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Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)


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5 minutes ago, Damien said:

Simon Johnson sums it up pretty well I think:

Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman Simon Johnson called it a "selfish, parochial and cowardly decision".

"Rugby League World Cup organisers have bent over backwards to offer every assurance to the Australians and the Kiwis," Johnson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We are very unhappy with this decision and we are not prepared to take it lying down."

That last bit is interesting , I wonder what they’re plan is 

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2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Yeah postpone until next year and use this October to have a smaller N Hemisphere tournament. Assuming Italy, Greece and Lebanon can’t play as they’re basically Australian sides we’d have;

England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica. Then you might have Serbia, USA or Canada willing to come. Have an 8 team tournament, ok it would be far inferior to a WC but at least would generate some revenue and get international RL back on the agenda. 

what guarantee that covid will not be an issue for NRL next year. It will continue to be an issue here and in Europe. We are a much more connected world than Australia and hence covid will be popping up again and again over the next couple of years, new variants as well. Plus we test x3 to x5 more than any other countries so we will comparatively have more logged cases to scare the pants off anyone.

Personally I'd cancel the event, not postpone as its does us more harm than good constantly having these on/off pleading to NRL, etc, etc.

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6 minutes ago, Johnoco said:

We have the best vaccine record in the world. What’s the figures in Oz? 8? Maybe 9? Perhaps double figures soon

people or percentage.. 

its people isnt it?

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Just now, DavidM said:

That last bit is interesting , I wonder what they’re plan is 

I think the stength of feeling in that quote is directly proportional to the adverse financial impact this will cause the RFL and International game.

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7 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

It would have been, but still think we can make something out of what is clearly a very bad situation. We need to stay positive. The opportunities the RLWC offers are still there for us, if we are smart and look to be progressive.

and play it this year with 2 rebel teams.. next year is dead time TBH

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11 minutes ago, RP London said:

but it will.. there is no escaping that.. even if it finishes before hand we will be drawned by the "bring it home" brigade in the papers.. 

If you havens seen anything to suggest this was going to cut through i suggest you havent been looking hard... this has had the best publicity over the last year or so of ANYTHING in RL i remember... this was/is a real chance to move forward.. 

I still think with 2 rebel teams we play on.. (even without get 2 more teams in and crack on... ) i think the publicity would be roundly positive now that it has been shat on by these 2... if they had a genuine worry i think there would be sympathy but with this I think even our normally negative press could get behind it with a "screw you" attitude.. 

If i've got to actively look for it then it isn't cutting through. And to be honest everything you've listed is just your own opinion, based on what I'm not sure.

We'll be drowned out in the papers by any sporting event deemed slightly more important, which would be most.

It's not a good situation at all, but it is what it is and we need to make the best of it. Again, the opportunity is still there for us.

Edit: I hadn't taken into consideration the women's and wheelchair event, which possibly wont be as badly effected, but probably wont take place if the mens tournament doesn't. Which is very sad.

Edited by EastLondonMike

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6 minutes ago, Coventry said:

Still poor in comparison.  

Given that Australia has around eight people per square mile and the UK has around 700 people per square mile it's hardly surprising the incidence of infection is higher.

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Pitiful !  What a bunch of little fluffies a lot of the once proud, fearless ANZCs have become.

My kids and their offspring are all there, one lot in Oz and one in NZ, so I hope their younger generation members don't let their children grow up without a strong, working knowledge of that wise old chestnut "nothing venture nothing gained".

Mind you, it's my belief the real reason for this incredibly inconsiderate, late withdrawal from the World Cup, is that the once proud and much admired Australians (in particular), have for many years thought themselves too important to waste time playing against other nations.

The only use Australian Rugby League had for their multiple, and highly `Rugby League competent' neighbouring island peoples was to tap their wealth of natural talent, to the benefit of Australia's own ARL and NRL clubs.

I guess this is as much about the NRL being peed-off with Britain for encouraging the Pacific island nations to attract their own Oz and NZ, eligible young NRL players, to the idea of representing their own heritage islands instead of bolstering ANZAC teams, as they did for so many years.

And what a joy it has been to watch them blossom!

