Scubby Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 1 minute ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said: Yes 3 of the 4 pot 2 will be decent opposition for the pot 1 sides. But with 2 decent teams in each group and 2 teams qualifying for each group, the group games will be a bit meaningless for me. So the 8 quarter finalists will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Kevin Sinfield Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Just now, Scubby said: So the 8 quarter finalists will be? Australia, England, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and PNG will be seven of the sides in the quarter final. The 8th place will go to Lebanon or France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 1 hour ago, BenGilesRL said: I actually agree - I think the World Cup kicking off first couple of weeks with groups of secondary nations will not only create great drama and intensity, it will also dispel notions that its the same old teams and no one else matters. Sometimes you've got to be brave and put the spotlight on those that don't always get it, to attract attention to the novelty factor as well as the legitimacy of the competition. Close games would be a great advert, and there would be great interest over who would qualify and joining who in which group for the second stage. Wow, someone agrees with me. This is not the football WC, and BTW I love both sports, in football it's not about expanding the game, grabbing new fans. It wouldn't matter diddly squat if the group games were all 6-0, people would still watch. RL WC must be about getting new fans, not just in England but GLOBALLY, the clue is in the name; World Cup. I want people from the start going " wow, love it, the to- ing and fro- ing, entertaining, edge of seat stuff" NOT " So this is RL, not very competitive is it, oh it will be in the quarter finals, ok I'll be back then" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunbar Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 15 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said: Group Eng v Aus Eng v Fiji NZ v PNG Knockout NZ v Scotland England v NZ Australia v Fiji Australia v NZ Thanks. As far as I can see, with the 2021 format the only type of game you can't see would be England vs. Australia in the groups. All the other games are across 'pots' and the knockout will throw up the same type of games as 2013. As for England vs. Australia in the 2013 opener, while the game will always attract attention it had zero bearing on who would actually get out of the group. "The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby. "If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunbar Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 I don't know where we get the idea that the group stages will be full of embarrassing score lines. In the 2013 cup the average winning margin at the group stages was under 20 points and for games involving the big three of England, Australia and New Zealand in the group stages (excluding the England vs. Australia game itself) the average winning margin was 37 points which while convincing is hardly an embarrassing blow out. And now we have a Fiji and Tonga team beating the Kiwis last time up so the big three is not even the big three any more. I am entirely confident that we will see a competitive and enthralling World Cup in 2021. "The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby. "If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB90 Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 I have always thought we put to much emphasis on adding as many viable teams as possible. Cricket world wide is bigger than rugby league yet the recent world cup only had 10 teams. They could of added Ireland, Zimbabwe etc but it dilute the tournament with to many 'minnow nations'. I may be in the minority here but I would prefer a stripped back world cup of 12 teams in 2 pools of 6 each playing every team in your pool once (so 5 pool games). Pool A - Australia, England, Samoa, France, PNG, Scotland Pool B - New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Ireland, Italy, Wales Top 2 in each pool go through to the semi's. I have know interest in watching USA or Russia fielding a team of part time players getting belted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clogiron Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Use whatever format you want it's still going to be Australia win it, England missed the best chance they will ever have in 2017 while they were a ageing side in transition, the amount of new, young talent they have coming through will ensure their domination continues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17 stone giant Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 2 hours ago, Dunbar said: And now we have a Fiji and Tonga team beating the Kiwis last time up so the big three is not even the big three any more. Do you think those results will be repeated regularly? I only ask because the Kiwis beat Tonga 34-14 recently, so I wonder if maybe the games you refer to are the exception rather than the rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Picture Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 17 hours ago, HawkMan said: I noticed in a recent thread Sir Kevin Sinfield was concerned about the format for WC 2021, I share those concerns. The world cup.of any sport.has to be the pinnacle, particularly for a sport trying to make a breakthrough and expand. I fear too many one sided round robin matches will kill interest for the uninitiated. The answer is a format which is in between the Super Group format of the last few World Cups and the more traditional format used in 2000, as follows: Group A - three teams advance to quarter-finals Previous Winner, highest ranked previous Semi-finalist, highest ranked previous Quarter-final loser, highest ranked qualifier Group B - two teams advance to quarter-finals Other previous Semi-finalist, third highest ranked previous Quarter-final loser, fourth and fifth highest ranked qualifiers Group C - two teams advance to quarter-finals Previous Runner-up, second highest ranked previous Quarter-final loser, second and third highest ranked qualifiers Group D - one team advances to quarter-finals Lowest ranked previous Quarter-final loser, three lowest-ranked qualifiers - Quarter-finals use a bracket system, third from Group A shifts to the other bracket Quarter-Finals A 1st Group A vs. 2nd Group B B 1st Group B vs. 2nd Group A C 1st Group C vs. 3rd Group A D 1st Group D vs. 2nd Group C Semi-Finals E Winner A vs. Winner B F Winner C vs. Winner D Final G Winner E vs. Winner F Thus based on the results of the last World Cup: Group A - three teams advance to quarter-finals Australia, Tonga, New Zealand, highest ranked qualifier Group B - two teams advance to quarter-finals Fiji, Papua New Guinea, fourth and fifth highest ranked qualifiers Group C - two teams advance to quarter-finals England, Samoa, second and third highest ranked qualifiers Group D - one team advances to quarter-finals Lebanon, three lowest-ranked qualifiers I suggest that this concept would produce some very interesting matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Kevin Sinfield Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 10 hours ago, Dunbar said: I don't know where we get the idea that the group stages will be full of embarrassing score lines. In the 2013 cup the average winning margin at the group stages was under 20 points and for games involving the big three of England, Australia and New Zealand in the group stages (excluding the England vs. Australia game itself) the average winning margin was 37 points which while convincing is hardly an embarrassing blow out. And now we have a Fiji and Tonga team beating the Kiwis last time up so the big three is not even the big three any more. I am entirely confident that we will see a competitive and enthralling World Cup in 2021. In 2013 there were 2 Super groups. This isn’t going to be the case in 2021, Australia will be playing teams like Jamaica, USA and Wales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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