Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[DI Keith Fowler]

Might be wishful thinking but I don't think this is over yet. The timing of it, the lack of notice to RLWC21, no notice to the players. Seems like they're trying to make as big an impact as possible. If they wanted to quietly have it next year they'd have pulled out formally two weeks ago when they were in discussions. I don't know exactly what they want but if you were doing a power play to get something this looks an awful lot like it.

Either that or they're intentionally trying to kill international RL.

[Rupert Prince]

6 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

Well I didn’t actually think they wouldn’t come, nor NZ.

There is no other word for it than disaster - RL in the NH may never recover.

And were it all genuinely down to Covid then not many people would blame them. But it’s just a handy excuse. 
 

The problem is we do not stand on our own feet.  We need to, but we lost a chance for investment.  I do not see where we get that from now.

I'd  like to see us pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps but we have tied our laces together.

WAKEUP EVERYONE.

We need to drastically, fundamentally reorganize our game.  Then we will compete with influence.

But it's clear from the evidence of the blog, that there is NO STOMACH for fundamental change.  This turns my stomach.

Please grow up everybody... or the game will die into an irrelevance.  Or of course, worse...

[DiddyDave]

2 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Cook Islands all reliant on NRL player's to fill their squads, these player's have mostly the same employers as the Aus and NZ player's, not a snowball in hells chance of any of these teams taking part.

Has the song says "Let's call the whole thing off"

Exactly mate, I said it on here a few days ago, nobody in their right mind would be wanting to head to Borisland in three months or so. Vaccinated or not, there`s no way anybody will be guaranteed to be safe from the virus and having to quarantine for two whole weeks on return is the final straw, sad as this decision is for the comp. Certainly boarding the plane for the 24 hour trip after a relentlessly hard season would be another factor most players wouldn`t be too keen on. Oh well, England will have a great chance of bettering their runner up spot from the last World Cup with having nowt to beat.

[EastLondonMike]

Disappointing to hear the news, and also how it was communicated just a week or so since a statement was made by the RLWC organisers. Pretty poor all round.

The situation here in the UK is pretty bad, and likely to get worse, so it is understandable, but with a checkered history of this sort of behaviour its hardly surprising the NRL and its clubs come in for some much criticism.

There is no way in the world we'll see any NRL contracted players playing in this world cup. The best thing would be to get some agreements in place for next year as soon as possible (Covid craziness permitting), and replace this world cup i 2021 with a smaller European based tournament.

To go ahead without Aus/Nz and other nations depleted of their NRL players would be madness.
People talk about the game not recovering, which would be much harder to do if a tournament took place and was a complete disaster.

I have zero concerns about our World cup featuring in the same year as the Football world cup. We'd struggle for  mainstream media attention if the RLWC was the only sporting event of any kind throughout the entire year. And as long as it isn't taking place at the same time shouldn't pose and real issues.

It does highlight once again the position we hold in the eyes of the NRL and the game down under, and i do think it is up to us to progress to a point where this attitude is reversed. The attitude they have towards us at the moment is not very different to the attitude many have towards France, Wales, Scotland.. 'Why should we play them? they offer no challenge.. we always win" etc etc.
 

Edited July 22, 2021 by EastLondonMike

[Eddie]

27 minutes ago, JohnM said:

A GLOBAL pandemic? A GLOBAL GLOBAL epidemic?  Or an epidemic of antipodean cant and hypocrisy?   Handing the intiative to rugby union? A gift from heaven to kicks n clap more like.

That’s quite hysterical, it’s nothing to do with rugby Union, it’s about the folly of playing a World Cup during a pandemic. Let’s say it was decided to go ahead now, the way things are going we’ll be back in lockdown in October, much better to cut our losses now imho, as disappointing as that is. 

[Harry Stottle]

2 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

But the NRL know they can't bill these national federations like they can the ARLC.

If they hold firm, indeed if players switch to them to play, then its even more likely they come over.

Bet ya they don't come Tommy, and what about the collective of the "Islanders" who on religious grounds refuse to be vaccinated, why on earth would they want to come to a place that is producing 50,000 new cases a day as it stands at the moment with experts telling us to expect that to rise to 100,000 a day as the lockdown restrictions take effect.

If this was on the other foot and we had negligible numbers becoming infected in this country, and the country holding the tournament was rife with infection would our officials take a different opinion from the Aus and Kiwis I very strongly suspect not.

[Chrispmartha]

It’s not the fact they don’t want to come that’s annoying its the way they have gone about it, giving the organisers 4minutes warning is absolutely scandalous 

[RP London]

11 minutes ago, Spidey said:

I guess supply is an issue, why wouldn’t they have done this already?

i put the bit in capitals that is the key.. they just dont want to. you can see it by the general attitude to the vaccine roll out.. something like 4% are jabbed.. its pathetic.. Supply isnt the issue as they have it available they just cant roll it out (doesnt help that the AZ vaccine is one they deem unsafe due to a low number of blood clots [statistically minimal and other medicines give them more apparently, but are deemed safe] and the rest of the world seem to think it is ok!)

