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World Cup in Doubt…Again


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2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

🛏💦

C’mon dude. What about other sports? The Olympics? Are they pulling out? No.

This is about the NRL.

In any case, the RLWC tournament doesn’t kick off until late October, by which time it’ll be late spring in Aussie. Things will probably have improved.

Keep calm and carry on.

I am not trying for a minute to take the heat of NRL / NRL clubs, I know exactly how they feel about international RL, no need to discuss it any further.

To answer your question about the Australian olympic athletes.  Many of them arrived at the beginning of June, at a time when daily covid cases in Australia were zero:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/world/asia/tokyo-olympics-athletes-covid.html

So, their expenses are being paid for nearly two full months prior to the games, plus the two weeks of isolation they will need to do upon returning to Australia.  Do you think our sport can our sport afford to do that?  Not just for the Aus team, but for the 10 competing nations at the WC whose teams are made up of majority Aus-residents.

Melbourne's indefinite lockdown last year ended up lasting nearly four months.  Current lockdowns have only just begun, nobody knows what the outcome will be.  Don't try telling me govt. policy is irrelevant in all this.

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44 minutes ago, langpark said:

They are plugging away, doing their thing with the mindset as though it is 100% happening this year (as they should).  But yes, the situation in Australia will play a huge role in all of this.  Given how many players are based there and how strict their govt. is, makes it a big issue, no matter how good the situation in the UK is.

So they will let a total of say 1000 people travel to the Olympics but not say a total of say 200 people travel to the UK for the WC?

If its next year we could be in direct competition with the Football WC - say goodbye to TV coverage and sponsorships as we would be Steamrollered out of any publicity.

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8 hours ago, langpark said:

Right, I did not know that about full capacity.  But if there's one thing the pandemic has taught us, it is how quickly the situation can turn.  I also wonder if RLWC2021 have set a deadline as to when they make the final decision by.  Because as I said, we are now less than 4 months away.

Quite, and there’s no guarantees that it’ll be any better next year. Covid is not going anywhere, there will be new variants popping up all the time and some will evade vaccines 

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20 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Quite, and there’s no guarantees that it’ll be any better next year. Covid is not going anywhere, there will be new variants popping up all the time and some will evade vaccines 

Precisely. Anything can happen next year, just like this year. The NRL can make some new (or even the same!) excuses to pull out next year.

It has GOT to be held this year, as scheduled. 

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I mean, half the teams are eliminated after the first 3 weeks of the tournament, so that's half the players back well in time to have quarantine, a long annual holiday break, and then return to pre-season training.

Within another week 4 more teams are eliminated – again leaving plenty of time for everything the NRL clubs are complaining about.

 

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I haven’t read this whole thread as it’s pretty long, but as someone living in Aus, I can tell you the whole Covid thing is an utter shambles.
Only about 4% of the population vaccinated, a growing number of cases, calls by state governments to lower the number of international arrivals (even though they’re already tiny) as most of the cases here have been a result of it leaking out of hotel quarantine… it’s going to be a never-ending cycle of lockdowns, mixed messaging, politicians arguing, disputes over vaccines etc etc. it’s not so much whether the Aussies want to travel, as to whether they’ll be allowed to.

You need an exemption to leave the country, which they might get, but it’s not that easy (the PM has suggested there’ll be no overseas travel for the average Aussie until the end of 2022 - kill me now!!)
There’s no end in sight to the ridiculously strict overseas travel restrictions and mandatory quarantine on arrival.

But to be honest, as an English person desperate to get out of this prison, if I was an Aussie player and did get the chance to leave, I’d bite their hand off 😆😆

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5 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

I haven’t read this whole thread as it’s pretty long, but as someone living in Aus, I can tell you the whole Covid thing is an utter shambles.
Only about 4% of the population vaccinated, a growing number of cases, calls by state governments to lower the number of international arrivals (even though they’re already tiny) as most of the cases here have been a result of it leaking out of hotel quarantine… it’s going to be a never-ending cycle of lockdowns, mixed messaging, politicians arguing, disputes over vaccines etc etc. it’s not so much whether the Aussies want to travel, as to whether they’ll be allowed to.

You need an exemption to leave the country, which they might get, but it’s not that easy (the PM has suggested there’ll be no overseas travel for the average Aussie until the end of 2022 - kill me now!!)
There’s no end in sight to the ridiculously strict overseas travel restrictions and mandatory quarantine on arrival.

