Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[The One]

No idea if the tournament is still feasible but I really hope it goes ahead without Aus and NZ.

Assuming England would make the final (I realise that’s not guaranteed), it would be a great opportunity for a real feel good story for the other finalist.

Just imagine the scenes in Tonga if they got to the final, never mind if they won. I’d doubt they’d care Aus and NZ weren’t in it.

Let’s go ahead and get behind it.

[Toby Chopra]

13 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Hoping by France 2025 I have improved my circumstances enough to watch in France.  100% as it stands I wouldnt attend a single game with either team. 

This is madness. People already talking about boycotting some of the biggest games of a future world cup that hasn't even been awarded yet. 

It's also the most rugby league thing ever. 

We all feel hurt, and maybe it's still too raw. But at some point we're going to have to get over ourselves and be the bigger people and find a way to come back together. 

We either come together as a sport or the writing's on the wall. 

[Damien]

A good read from Matthew Shaw:

It would appear you're in a bit of a hole here, V'landys. Maybe you haven't really thought this one through. Maybe you didn't anticipate the severity of the backlash.

Or is it you just don't really care about international rugby league? You're not doing a great deal to convince people otherwise at the minute are you, V'landys?

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/peter-vlandys-rugby-world-cup-21126668

[bobbruce]

22 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I'm not a fan of inidigenous or Maori teams playing - players miss out through no fault of their own. 

I'm OK with artifical teams of some sort though, we see West Indies in Cricket, and there is the Olympic 'other nationalities' section. 

I think it needs to be Australia XIII and NZ XIII instead of Kangaroos and Kiwis though if you do this. 

The problem with indigenous/Maori teams or any NZ or Aussie team not backed by the NZRL or the ARL is I don’t think clubs would have to release players called up for them. 

[bobbruce]

29 minutes ago, Jinking Jimmy said:

Well said, James Graham!

He certainly nailed it that this isn’t anything to do with COVID and purely power grab by the NRL and the clubs 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

Can't  the All Blacks and Wallabies take their spots.. they are already going to be their... plus I would p.. off the NRL and it would be great to see 2 union sides get hammered.

 

 

Win, win.

[Dave T]

4 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

The problem with indigenous/Maori teams or any NZ or Aussie team not backed by the NZRL or the ARL is I don’t think clubs would have to release players called up for them. 

No, this would have to be a team cobbled together from clubs who support. 

[GeordieSaint]

15 minutes ago, Damien said:

Surely it's better to try and make your feelings known rather than just give up and take it lying down?

Well done to everyone that has made their feelings know

Oh… I am not saying not to do it. Apologies if it came across that way. I meant it’s a dead end if we think it’ll change their minds. 

[DavidM]

8 minutes ago, Damien said:

A good read from Matthew Shaw:

It would appear you're in a bit of a hole here, V'landys. Maybe you haven't really thought this one through. Maybe you didn't anticipate the severity of the backlash.

Or is it you just don't really care about international rugby league? You're not doing a great deal to convince people otherwise at the minute are you, V'landys?

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/peter-vlandys-rugby-world-cup-21126668

Very good 

[GeordieSaint]

I didn’t listen to all of the second link… just caught Graham at the end and Sterling saying it’d be Mickey Mouse if it went ahead without Aus/NZ. What was his opinion on the Aus/NZ withdrawal?

[Scubby]

The big thing that could happen here is the UK Government flexing its muscles. Either doing a deal with the Australian government for assurances or simply offering to subsidise additional bubbling taking it to the highest standards.

V'Landys' play on player safety and welfare could actually be its Achilles heel. Half the players' seasons will be over by September 3rd - that's 52 days before the tournament and six months before the 2022 season starts. 

The fact they see the tournament (in fact International RL) as effort and hassle is probably the saddest thing to happen to the game in 50 years. We may never repair that.

Edited July 24, 2021 by Scubby

[GeordieSaint]

By all accounts, Ricky Stuart supports letting players come across… so that’s him and Bennett for with Cleary against currently. 