Vaccination is the ONLY way out of this unless you want to wait for umpteen years for the thing to die its own death but by which time your economy will have done that too.. Australia is a mess and they are just projecting that outwards... like it or not you will always see a peak when you reopen its whether it starts to come down as per the modelling that will be key.. if they do then come october/november the models have us not knowing we are in a pandemic basically.. the need to even go into a bubble could be gone, still may chose too which is fair enough.

[Eddie]

26 minutes ago, Rupert Prince said:

Really...  What about the Lions tour.  What about the Olympics?  Whay about the Euros.  What about the F1, swanning over the globe... never mind Hamilton etc, what about the lowely mechanic, or the guys working back at the factories.

Truth is the Aussies don't give a !

Yes that is the truth, but also as far as I’m aware none of the Lions have been in bubbles away from their families for the best part of 18 months. 

[gingerjon]

Just now, Chrispmartha said:

It’s not the fact they don’t want to come that’s annoying its the way they have gone about it, giving the organisers 4minutes warning is absolutely scandalous 

It is a calculated insult 

[Spidey]

Just now, gingerjon said:

It is a calculated insult 

It’s a ####house way of doing things 

[The Rocket]

8 minutes ago, JohnM said:

#### #####. ## ######## ####### ####

That`s the first time I`ve smiled for two hours.

[Rioman]

To quote the Great Mick Morgan:  " You bottleless g*ts"     "Ah can't speyk"

 

Post amended/added to,  to reflect the fact I am speechless

Edited July 22, 2021 by Rioman
spelling error

[RP London]

13 minutes ago, Coventry said:

Nobody here will touch the AZ vaccine with a barge pole, especially as two more died from clotting today.  As a pom living in Oz it was obvious months ago that the WC wasn’t going to happen.  The country is locking down tighter by the day and the public are not allowed to leave the country.  If they somehow get out they won’t be coming back until 2022 at the earliest.  There are  still some 40,000 expats trying to get back, and have been since 2020. 

other vaccines are available at the same cost.. thats just the one i know.. 

 

[Man of Kent]

7 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

 

He's right. Postponing is the lesser of two evils...

[Rupert Prince]

13 minutes ago, Coventry said:

Nobody here will touch the AZ vaccine with a barge pole, especially as two more died from clotting today.  As a pom living in Oz it was obvious months ago that the WC wasn’t going to happen.  The country is locking down tighter by the day and the public are not allowed to leave the country.  If they somehow get out they won’t be coming back until 2022 at the earliest.  There are  still some 40,000 expats trying to get back, and have been since 2020. 

They may not touch anything... I've had 2 AZ jabs.  The Aussies are a bunch of bigoted hysterics.

 

[The Rocket]

24 minutes ago, DI Keith Fowler said:

If the government are really going to push this Workington Man/Northern Powerhouse now would be a good time to be on the phone to their Australian counterparts to exert a bit of pressure. I know the NRL have that big fish in a small pond thing being by far the biggest thing in RL but if the Australian government pressured them I'd expect them to fold. 

The UK government wants to sell a global Britain re-opening this Autumn and the WC was part of that. Whatever you think of the politics of it, they are obviously keen for the tournament to go ahead. 

No RLWC.... no trade deal. Tell them to shove their beef and their pineapples where the sun don`t shine.

[dkw]

A 4 minute warning is disgraceful, shows their utter disdain for the competition and shows why we should just cut all ties. 

 

[Rupert Prince]

2 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

He's right. Postponing is the lesser of two evils...

It's a disaster.  And Australia is going to stay in permanent lockdown, because they cannot keep the virus out.  

I do not see how we can plan for next year.  It's effectively cancelled.

[EastLondonMike]

6 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

It’s not the fact they don’t want to come that’s annoying its the way they have gone about it, giving the organisers 4minutes warning is absolutely scandalous 

It does make you wonder what was discussed last week, and what agreements, if any, they came to. 

Either way its not a good look for all involved.

[Harry Stottle]

8 minutes ago, Rupert Prince said:

The problem is we do not stand on our own feet.  We need to, but we lost a chance for investment.  I do not see where we get that from now.

I'd  like to see us pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps but we have tied our laces together.

WAKEUP EVERYONE.

We need to drastically, fundamentally reorganize our game.  Then we will compete with influence.

But it's clear from the evidence of the blog, that there is NO STOMACH for fundamental change.  This turns my stomach.

Please grow up everybody... or the game will die into an irrelevance.  Or of course, worse...

In this country Princey the game is the hospital patient that is on the HDP ward, it will not be long before it is moved to the ICU the trouble is we have not got the medical expertise to drag us out of it.

[Damien]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

NZ signed a conditional participation agreement ?  Was it simply to do what the ARL told them

Seems that way. Pressure has obviously been applied and the NZRL have now been told what to think.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, Rupert Prince said:

 

I do not see how we can plan for next year.  

Simple, don't invite them to play in it

[DavidM]

My watch NRL app is expiring end of next week and I’m not renewing it 

[fcl]

it has always been the NRL and the Australians who decide for the world rugby league. This is just one more example, I still regret the eligibility rules established to artificially make competitive teams in defiance of nations that really work for development like France, Papua or Serbia.

Maybe now that england is affected you may react to form a real governance which works for the development of our sport and not to make money for strong nations ?