Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[Barley Mow]

3 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Combine the 2021 World Cup and 2025 World Cup and go big , call it ‘ World Cup 4046 ‘ 

4046 being the year the ARLC want it to be held?

[DavidM]

1 minute ago, Barley Mow said:

4046 being the year the ARLC want it to be held?

Before pushing it back a year just to be sure 

[The Rocket]

6 minutes ago, RayCee said:

I think the Denver Test was a breaking point for the NRL. It didn’t involve Australia and they had to release players because the RLIF had the power to organise the match and make it happen.

Since then, the plan has been to find a way to take over RL (including possibly SL too) and not be dictated to. The vision is the ARLC and the NRL should run the game, with a few media corporations to generate the revenue. I think it is believed the game will be better for it.

Derailing the WC became the mission to kickstart the take over. Australia's choosing not to attend the WC was not enough to sabotage the event. Getting the NZRL to do likewise was essential. Then the clubs persuading players not to attend was to be the final nail in the coffin. Get all three done and it’s game over for the WC.

I think you`ve probably pretty well summed it up in your first two paragraphs.

Phil Gould because he is not officially part of the ARLC has felt free to say, and unfortunately in a tactless and inflammatory manner, probably what a lot of them are thinking behind closed doors. Certainly the part about thinking the game will be better off for it.

However I think you`re a little off the mark in your third, I refuse to believe that had there been no covid we wouldn`t have seen both Kangaroo tours last year and Oz and NZ participating in the WC this year. 

The NRL now in a somewhat calculated fashion think that one World Cup ain`t going to solve the NH`s games` problems, it hasn`t in the past, why should it this time. And given the opportunity to miss it, for what they think they can sell as legitimate reasons, aren`t going to come.  And I can`t help but think of one very good posters remarks on this forum a few months ago, WC finishes in November, 2-3 month break, it`s forgotten and it`s back to normal in clubland and club land problems. 

As I said I think the Kangaroo tour and the WC would have gone ahead, but I also agree that given the opportunity, on a somewhat questionable pretext, to forego attending both, they have taken it and that has revealed their hand in regards to the short to medium term control of the international agenda.

NZ could well be more than an innocent bystander in this, the 70% increase in the SKY TV deal explicitly included the rights to all NZ Kiwi and NZ Ferns representative matches, the implication being, they are going to be showing a lot more of both under the new regime.

 

 

 

[Davo5]

2 hours ago, DavidM said:

I think we should make a friendly gesture and invite the NRL to finish its season over here 

I’m sure we could find them a remote Covid free Scottish island to stay on,I believe Anthrax Island is open these days.

[DiH68]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

Ah so zero risk in bubbles in Australia but everyone is certain to get it in bubbles in the Uk:

 

 

To be fair to the NRL (and it pains me to say that!) the Qld government announced a snap lockdown today (because of six cases… yes…just six) and said no community or pro sport could be played. It’s not actually anything to do with the NRL. There’s no Covid in their bubble. And apparently they are talking about trying to play a triple header tomorrow - I hope the state government kibosh that idea as everyone is sick of the double standards when it comes to pro sport compared to everything else 

[Jim from Oz]

7 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

To be fair to the NRL (and it pains me to say that!) the Qld government announced a snap lockdown today (because of six cases… yes…just six) and said no community or pro sport could be played. It’s not actually anything to do with the NRL. There’s no Covid in their bubble. And apparently they are talking about trying to play a triple header tomorrow - I hope the state government kibosh that idea as everyone is sick of the double standards when it comes to pro sport compared to everything else 

Yes,  but the point is there would probably be no Covid in the World Cup bubble either

[DiH68]

9 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by DiH68
Double post

[DiH68]

10 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

To be fair to the NRL (and it pains me to say that!) the Qld government announced a snap lockdown today (because of six cases… yes…just six) and said no community or pro sport could be played. It’s not actually anything to do with the NRL. There’s no Covid in their bubble. And apparently they are talking about trying to play a triple header tomorrow - I hope the state government kibosh that idea as everyone is sick of the double standards when it comes to pro sport compared to everything else 

Well my hope was short lived! All games to be played Sun/Mon, right in the middle of lockdown. No crowds obviously, but a lot of people are going to be seriously ###### off with the preferential treatment they keep getting compared to everyone else 

[Dunbar]

3 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

Well my hope was short lived! All games to be played Sun/Mon, right in the middle of lockdown. No crowds obviously, but a lot of people are going to be seriously ###### off with the preferential treatment they keep getting compared to everyone else 

It's interesting the resentment that you describe.  I must admit, when we were under strict lockdown in the UK in the spring of 2020, it was when professional sport started up again (including the NRL) that game some relief from the boredom... surprised that the sport loving public of Australia resent the sports being played.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

33 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

I’m sure we could find them a remote Covid free Scottish island to stay on,I believe Anthrax Island is open these days.