[bobbruce]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

No, this would have to be a team cobbled together from clubs who support. 

Even if some NRL clubs like South’s support this the danger is just before the comp starts the NRL could over rule it and cock the whole thing up. They can’t do this with the likes of Tonga or Samoa as they have to release players for internationals. Which is why they are trying a different tack with these countries by offering them games to pull out instead. 

[Scubby]

5 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

By all accounts, Ricky Stuart supports letting players come across… so that’s him and Bennett for with Cleary against currently. 

What has it got to do with club coaches? The IRL has zero backbone here. It has a full time CEO who has spouted a few words of despair. He is in Australia atm. He should be on every news network he can shaming out the ARLC and NZRL.  

Edited July 24, 2021 by Scubby

[fighting irish]

I think Peter Sterlings off the cuff remark, about the tournament (without Aus and NZ) was poorly judged and obviously extemporaneous (without any forethought). It revealed an underlying and now poorly disguised contempt for ''the rest'' which I'm sure is ubiquitous down under and I'm ashamed to say, prevalent over here. 

We need to change this attitude, right across the world.

There's a hypocritical element (even amongst people engaged in development work) if they see newcomers as lesser human beings.

We must get beyond seeing fledgling nations as ''Mickey Mouse'' and begin treating the organisations and the people involved with the respect they deserve, given that they are committing to ''our'' game and doing the best they can with the energy they can muster.

Where's the basic human decency, the kindness towards kindred spirits?  

[GeordieSaint]

1 minute ago, Scubby said:

What has it got to do with club coaches? The IRL has zero backbone here. It has a full time CEO who has spouted a few words of despair. He is in Australia atm. He should be on every news network he can shaming out the ARLC and NZRL.  

I meant from an opinion perspective as a way to undermine the ARLC’s argument. 

You can likely throw in Trent Robinson as being in favour for the tournament as well. 

[Scubby]

1 minute ago, GeordieSaint said:

I meant from an opinion perspective as a way to undermine the ARLC’s argument. 

You can likely throw in Trent Robinson as being in favour for the tournament as well. 

I have a watchNRL subscription and see pretty much every show and games and build up. The World Cup is hardly mentioned at all. No one is working for the World Cup at the end of the year, no one is talking about who will be in the Australian backline, no one is talking about retaining the World Cup. It is who is playing a Origin level, who is a future Origin star, who would shine in the Origin arena.

It is great Bennett, Stuart and Robinson piping up now - but where has everybody been all season? Covid has made an insular country 10x worse. The AFL with no international opportunities available at all must be laughing their asses off.

[The storm]

25 minutes ago, Scubby said:

The big thing that could happen here is the UK Government flexing its muscles. Either doing a deal with the Australian government for assurances or simply offering to subsidise additional bubbling taking it to the highest standards.

V'Landys' play on player safety and welfare could actually be its Achilles heel. Half the players' seasons will be over by September 3rd - that's 52 days before the tournament and six months before the 2022 season starts. 

The fact they see the tournament (in fact International RL) as effort and hassle is probably the saddest thing to happen to the game in 50 years. We may never repair that.

I have heard that the UK government is going to do a deal with the Australian and NZ government. 

 

It may result in a delay to the tournament 

[GeordieSaint]

1 minute ago, The storm said:

I have heard that the UK government is going to do a deal with the Australian and NZ government. 

It may result in a delay to the tournament 

Until when? 

[Scubby]

3 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Until when? 

The 12th of never

[Chris22]

1 hour ago, MrPosh said:

I don't have tickets, yet, but I'm planning on one group game and the semi at the Emirates.

If this goes ahead without Aus and NZ I will add in a couple more games to reward the bravery of the organisers. I suspect many will do the same.

As will I. I already have tickets for the Australia v Italy game and if the tournament goes ahead with, say, USA v Italy, I will certainly go. In fact, it is more likely to be a competitive game.

If the organisers hold their nerve, then they can count on my further support. Ok, it would be out of spite, but ticket sales are ticket sales!