Tonga, in particular, is now more than able to field a team of its own, eligible, heritage and local nationals which could probably beat Australia more easily than our own England team are ever likely to.

Bad show, bad form. Booo.

 

Edited by Honor James
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“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

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6 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Funnily enough, that's Gus Gould's answer. He thinks we should have our own comp this winter and Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga have one Down Under.

I would welcome a European Championship for European-based players if the RLWC is postponed.

but but but... that would mean the players having to be in bubbles again for more months after the season ends.. in their international teams.. 

oh hang on, now thats ok and there isnt a player welfare issue because it benefits Australia..

its all about the 2 week quarantine and who pays for it.. Gus Gould is a wind bag and the less we hear from him the better.

Anyone who thinks the aussies dont just think the NRL is the only thing that is important and true international RL is pointless (especially the NH) is being shown they are wrong right here with comments like that..  

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7 minutes ago, Coventry said:

The NRL didn’t make the decision, the govt did.  Sport is a very low priority for govt here and has been for a decade or two.  

at no point has the govt been mentioned.. this is a league decision not a governmental one.

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4 minutes ago, RP London said:

but but but... that would mean the players having to be in bubbles again for more months after the season ends.. in their international teams.. 

oh hang on, now thats ok and there isnt a player welfare issue because it benefits Australia.

Precisely.

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eels v raiders just about to start on sky sports be interestng to see what they have to say about this.

Through the fish-eyed lens of tear stained eyes
I can barely define the shape of this moment in time(roger waters)

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10 minutes ago, RP London said:

There is no way I would go to one of those matches you suggest and i would guess it would garner very little sponsorship (budgets spent for this year on the RLWC) and i cant see much press coming from it either.. 

I have tickets for the RLWC final and some group games.. i'm massively disappointed really not sure if i will take the refund or move the tickets to 2022 but at the moment i wouldnt go to another international game of league if you were giving me the ticket for free TBH.. its a dead duck.. 

 

That’s a shame, wouldn’t you even go to see France v England in the European Final if it was at Bramall Lane, or even Sandygate Road? 

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6 minutes ago, Coventry said:

Wrong, and I’m walking distance from Parliament House.  Worked there for years too 

I'm walking distance to City Hall but it doesn't mean I can tell them to stop digging up the f.ecking main roads into the city and causing ridiculous traffic jams and tailbacks, making Hull one of the most congested cities in Britain. 

Edited by The Hallucinating Goose
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7 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

1. If i've got to actively look for it then it isn't cutting through.

2. And to be honest everything you've listed is just your own opinion, based on what I'm not sure.

3. We'll be drowned out in the papers by any sporting event deemed slightly more important, which would be most.

4. It's not a good situation at all, but it is what it is and we need to make the best of it. Again, the opportunity is still there for us.

Edit: I hadn't taken into consideration the women's and wheelchair event, which possibly wont be as badly effected, but probably wont take place if the mens tournament doesn't. Which is very sad.

i dont know how to split quote anymore so:

1. the whole point of saying "you dont need to look very hard" is that you dont need to look at all (but you know this because your not an idiot, your just trying to make a point by being funny)... its had national coverage for major announcements and events on major channels and papers. 

2. not sure what i've listed that you have an issue with.. of course its my opinion thats why its prefaced by "i think" however it is based on 43 years of experience of seeing what happens around major football tournaments. 

3. Yes it will but in 2021 we have nothing to compete with.. the olympics will have been over by 2-3 months.. the premier league season and autumn internationals will be on (they are every year so we cannot avoid them) but this is a major tournament so can cut through that.. it cannot and will not cut through anywhere near a football world cup.. to say otherwise is frankly idiotic.

4. yes you are right.. and the solution is to stick 2 fingers up and move on with 2021.. going to 2022 could be more damaging than carrying on with it this.. (and for you to argue that is just your opinion too.. )

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44 minutes ago, Eddie said:

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. 

That's the insularity that is so often mentioned in here. The forces of darkness that is Rugby union will capitalise on this, to our codes disadvantage. 

