Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 https://www.rlef.eu.com/articles/1833/rugby-league-european-federation-confirms-status-of-2020-european-championships This article suggests that by the 2022 European cup/nations league, England will be involved. Great to see England finally taking Regional competition seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiganermike Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 12 minutes ago, Tommygilf said: https://www.rlef.eu.com/articles/1833/rugby-league-european-federation-confirms-status-of-2020-european-championships This article suggests that by the 2022 European cup/nations league, England will be involved. Great to see England finally taking Regional competition seriously. Agreed. Hopefully they will stick to the plan and England will compete in it so that the other European nations can get the chance to play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man of Kent Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Heard this before but good to see it coming from the RLEF itself. An eight-team comp sounds a lot, though. How would that work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 5 minutes ago, Man of Kent said: Heard this before but good to see it coming from the RLEF itself. An eight-team comp sounds a lot, though. How would that work? It was supposed to be two groups of 3 at the top this year iirc so perhaps 2 groups of 4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, Man of Kent said: Heard this before but good to see it coming from the RLEF itself. An eight-team comp sounds a lot, though. How would that work? Two groups of four perhaps with a grand final between the two group winners? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 18 minutes ago, wiganermike said: Agreed. Hopefully they will stick to the plan and England will compete in it so that the other European nations can get the chance to play them. Absolutely, we need to commit to improving our neighbours or risk being left adrift when the Antipodeans aren't interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 I would love something like this mid season to provide internationals then focus on the northern and southern hemisphere countries playing each other end of season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henson Park Old Firm Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Won't happen, by 2022 coronavirus will merge with the swine flu and chicken pox to create a super virus and shut down the planet and all sporting codes, except for "girl on girl jelly wrestling".... I call it Virus X (x is for extreme) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, Damien said: I would love something like this mid season to provide internationals then focus on the northern and southern hemisphere countries playing each other end of season. I've thought there's space for a while now for something along those lines. Prioritise Wales, France, Ireland and Scotland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM2010 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, Damien said: I would love something like this mid season to provide internationals then focus on the northern and southern hemisphere countries playing each other end of season. I agree. Mid season tournaments in Europe, Oceania, the Americas and Africa then at the end of the season there could be a 4/6 nations for the top ranked countries and other tournaments involving Jamaica/USA/Canada and European nations and possibly SA, Nigeria etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 We need to build on the momentum created at next year’s World Cup. I’m certain we’ll have a tournament as well received and well attended as the 2013 World Cup (if not better received and attended) and it’s all about following that up and building on it. I’d hope that England are finalising plans for 2022 now so that when they’re playing in the World Cup next year, tickets can be on sale for the 2022 games. I do think we need to get a big name over in 2022 though that looks unlikely if we compete in this. I’d welcome a mid-season break, though I can’t see clubs doing it and especially not one of 3/4 weeks to fulfil a tournament. You could have game one of a tournament mid-season and then another couple of group games before a final post domestic season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 1 minute ago, Tommygilf said: I've thought there's space for a while now for something along those lines. Prioritise Wales, France, Ireland and Scotland. The Southern hemisphere are doing their own thing and realistically mid season matches between hemispheres are very problematic and nigh on impossible with Australia due to SOO. The NRL means they don't particularly make it easy for players to play for other countries either. Europe needs to build its own competition and regular calendar and not be dependent on the Southern hemisphere. This can and should be done mid season and allied to matches against the Southern hemisphere end of season would give us a good 6-8 internationals a year. This is a pretty healthy number and provides regular international through the year rather than falling off the radar for a year, or more, at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 50 minutes ago, Tommygilf said: https://www.rlef.eu.com/articles/1833/rugby-league-european-federation-confirms-status-of-2020-european-championships This article suggests that by the 2022 European cup/nations league, England will be involved. Great to see England finally taking Regional competition seriously. But does this really grab and excite fans and viewers ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 1 minute ago, Damien said: The Southern hemisphere are doing their own thing and realistically mid season matches between hemispheres are very problematic and nigh on impossible with Australia due to SOO. The NRL means they don't particularly make it easy for players to play for other countries either. Europe needs to build its own competition and regular calendar and not be dependent on the Southern hemisphere. This can and should be done mid season and allied to matches against the Southern hemisphere end of season would give us a good 6-8 internationals a year. This is a pretty healthy number and provides regular international through the year rather than falling off the radar for a year, or more, at a time. Exactly. We really are the most vulnerable from the rise of Tonga, PNG, Samoa and Fiji as they now provide the Ozzies and Kiwis strong relatively local opposition meaning they can, as the Kangaroos did this year and with GB in 2019, drop us when it is convenient for them. We need to build up our near neighbours. I'd even go as far as saying we should play outside of England in almost every game we play in this competition. 