Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[GeordieSaint]

6 minutes ago, thebrewxi said:

He's also suggested 2 of Serbia, Spain and South Africa have already been sounded out to replace NZ and Aus...

Interesting... I'd have thought one of them plus the US would be the way ahead.

[thebrewxi]

Just now, GeordieSaint said:

Interesting... I'd have thought one of them plus the US would be the way ahead.

He was sort of suggesting due to the NARL, USARL turmoil over there, plus distance they haven't been approached.

[londonrlfan]

8 minutes ago, thebrewxi said:

He's also suggested 2 of Serbia, Spain and South Africa have already been sounded out to replace NZ and Aus...

South Africa over the US? But glad to hear they're sounding out other countries.

[The Rocket]

38 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

Given the high proportion of players in the NRL with Pacific Islands heritage, this issue doesn't look like it's going to disappear any time soon.

The thing is, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji et. al. all rely on heritage players, and at some point the grandparent rule stops working for people of Islander extraction living here, i.e. they can no longer say I have a grand-parent born in Tonga ( let`s just use that as an example) because the grandparents were born in Oz. Then that great swathe of Islander migration into Oz`s or NZ`s offspring are only eligible for OZ or NZ.

Now in the future, given the small population of countries like Tonga (150k) and Samoa (250k), although our talent scouts maybe over there pulling out the most talented individuals they can find, and don`t forget union are doing the same thing, it is a small player pool, so without having access to heritage players from OZ, the numbers to choose from to assemble their national team will be  greatly reduced.

Fiji, population 1m, not so much, we are much more likely to pull much greater numbers out of there and therefore the chances are they will be able put together much stronger squads long term.

Now that`s not to say that Tonga and Samoa won`t be able to assemble handy teams from kids being scouted from those countries, but long term 10 - 20 years, they are not going to have access to the current crop of players in Oz, because Grandma and Grandpa were born here.

The Kiwis are the ones, if they can keep churning out talent like they are, and they can get all their best players on the field at the same time and start playing more games, they`ll match it with Oz every day of the week. They`re the ones to watch.

We could possibly see a League equivalent of the All-Blacks.

 

[Griff]

4 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Good stuff, no punches pulled there.  

It's a lot milder than what I would have said

[JM2010]

4 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Why do you need to switch? Just watch both rugby league and rugby union. I've been doing that since the late 1980's.

I think that's what I'm going to do. I won't stop watching RL as I enjoy the game but if I want to watch regular international rugby then Union is the game.

As a parent I think Union is the best bet to take your kids as there are many more opportunities for them, especially if they have the potential to turn pro

[londonrlfan]

22 minutes ago, thebrewxi said:

Just listened to Chasing Kangaroos from the last few days, and Mr Carbone is thought provoking as always. He's mentioned that the League World Cup 2021 is getting £25M funding from the UK government (which is more than the Sky broadcast deal) as part of the levelling up and "open for business" government narrative.

If the World Cup was to be staged in 2022, that narrative changes and the 25M is not on the table any more.

Surely if this is the case then it's World Cup 2021, or not at all.

Exactly. It goes to show the idea we can just move it to next year because the Aussies say so is delusional. It goes ahead this year or it's cancelled. I'd hate to see the fallout if it was the latter. The NRL would probably push to get rid of the WC completely. 

[Barley Mow]

3 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

The thing is, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji et. al. all rely on heritage players, and at some point the grandparent rule stops working for people of Islander extraction living here, i.e. they can no longer say I have a grand-parent born in Tonga ( let`s just use that as an example) because the grandparents were born in Oz. Then that great swathe of Islander migration into Oz`s or NZ`s offspring are only eligible for OZ or NZ.

Now in the future, given the small population of countries like Tonga (150k) and Samoa (250k), although our talent scouts maybe over there pulling out the most talented individuals they can find, and don`t forget union are doing the same thing, it is a small player pool, so without having access to heritage players from OZ, the numbers to choose from to assemble their national team will be  greatly reduced.

Fiji, population 1m, not so much, we are much more likely to pull much greater numbers out of there and therefore the chances are they will be able put together much stronger squads long term.

Now that`s not to say that Tonga and Samoa won`t be able to assemble handy teams from kids being scouted from those countries, but long term 10 - 20 years, they are not going to have access to the current crop of players in Oz, because Grandma and Grandpa were born here.

The Kiwis are the ones, if they can keep churning out talent like they are, and they can get all their best players on the field at the same time and start playing more games, they`ll match it with Oz every day of the week. They`re the ones to watch.

We could possibly see a League equivalent of the All-Blacks.

 

Do you not think that migration from Pacific islands will continue in future generations?

I'd have thought there will be a continuing supply of new people moving to Australia/New Zealand so that there will still be people with islander parents & grand parents even though there will also be people who's closest relatives are great grandparents, etc.

[londonrlfan]

1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

Mildly depressing to read the tangent about the 4 Nations and other old ground.

The Aussies are sending us a clear message - we cannot rely on them. We do need to grow the international game in the northern hemisphere as well.

