Cheshire Setter

I really don’t think it will go ahead at all. Not with Aus or NZ. So we may as well have staged a diminished tournament this year. I honestly think it will be a long long time before we see any international RL, by which time the sport in this country will be much smaller and less relevant to the UK sporting calendar. If anything future international RL will just be trans-Tasman tests.

Missed opportunity and ‘catastrophic’ is no over-exaggeration, considering the competition we’ll be facing from other sports next year. 2021 was the chance to ride the wave of public good feeling as we left the pandemic, and as the sole sport in the UK international limelight at that time. This will just confirm Northern Hemisphere RL will fade into obscurity as far as the general public are concerned.

I don’t know about where you were on ‘Freedom Day’ but I was in several locations during that day and since. Things have changed very little. Most wear masks indoors and distance respectfully. None of that really matters anyway. We’re about as vaccinated as we can hope to be, and the ones awaiting their second dose are statistically very unlikely to be affected by COVID. We have to open up at some stage, and whenever that is, case numbers will rise. It’s deaths and the NHS pressure that really count, and both are relatively low.

I also read somewhere that half the players have or will refuse the vaccine anyway. So that makes a mockery of claiming that it’s the UK situation that is a threat to them. No doubt those are the players who are willing to play too. Just let them. Or let us create a team with the AUS and NZ label ourselves - that’s a fair trade for dumping on the sport at the last minute.

This. We need to take advantage of the timing of our showpiece event. Delaying will ruin it. We may as well try to piece alternative Aus and NZ teams together from Europe-based players, or use indigenous teams. After all, we are aiming at attracting neutral sports fans and those new to RL. They won’t know the difference, but the entertainment factor will still be there. In fact the games may be closer and more entertaining.

I know, but the veil they’re hiding behind specifically states “it simply not safe” (press statement). So they will have to find an alternative excuse to roll out.

Well, if the current steep downward trend of cases continues some people are going to look very silly come October. Not that those people will care.

Let’s hope that the backlash does result in overturning the decision. What great free publicity we will have had from it all

I think you’ve misunderstood my post. I’m not criticising the way the way the WC is being marketed right now, I’m arguing that the withdrawal of the other two ‘main’ nations will make it harder to market as a top event and therefore could result in mainly empty stadia due to less of a ‘buzz’ in the media over what should be a nationally celebrated event. I thought that would have been clear in my post, but if not then apologies.

Even better if the indigenous players followed suit as has been mooted.

I have to say it’s a breath of fresh air hearing Simon speak about the World Cup. Comes across well.

For the neutral non-RL sports fan who might switch on the World Cup - will they actually know the difference of the Aussies or NZ aren’t there? Maybe the so called lesser teams might provide more entertainment. They can certainly match the English side. Of course, this won’t change the fact that the stadiums will probably be pretty empty, which looks awful on TV. Maybe we could just sell all tickets super cheap for most group matches in the hope of attracting new fans who just want a sporting experience after 18 months locked away. Could work?

Just get SL-based Aussies and Kiwis and rebrand the international teams with a catchy US-style tag line, like “The Real Kangaroos” Better still, choose a different treasured national animal, and call them the “Duck-Billed Platypi” or “Box Jellyfishes”.

You’d love to think so, but I don’t think we’re that clever, or that they’re not than selfish!

This is just the worst thing. The Brits will head indoors out of the rain on a Saturday afternoon and flick through the channels to find RU as the only significant international sporting programme on the TV. Suddenly our opportunity to be the sporting event to represent the return to normality will be brushed under the carpet to accommodate the RU. Thanks for doing your bit to finally finish off RL in the Northern Hemisphere guys.