10k at Scotstoun or Cardiff or 15k plus at Avignon is better for developing RL than 6k at the LSV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 minutes ago, DavidM said: But does this really grab and excite fans and viewers ? We may not have a choice but to build it up, I think that is the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said: We need to build on the momentum created at next year’s World Cup. I’m certain we’ll have a tournament as well received and well attended as the 2013 World Cup (if not better received and attended) and it’s all about following that up and building on it. I’d hope that England are finalising plans for 2022 now so that when they’re playing in the World Cup next year, tickets can be on sale for the 2022 games. I do think we need to get a big name over in 2022 though that looks unlikely if we compete in this. I get that. I think also that the first year of a new World Cup cycle is ideal for England to play in this sort of tournament as the squad should be going through a transition. The risk we have to be aware of is that Australia and New Zealand no longer have to play us to play high level internationals, so we need to build up our alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Just now, Tommygilf said: We may not have a choice but to build it up, I think that is the point. But how do we build up our neighbours . . You can put out largely artificial teams as a good perception and have a game with them , but development and investment is the key and I don’t know how we’re going with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 8 minutes ago, DavidM said: But does this really grab and excite fans and viewers ? Probably not if its played on a Tuesday night at Leigh like we are embarrassed by it and we would have to be a bit clever about venues etc and things like standalone weekends are a must. However England have drawn capacity crowds against Ireland and lesser teams like Fiji in World Cups, the key is treating the competition in the same manner with good planning, marketing and an advanced schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 3 minutes ago, DavidM said: But how do we build up our neighbours . . You can put out largely artificial teams as a good perception and have a game with them , but development and investment is the key and I don’t know how we’re going with that Play them, regularly, and in their countries. We do it at Junior levels but drop off when it comes to the senior mens side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, Tommygilf said: I get that. I think also that the first year of a new World Cup cycle is ideal for England to play in this sort of tournament as the squad should be going through a transition. The risk we have to be aware of is that Australia and New Zealand no longer have to play us to play high level internationals, so we need to build up our alternatives. Samoa, Tonga, PNG or Fiji would more than suffice in Australia or NZ’s absence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hallucinating Goose Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Sounds good, a lot of us have said for ages that the way to build up smaller European nations is, first of all, to have them playing regularly, and secondly to have them play top nations. The problem in rugby league is we don't stick with things and we have to make sure we do with this, just because England will blow away the other nations doesnt mean the idea should be abandoned because the games aren't competitive, they will get more competitive the more the other nations keep playing the top nations and even if this tournament doesn't necessarily grab people's attention and attendances aren't great, keep sticking with it, keep playing the tournament and the sport will gain more exposure and the tournament will begin to stick in people's minds a bit more, that's how you build things up. Let's hope the powers that be realise everything starts small and gets bigger, it will just take quite a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidM Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 3 minutes ago, Tommygilf said: Play them, regularly, and in their countries. We do it at Junior levels but drop off when it comes to the senior mens side I don’t disagree , I’m just wondering about the pay off . I watched scotland at the WC. I don’t know how RL has entrenched and developed in places like this since then and what the long term prospects and appetites are to be sustainable and then self sustainable . Others I’m sure will know what’s going on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 1 minute ago, Hela Wigmen said: Samoa, Tonga, PNG or Fiji would more than suffice in Australia or NZ’s absence. True, but they haven't ever toured outside of World cups and like Australia and New Zealand, don't need to leave the pacific for high level test matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommygilf Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 Just now, DavidM said: I don’t disagree , I’m just wondering about the pay off . I watched scotland at the WC. I don’t know how RL has entrenched and developed in places like this and what the long term prospects are . Others I’m sure will know what’s going on I think its about investing in our neighbours which ultimately benefits us if they get stronger. England are the only side in the northern hemisphere that can attract the real kudos in terms of games which should be leveraged to take advantage of interest following the world cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 A regular international tournament of a decent standing is going to see players with ancestry stick their hands up to play, so you’ll see a better standard but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll stick with those nations like some of the Tongans have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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