That means playing France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Serbia, Jamaica etc. even if it means weakening the England team - much as Australia and New Zealand are weakened by the likes of Jason Taumalolo playing for their heritage nations.

We also have our issues with selfish clubs, cf. Super League scheduling three fixtures on the same day as the Combined Nations game. 

England played Italy once in 2013 and lost, and yet never again. I know it relies on which players they can get, but I'd rather watch England v Italy or Lebanon, than putting 50/60 on France and Wales on a regular basis. 

[Damien]

18 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2001/erl-board-statement-in-support-of-rlwc-2...

I like this statement a lot. Its probably the best statement I've read so far from any of the governing bodies involved.

[thebrewxi]

Best comment on CKs yet though... whatever happens, Australia and NZ won't qualify from their group, therefore will need to go through qualifiers for the 2025 world cup. 

I'd love to see the Kangaroos have to go off to Chile and Vanuatu between SOO matches.

[17 stone giant]

40 minutes ago, thebrewxi said:

Just listened to Chasing Kangaroos from the last few days, and Mr Carbone is thought provoking as always. He's mentioned that the League World Cup 2021 is getting £25M funding from the UK government (which is more than the Sky broadcast deal) as part of the levelling up and "open for business" government narrative.

If the World Cup was to be staged in 2022, that narrative changes and the 25M is not on the table any more.

Surely if this is the case then it's World Cup 2021, or not at all.

Has the £25m already been received and spent by the RLWC organisers? If it has, I agree that there's not much option but to go ahead. If it hasn't, then surely the UK government would be open to giving it next year instead. Surely the levelling up and open for business thing isn't only for 2021?

[Man of Kent]

14 minutes ago, londonrlfan said:

England played Italy once in 2013 and lost, and yet never again. I know it relies on which players they can get, but I'd rather watch England v Italy or Lebanon, than putting 50/60 on France and Wales on a regular basis. 

Sure, if the NRL allows players to play for Italy!

[londonrlfan]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Sure, if the NRL allows players to play for Italy!

If Aus/NZ/Tonga etc can play end of season tests, then I don't see why Italy, Lebanon can't too. 

[Spotty Herbert]

4 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:

Has the £25m already been received and spent by the RLWC organisers? If it has, I agree that there's not much option but to go ahead. If it hasn't, then surely the UK government would be open to giving it next year instead. Surely the levelling up and open for business thing isn't only for 2021?

The whole idea of the government offering cash to big events is to show that the UK is open for business NOW, not next year (rightly or wrongly, whatever your opinion of the UK government).

Edited July 29, 2021 by Spotty Herbert

[dkw]

35 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

https://europeanrugbyleague.com/articles/2001/erl-board-statement-in-support-of-rlwc-2...

Brilliant statement, pulls no punches and takes the Aussies and Kiwis to task. I'd love to shake the hand of whoever wrote that.

[17 stone giant]

Just now, Spotty Herbert said:

The whole idea of the government offering cash to big events is to show that the UK is open for business NOW, not next year.

Sure, that's the open for business part. But isn't the levelling up thing about more government spending in the north and midlands, etc.?

[Man of Kent]

3 minutes ago, londonrlfan said:

If Aus/NZ/Tonga etc can play end of season tests, then I don't see why Italy, Lebanon can't too. 

Absolutely. 

If we were so willing, there could be a decent intercontinental comp featuring, say, England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Jamaica, USA and Lebanon.

EDIT: Or Italy!

Edited July 29, 2021 by Man of Kent

[nadera78]

7 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:

Has the £25m already been received and spent by the RLWC organisers? If it has, I agree that there's not much option but to go ahead. If it hasn't, then surely the UK government would be open to giving it next year instead. Surely the levelling up and open for business thing isn't only for 2021?

£10m of it was for the 'Funded By' programme which has put money into facilities and equipment for community clubs. Most if not all of that has already been spent.

[Spotty Herbert]

1 minute ago, 17 stone giant said:

Sure, that's the open for business part. But isn't the levelling up thing about more government spending in the north and midlands, etc.?

Levelling up is just political rhetoric. The cash is for promoting the UK as being open now. It will not be available next year, just as the NRL will not want their players to play again next year. It's now or never.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Spotty Herbert said:

The whole idea of the government offering cash to big events is to show that the UK is open for business NOW, not next year (rightly or wrongly, whatever your opinion of the UK government).

The RLWC funding is linked to the Northern Powerhouse manifesto pledge so could - in theory - be spent at any point during this Parliament and still fit that pledge.

[londonrlfan]

3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

Absolutely. 

If we were so willing, there could be a decent intercontinental comp featuring, say, England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Jamaica, USA and Lebanon.

EDIT: Or Italy!

That'd have made a good Confederations Cup. What happened to that idea? 

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, londonrlfan said:

That'd have made a good Confederations Cup. What happened to that idea? 

The Aussies pulled out

[Scubby]

5 minutes ago, Spidey said:

The Aussies pulled out

Yep decided to make a weekend out of it. 

Now using that weekend to try and justify inclusion in the Olympics.

[Gomersall]