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Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)


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Just saw this.

NRL clubs dish out World Cup hammer blow | The West Australian

Ordinarily, clubs are bound to release players for representative duties as part of their license agreement with the NRL.

However that will not be enforced this World Cup after the ARL Commission's decision to pull the Kangaroos from the tournament.

It means clubs would have the power to tell their players they do not want them to participate.

Friday's statement didn't explicitly state players would not be allowed to feature in the tournament, but gave every indication clubs would not support them going over.

A ray of hope.

"The NRL and its clubs have gone to great lengths and invested heavily to ensure our players remain healthy and the competition continues," Souths CEO Blake Solly said.

Idiot Solly again.

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A reminder, if you want the world to notice, that Great Britain and playing Australia in the women's football quarter finals today.

You may not like women's football but 10m over here watched the Lionesses World Cup semi final and (on their own figures) 1.6m watched the Aussies last game over there.

Get on social media, use the game's hashtags to politely raise the contrast between one team doing Australia proud on the global stage and an other who would rather stay at home tucked in bed.

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Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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Having a couple of other countries in the comp would do more for spreading the game,  in those countries, than a couple of Indigenous teams.

Iv'e watched these games in Aussie and they play some great footy ,but it' not a comp Indigenous Teams. leave them be.

The Aussies and NZ won't be televising these games but maybe the  the countries added  will.

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What still amazes me about the NRL’s statement and indeed the entire Australian me me me approach is that there is no suggestion as to how a 2022 World Cup would happen, or any acknowledgement of the efforts other sports are taking when faced with the same challenges and the costs and vast wider impact associated with any rearranged tournament. Or are they offering to pay for the delay, and I missed it? 
 

It seems to me that NRL is now a rival sport intent on destroying anything it can’t control. 

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I guess the NRL supports my decision not to watch them anymore & many more people  like me.

Statement to clubs from me If your worried about your players so much, don't play trial matches or do contact collision at training as they might get hurt. Don't release them for SOO either as that might injure them.

What a joke of a statement? You would think they were playing the World Cup in Congo/Somalia & Nigeria joint hosting it.

 

Edited by Matterhorn
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6 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

there is no suggestion as to how a 2022 World Cup would happen

They know it can't simply happen by transposing 2021's dates and locations.

They don't care.

But they also know that if IRL is desperate enough that they (the NRL) have priority access to a bunch of soulless stadiums in Sydney and Brisbane which could add to their (the NRL's) profit.

Heck, there's probably a pie shop or two who already support the NRL who might like to pay a few extra dollars to get their name on the halfway line.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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11 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

What still amazes me about the NRL’s statement and indeed the entire Australian me me me approach is that there is no suggestion as to how a 2022 World Cup would happen, or any acknowledgement of the efforts other sports are taking when faced with the same challenges and the costs and vast wider impact associated with any rearranged tournament. Or are they offering to pay for the delay, and I missed it? 
 

It seems to me that NRL is now a rival sport intent on destroying anything it can’t control. 

Absolutely, indeed all the comments from those saying "postpone to 2022" screams of people with no concept of the outside world.

Nobody is stupid enough to place an event up against the FIFA World Cup. Well nobody except the insular idiots who think Australian RL is the only thing anybody cares about.

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1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

Still the alternative is cancel so lets crack on. Looking to the future, an aboriginal team could be more likely to tour in the future or join a four nations tournament than Australia.

The sentiments inspiring players to represent Maori or indigenous Aussie are similar to those motivating the Pacific Island players. All this is now a major feature of Southern Hemisphere RL.

The pre-season All Stars game went to an Indigenous/Maori format in 2019. I suspect the timing wasn`t accidental. The decision will have been taken in 2018, not long after the on and off field phenomenon of Tonga at the 2017 WC.

I think the NZ RL realised that if NZ-born Tongans and Samoans embraced their heritage national teams, the Maoris would feel left out. And if there were ever a split between NZ RL and NZ Maori RL, it would be calamitous for the Kiwis.

There`s no reason why an Indigenous team can`t officially represent Australia at the WC. For the reasons The Rocket cites, any NRL administrator or politician who tried to thwart them would be risking heavy opprobrium. If the NZ Maori come, I think they will want Aotearoa as their valid title.

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7 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

How strong would these teams be? I'm looking at the side of the draw that Australia and NZ were in, and would it be that impossible for one of these teams to reach the final?

Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Lebanon, Wales, and Jamaica are the other teams in that half.

No, that can't be right. If Lebanon and Jamaica are on the list, Ireland must be too.

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

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The new statement is a mendacious disgrace, but it shows the clubs and the ARLC are rock solid on the same page. My fear is this now means the clubs will instruct ALL of their players not to travel or face sanction, and the Australian governing body will back them. 

Sure, the IRL could penalise the ARLC for this, but what can they do? Suspend the ARLC? Sue the NRL? They wouldn't care about the first and we know who's got the deeper pockets for the second. 