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1 minute ago, RP London said:

3. Yes it will but in 2021 we have nothing to compete with.. the olympics will have been over by 2-3 months.. the premier league season and autumn internationals will be on (they are every year so we cannot avoid them) but this is a major tournament so can cut through that.. it cannot and will not cut through anywhere near a football world cup.. to say otherwise is frankly idiotic.

That's certainly true. Anyone who thinks because the RLWC would be virtually over by the time the football WC starts hasn't really understand the scale of the buildup to the WC. England's warm up friendlies, coverage of injury scares and selection dilemmas will dominate the two months prior to the start rugby league will not get a look in. 2021 is a golden opportunity and I think you've got to try and move heaven and earth to get the Australians to change their minds even if it means paying up. 

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I was born to run a club like this. Number 1, I do not spook easily, and those who think I do, are wasting their time, with their surprise attacks.

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Just now, DI Keith Fowler said:

That's certainly true. Anyone who thinks because the RLWC would be virtually over by the time the football WC starts hasn't really understand the scale of the buildup to the WC. England's warm up friendlies, coverage of injury scares and selection dilemmas will dominate the two months prior to the start rugby league will not get a look in. 2021 is a golden opportunity and I think you've got to try and move heaven and earth to get the Australians to change their minds even if it means paying up. 

The only thing that will change this is player power.

Interested to hear what their view is - if they'd rather have an extra couple of weeks pre-season than play in a World Cup then the game is doomed anyway.

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Just now, DI Keith Fowler said:

That's certainly true. Anyone who thinks because the RLWC would be virtually over by the time the football WC starts hasn't really understand the scale of the buildup to the WC. England's warm up friendlies, coverage of injury scares and selection dilemmas will dominate the two months prior to the start rugby league will not get a look in. 2021 is a golden opportunity and I think you've got to try and move heaven and earth to get the Australians to change their minds even if it means paying up. 

Not sure I agree with that Keith. Nobody really cares about the friendlies and a proper World Cup (albeit in a different sport) to warm people up for the main event may be a good publicity boost? 

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2 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

I should be angry but I just haven't got the energy … after 46 years of lavish devotion to the game since age 11, I think this time it's defeated me for good. 

This "decision" by Peter V'landys is a complete and utter disaster for the game. Maybe I'll write a polite but firm email to him and the ARLC … but I'm just too over it all to do it now.

He's slowly ruining the game!

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1 minute ago, RP London said:

i dont know how to split quote anymore so:

1. the whole point of saying "you dont need to look very hard" is that you dont need to look at all (but you know this because your not an idiot, your just trying to make a point by being funny)... its had national coverage for major announcements and events on major channels and papers. 

2. not sure what i've listed that you have an issue with.. of course its my opinion thats why its prefaced by "i think" however it is based on 43 years of experience of seeing what happens around major football tournaments. 

3. Yes it will but in 2021 we have nothing to compete with.. the olympics will have been over by 2-3 months.. the premier league season and autumn internationals will be on (they are every year so we cannot avoid them) but this is a major tournament so can cut through that.. it cannot and will not cut through anywhere near a football world cup.. to say otherwise is frankly idiotic.

4. yes you are right.. and the solution is to stick 2 fingers up and move on with 2021.. going to 2022 could be more damaging than carrying on with it this.. (and for you to argue that is just your opinion too.. )

Im not trying to be funny about anything here. If theres been regular national coverage in the wider press then i'll take your word for it. Beyond a few news reports on the BBC news i haven't seen it. but like i say I'll take your word for it.

In my opinion i don't think we'll get any more major cut through going up against the PL and Union Autumn internationals. Even with a RLWC. We can disagree on that one.

On your last point, its sadly not going to be as black and white as going ahead without Aus and NZ. It will be going ahead without any Australian based players playing in the NRL or aligned with NRL clubs. As much as I would like to stick up two fingers and go ahead, it would be a financial disaster to go ahead in 2021 without those players.

We've already had people on here saying they wont attend games if Aus and NZ aren't there and there could quite likely be many more of that opinion. And of course those who only need the slightest reason to take a negative view of things will do.

There could of course still be more to come from this. Things could change.

Newham Dockers - Champions 2013. Rugby League For East London. 100% Cockney Rugby League!

Twitter: @NewhamDockersRL - Get following!

www.newhamdockers.co.uk

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