But to be honest, as an English person desperate to get out of this prison, if I was an Aussie player and did get the chance to leave, I’d bite their hand off 😆😆

But this is all an alternative argument and quite different than the reasons given so far, namely that the NRL and its clubs don't want players to be missing trial games and any pre-season training.

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44 minutes ago, Damien said:

But this is all an alternative argument and quite different than the reasons given so far, namely that the NRL and its clubs don't want players to be missing trial games and any pre-season training.

It’s all part of the same thing though. It’s not really an ideal situation for those players to have next to no break after the NRL season, go to UK for World Cup which in itself could have challenges (Australians may have to quarantine over there by then), play the World Cup, fly back, quarantine, go straight into pre-season training then start the season. It would be mentally and physically exhausting, and no good for the players’ health. The way things are here right now, there are too many variables, and if things continue as they are, I can’t see it going ahead 

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1 minute ago, DiH68 said:

It’s all part of the same thing though. It’s not really an ideal situation for those players to have next to no break after the NRL season, go to UK for World Cup which in itself could have challenges (Australians may have to quarantine over there by then), play the World Cup, fly back, quarantine, go straight into pre-season training then start the season. It would be mentally and physically exhausting, and no good for the players’ health. The way things are here right now, there are too many variables, and if things continue as they are, I can’t see it going ahead 

Its not the reasons given and is deflection. If players don't want to travel then fine, others will and the poll in the SMH and comments by the RLPA say they will. If the Australian Government put obstacles in the way then I would expect the NRL to work with them top find a solution. The season can also be moved. These aren't the obstacles.

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10 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Quite, and there’s no guarantees that it’ll be any better next year. Covid is not going anywhere, there will be new variants popping up all the time and some will evade vaccines 

and to think all of these 3rd and 4th waves and subsequent variants spreading could have been avoided if Governments across the world had just shut the airlines down from the start. Bailing out the airline industry would have cost peanuts  compared to what we're going thru now. Our dozy PM was asked to do this and did not think it was necessary.

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51 minutes ago, RobertAM said:

and to think all of these 3rd and 4th waves and subsequent variants spreading could have been avoided if Governments across the world had just shut the airlines down from the start. Bailing out the airline industry would have cost peanuts  compared to what we're going thru now. Our dozy PM was asked to do this and did not think it was necessary.

Borders don’t stop the virus mutating 

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3 hours ago, RobertAM said:

and to think all of these 3rd and 4th waves and subsequent variants spreading could have been avoided if Governments across the world had just shut the airlines down from the start. Bailing out the airline industry would have cost peanuts  compared to what we're going thru now. Our dozy PM was asked to do this and did not think it was necessary.

Loads of money have gone to the airlines and the airports and the holiday industry.  The world is affected.  Unfortunately others were backwards with vaccination compared with our PM.

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1 hour ago, Spidey said:

 

Well that is worrying.

The competing nations have been confirmed, the draw has been made, the venues have been confirmed, the tickets are on sale and over 5,000 people have registered to volunteer for the tournament.

And yet, here we are 5 months away from the start and the announcement on whether the tournament will go ahead is going to be made at some unspecified date in the future.

The longer the delay in confirmation, the less likely confirmation will come.

"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

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9 hours ago, DiH68 said:

It’s all part of the same thing though. It’s not really an ideal situation for those players to have next to no break after the NRL season, go to UK for World Cup which in itself could have challenges (Australians may have to quarantine over there by then), play the World Cup, fly back, quarantine, go straight into pre-season training then start the season. It would be mentally and physically exhausting, and no good for the players’ health. The way things are here right now, there are too many variables, and if things continue as they are, I can’t see it going ahead 

Isnt that tge same for the common working person?

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I think a delay in the decision right now is actually good news. In Australia right now, state governments are saying hotel quarantine facilities are at capacity, the PM is threatening even stricter border restrictions than we currently have and a lot of the country is in lockdown. Right now, it's probably either no announcement or bad announcement. While the club's obviously have self-interest in this, the decision is much bigger and more complex than their concerns. For example, how do players from Fiji or PNG get there and back home? At the moment, they're looking at a month in hotel quarantine on the return leg - and what if borders become even more restrictive? Australia's IPL cricketers weren't even allowed to come straight home, for instance. 

I know this is frustrating and disappointing, but it is also a global health crisis and complicated political issue. And as much as may want it to be, the RLWC is not the Olympics... So fingers crossed we can still go ahead, because news of a delay in decision is much better than the headline I feared!