Edited by Toby Chopra
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1 minute ago, Toby Chopra said:

My fear is this now means the clubs will instruct ALL of their players not to travel or face santion, and the Australian governing body will back them. 

Even if they don't do anything formal, we know, because we're all human beings with life experience, how easy it is for organisations to put informal pressure that works on their employees.

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Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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4 hours ago, frank said:

Still reckon they should have picked two other countries. Be a real farce if these two  indigenous teams get to the final and they could.

They only good thing I see coming out of it is that will hit the NRLs pre season.

Technically they would face each other in the semi finals if they replaced Aus/NZ and it all went to plan/seeding.

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1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

Even if they don't do anything formal, we know, because we're all human beings with life experience, how easy it is for organisations to put informal pressure that works on their employees.

For sure. And if they know the ARLC will turn a blind eye they'll absolutely do it. 

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35 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

What still amazes me about the NRL’s statement and indeed the entire Australian me me me approach is that there is no suggestion as to how a 2022 World Cup would happen, or any acknowledgement of the efforts other sports are taking when faced with the same challenges and the costs and vast wider impact associated with any rearranged tournament. Or are they offering to pay for the delay, and I missed it? 
 

It seems to me that NRL is now a rival sport intent on destroying anything it can’t control. 

Yeah but it's another year away and we can concentrate on NRL and 2022 SOO before we have to think about the RLWC. That is exactly the thinking.

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1 minute ago, Scubby said:

Yeah but it's another year away and we can concentrate on NRL and 2022 SOO before we have to think about the RLWC. That is exactly the thinking.

But they are suggesting something which looks impossible, unless much more money is stumped up, and they must know that. Oh, and they can’t even be bothered by now acknowledging the calamitous knock on effects for the rest of the world. 

For years the Oz papers have referred to the pro game as NRL rather than rugby league. This is the natural endpoint of that. They are literally a law to themselves. 

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11 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

But they are suggesting something which looks impossible, unless much more money is stumped up, and they must know that. Oh, and they can’t even be bothered by now acknowledging the calamitous knock on effects for the rest of the world. 

For years the Oz papers have referred to the pro game as NRL rather than rugby league. This is the natural endpoint of that. They are literally a law to themselves. 

They don't care mate, they just want it out of their hair for this year. How often has anyone said I'll do it next week, next month, next year to make something disappear.

If the NRL and clubs can get a World Cup cancelled the IRL is pretty much dead, or at worst mortally wounded.

Edited by Scubby
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1 hour ago, Man of Kent said:

Why have Souths and Raiders been put at front of house to deliver this message from the 16? Is it because they are the only clubs with more than 1 English player, to apply a bit more informal pressure.? If so, that stinks.

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3 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

The latest statement re: the NRL clubs not having to release their players is being described as a hammer blow.

I take it this is them playing their ace.

Do the organisers have any cards left to play now or is it finished?

The NRL clubs say they support the ARLC/NZRL decision. They cannot stop players being released for internationals. It is in every NRL player's contract.

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6 hours ago, rlno1 said:

I wonder with Gould being involved this may be about Penrith?

Think about it, most of the Panthers team would be involved in the WC. They are a young team, they played in last years NRLGF into October and then an Origin series they look like going into the NRLGF this year also then would be off to England 2 weeks later. Also alot played Origin this year also.

This is the club that Gould thinks he is the great guru of. With the Covid situation and bubbles etc. they have been through he comes to V'landys and says they can't go it will wreck them.

Nothing like self interest to ruin rugby league.

 

Phil Gould has just gone to the Bulldogs from the NZ Warriors. He hasn't been at Penrith for a couple of years.

That said Penrith coach Ivan Clearly has been anti RLWC too and has spoken out against it to try and put the Penrith players off going.

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1 minute ago, Scubby said:

The NRL clubs say they support the ARLC/NZRL decision. They cannot stop players being released for internationals. It is in every NRL player's contract.

Their contracts presumably also say that they will not engage in risky or activities that could affect their ability to fulfil their contracts. It's a lawyers' heaven, but the clubs are clearly intent on torpedoing the whole thing. 

And think about it, why would they go through all this just to prevent 50 Aus/NZ players from going? Frankly, that wouldn't disrupt things that much. It's the disruption from 300+ players and trainers travelling they're they're determined to stop. And they mean to do it. 

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6 minutes ago, Scubby said:

The NRL clubs say they support the ARLC/NZRL decision. They cannot stop players being released for internationals. It is in every NRL player's contract.

Australian media so far are reporting this take on it:

“Ordinarily, clubs are bound to release players for representative duties as part of their license agreement with the NRL.

However that will not be enforced this World Cup after the ARL Commission's decision to pull the Kangaroos from the tournament.

It means clubs would have the power to tell their players they do not want them to participate.”

https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-league/nrl-clubs-dish-out-world-cup-hammer-blow-c-3549625

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