I wonder if this decision will cripple NZRL as an international force? A lot of their players used to start off with Samoa or Tonga before changing allegiance to NZ. Now, they would have option of playing in front of packed houses with almost crazed Tongan fans creating an incredible atmosphere with adulation from the entire country or playing for NZ in front of a quarter full Westpac Stadium. It's a no brainer for me.

We attracted good crowds for non Aus / NZ games in 2013 and people didn't go to watch Cook Islands, the USA or Italy because Aus / NZ were in the same tournament. They wanted to see those games in their own right. To this tournament, Aus and NZ are not as important as they would like to think they are. This is a direct threat to the NRL, which is why we have seen this reaction this week.

Hold our nerve and we'll be fine (unless the Pacific Islands pull out). Can't wait to see Aus and NZ having to qualify for the 2025 tournament against Niue, Cook Islands and South Africa though!

[GeordieSaint]

17 minutes ago, Scubby said:

I have a watchNRL subscription and see pretty much every show and games and build up. The World Cup is hardly mentioned at all. No one is working for the World Cup at the end of the year, no one is talking about who will be in the Australian backline, no one is talking about retaining the World Cup. It is who is playing a Origin level, who is a future Origin star, who would shine in the Origin arena.

It is great Bennett, Stuart and Robinson piping up now - but where has everybody been all season? Covid has made an insular country 10x worse. The AFL with no international opportunities available at all must be laughing their asses off.

What do you want me to say? Of course we know the Aussies are insular and self-absorbed… we wouldn’t be in this rubbish situation if they weren’t. Of course I’d rather the coaches, players etc to be shouting from the roof tops all year about the competition. But they aren’t and we won’t change that. At least 2/3 are saying something now. 

And just to be clear, I don’t think it’ll make a blind bit of difference. 

Edited July 24, 2021 by GeordieSaint

[OMEGA]

Here’s what I’d suggest,

Go ahead with the World Cup

Australian and New Zealand Results recorded as 28-0 Losses! Those results will be in the history books forever and will stand as a mark of shame on their respective administrations.

Invite Indigenous and Maori Representative Teams to play the games that Australia & NZ would have taken part in thus satisfying the spectators who’ve bought tickets and the TV Broadcasters. It will be a great story in the papers, a celebration of their cultures as well as being something special to watch in terms of entertainment.

However the two invited teams are playing as guests and cannot progress to the knockout phase! Offer both a financial incentive for stepping in and arrange to play them again at some point in the future!

Make the whole World Cup an amazing spectacle, talk it up in the media, get the papers to do the same! Let Australia and NZ sit at home watching and reading lament their decision and reap the backlash from all and sundry. They’ll put in World Class moans and groans but deep down they’ll know they’ve F’d up!

[Toby Chopra]

6 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

Can't wait to see Aus and NZ having to qualify for the 2025 tournament against Niue, Cook Islands and South Africa though!

Perhaps you say it in jest, but anyone who thinks this will happen really hasn't grasped the magnitude of what's happening here. 

[Scubby]

1 minute ago, GeordieSaint said:

What do you want me to say? Of course we know the Aussies are insular and self-absorbed… we wouldn’t be in this rubbish situation if they weren’t. Of course I’d rather the coaches, players etc to be shouting from the roof tops all year about the competition. But they aren’t and we won’t change that. At least 2/3 are saying something now. 

And just to be clear, I don’t think it’ll make a blind bit of difference. 

The thing I have been most shocked about is the Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns - basically had their dreams shattered by the knock on effects of this. This WC was the reason a few of them switched codes, playing at Old Trafford would be the highlight of their lives. The NRL made a decision and then thought, oh #### we will have to pull out the women's and wheelchair teams as well. 

Saying that the women can stand up for themselves and they have done and said nothing. I've looked at instagram and twitter profiles of the leading stars and not one has made a comment. The women and wheelchair players are the one group of people who could bring the self absorbed crp crashing down in embarrassment!