint World Cup Statement From The 16 NRL Clubs https://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2021/07/30/joint-world-cup-statement-from-the-16-nrl-clubs/

Absolutely. If we were so willing, there could be a decent intercontinental comp featuring, say, England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Jamaica, USA and Lebanon. EDIT: Or Italy!

Sure, if the NRL allows players to play for Italy!

Mildly depressing to read the tangent about the 4 Nations and other old ground. The Aussies are sending us a clear message - we cannot rely on them. We do need to grow the international game in the northern hemisphere as well. That means playing France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Serbia, Jamaica etc. even if it means weakening the England team - much as Australia and New Zealand are weakened by the likes of Jason Taumalolo playing for their heritage nations. We also have our issues with selfish clubs, cf. Super League scheduling three fixtures on the same day as the Combined Nations game.

Bizarrely, Brian Carney sneaks in with a question five minutes from the end introducing himself as 'Bradley Cowper'!

Hehe. Slight flaw in @JM2010's plan!

I'm beginning to feel either have Indigenous Australia & NZ Maori teams or perhaps don't bother at all. I really do think the public would get behind them in a big way - you'd even have the English cheering Australians. That's not something that happens very often.

Sounds to me that the RLWC is trying to change the minds of the ARLC and NZRL via the players.

‘Misinformation’ is a very interesting word in that statement. What could that be? Could that ARLC/Phil Gould-style misinformation about players not wanting to play? Or could it be misinformation about Covid in the UK? Or misinformation about vaccines (eg they make you ill/dead/gay/Jewish/controlled by Bill Gates)?

I don't agree they have no backbone, they are just wrong-headed. V'landys seems to be an all-powerful dictator. If anything they/he has too much backbone.

I think the very fact they pulled out of the RLWC shows the ARLC has teeth. Let's say the RLWC was being held in Aussie and England/Wales/Ireland/France etc said they didn't want to have their balcony doors taped up or adhere to whatever other authoritarian rules they've dreamt up (like not allowing families - see the current Ashes debate). Would the RFL dare pull out? That was a rhetorical question, by the way.

ARLC = RFL. RFL with teeth.