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21 minutes ago, ghost crayfish said:

I think a delay in the decision right now is actually good news. In Australia right now, state governments are saying hotel quarantine facilities are at capacity, the PM is threatening even stricter border restrictions than we currently have and a lot of the country is in lockdown. Right now, it's probably either no announcement or bad announcement. While the club's obviously have self-interest in this, the decision is much bigger and more complex than their concerns. For example, how do players from Fiji or PNG get there and back home? At the moment, they're looking at a month in hotel quarantine on the return leg - and what if borders become even more restrictive? Australia's IPL cricketers weren't even allowed to come straight home, for instance. 

I know this is frustrating and disappointing, but it is also a global health crisis and complicated political issue. And as much as may want it to be, the RLWC is not the Olympics... So fingers crossed we can still go ahead, because news of a delay in decision is much better than the headline I feared!

Nicely put.

Also, there was a slight positive in that the statement noted "constructive progress has been made this week".

Fingers crossed that can continue.

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Australia government/s have announced 4 stages out of Covid, with phase one being:  vaccinating, testing (including of alternative quarantine arrangements) and planning. It comes, as of July 14, with a 50 per cent cut in international arrivals on commercial flights. It is expected to last until the end of the year.

So not sure if that will help with returning RL players from the WC but I guess there is some certainty in that a process has been announced/set in place.

Maybe the RLWC organisers can sort out special arrangements for the players to return??

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I thought yesterday’s announcement made it clear that they’re just hoping it will go  ahead now, but they don’t think it will and are warming us up to that. I’m gutted, but at least if they do announce that soon it will give the organisers time to plan for next year, we can stop second guessing what the NRL are thinking and there’s no risk if a disastrous cancellation weeks before the event. My only concern like a lot of you is clashing with the football World Cup, it might even be worth delaying for two years imho. 

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9 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Well that is worrying.

The competing nations have been confirmed, the draw has been made, the venues have been confirmed, the tickets are on sale and over 5,000 people have registered to volunteer for the tournament.

And yet, here we are 5 months away from the start and the announcement on whether the tournament will go ahead is going to be made at some unspecified date in the future.

The longer the delay in confirmation, the less likely confirmation will come.

5 months? Less than 4, actually.

"We'll sell you a seat .... but you'll only need the edge of it!"

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1 hour ago, Jim from Oz said:

Australia government/s have announced 4 stages out of Covid, with phase one being:  vaccinating, testing (including of alternative quarantine arrangements) and planning. It comes, as of July 14, with a 50 per cent cut in international arrivals on commercial flights. It is expected to last until the end of the year.

So not sure if that will help with returning RL players from the WC but I guess there is some certainty in that a process has been announced/set in place.

Maybe the RLWC organisers can sort out special arrangements for the players to return??

Exactly. Now there's a policy announced, there's a bit more clarity and hopefully they can find a solution. I think the easy and tempting option would be to cancel - maybe I'm naive, but they fact they haven't yet suggests there is good will! Along with the practicalities of getting there/back, I think the players will have to be willing to cut their contracted 8 week leave entitlement back to 6. If they truly want to play, I would've thought that'd be an easy decision...

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20 hours ago, DiH68 said:

I haven’t read this whole thread as it’s pretty long, but as someone living in Aus, I can tell you the whole Covid thing is an utter shambles.
Only about 4% of the population vaccinated

As of today we have just over 8% fully vaccinated. - I agree with your shambles comment.

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From a couple of days ago but I think it shows the players are committed:

Tonga coach Kristian Woolf has called for an end to the uncertainty over the 2021 World Cup and says his players are unwavering in their commitment.

Four months out from the opening game between England and Samoa at Newcastle’s St James’ Park, the 16 competing nations still do not know if the event will be held as planned or be moved forward 12 months to 2022.

Organisers have held back on making a final call as the situation changes constantly but a World Cup board meeting is due to take place on Monday evening and it is thought a decision will come by the end of the week.

Australia and New Zealand have yet to sign participation agreements and NRL clubs are nervous about releasing their players, who would have to quarantine for two weeks on their return down under.

With more than 400 players and officials due to arrive from the southern hemisphere, officials have been holding talks with the Australian Rugby League Players Association and have offered to lay on charter flights to reduce the risks associated with long-distance travel.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/tonga-coach-kristian-woolf-hopeful-of-world-cup-going-ahead/

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