I vote for Summerisle, I think they are still building Wicker Men on there. 

[DiH68]

8 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

It's interesting the resentment that you describe.  I must admit, when we were under strict lockdown in the UK in the spring of 2020, it was when professional sport started up again (including the NRL) that game some relief from the boredom... surprised that the sport loving public of Australia resent the sports being played.

A lot of its to do with bubbles and border closures. For instance, there were big calls for Qld to close the border to NSW when Sydney cases started spiking - they resisted until the day after all the NRL wives and families flew in to join the players in the Qld bubble, then slammed it shut. ‘Normal’ people are suffering big time through these lockdowns and border closures, yet the sports teams seem to be given so much preferential treatment. And we all know it’s because all the betting brings in a lot of money for the government…

[del capo]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

Ah so zero risk in bubbles in Australia but everyone is certain to get it in bubbles in the Uk:

 

 

Our bubbles are better than your bubbles

We are experts at them ( pass us an ice cream once you've taken the tape off the windows )

[Lowdesert]

Apologies if this has already been posted but Woolf gives his take on the status of the Tongan lads now.  Positive story imo.

UK being 12 - 15 months ahead of Aus regarding controlling Covid (his words) is also another positive - basically, I would say, get double jabbed and it’s safer over here than Aus.

https://www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/tonga-committed-to-world-cup-but-elite-players-must-be-involved-kristian-woolf-3330202

PS:  are the RLWC offering covid jabs FOC to teams (pre) coming over?  Seems small outlay in the scheme of things.

[theswanmcr]

5 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

PS:  are the RLWC offering covid jabs FOC to teams (pre) coming over?  Seems small outlay in the scheme of things.

Yes that’s all part of the package on offer.

[unapologetic pedant]

39 minutes ago, DiH68 said:

Well my hope was short lived! All games to be played Sun/Mon, right in the middle of lockdown. No crowds obviously, but a lot of people are going to be seriously ###### off with the preferential treatment they keep getting compared to everyone else 

Rather than feeling irritation at the "preferential treatment", won`t more Aussies instead be questioning the wisdom of snap lockdowns? Along with the continuing zero infections policy of the State Governments.

If today`s games had gone ahead as scheduled, what difference would that have made to controlling the spread of Covid that playing them 24 hours later will not?

[Damien]

1 hour ago, DiH68 said:

To be fair to the NRL (and it pains me to say that!) the Qld government announced a snap lockdown today (because of six cases… yes…just six) and said no community or pro sport could be played. It’s not actually anything to do with the NRL. There’s no Covid in their bubble. And apparently they are talking about trying to play a triple header tomorrow - I hope the state government kibosh that idea as everyone is sick of the double standards when it comes to pro sport compared to everything else 

I'd be fair to the NRL if that fairness was reciprocal. It isn't and what the NRL have done and said is far from fair.

[Damien]

So the NRL have moved heaven and earth to ensure the games now take place in a triple header on Sunday. As I said probably 100 pages back now, where there is a will there is a way:

 

[fighting irish]

1 hour ago, del capo said:

Our bubbles are better than your bubbles

We are experts at them ( pass us an ice cream once you've taken the tape off the windows )

Hilarious! I needed that.

[Damien]

Very well said George King. He doesn't buy the NRL bs and echoes what people have said on here:

“The World Cup 100 per cent needs to go ahead,” he told Hull Live.

“We can’t just be led by Australia and New Zealand dominating international rugby league. There’s other nations.

“We can’t just cater for two nations just because their international hierarchy demands so. We’ve got to have a successful World Cup.

“Nearly every single sporting organisation relies on the international game to flourish in the lower ranks.

“It’s the same with rugby league. We’ve got to do exactly the same.”

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/george-king-says-show-must-5721879

[graveyard johnny]

what the nrl has done here is ironically show the game can go on even in a lockdown state if its managed right- no excuses now needed for a wc no show

[dkw]

The NRL have just shown how moronic they are, they have shown they are willing to allow their players to play in games in covid areas. So as long as the IRL are able to prove they can keep them as safe as they are in Queensland currently then the NRL can have no argument against the world Cup going ahead.

Edited July 31, 2021 by dkw

[graveyard johnny]

the nrl is not even a competition at this present time as none of the other 15 teams can compete with the melbourne storm - maybe a full strength in form  panthers could give them a game but its a one horse race with the rest just over hyped also rans  at best  - at least the wc would be able to claim it is a genuine competition with more than one team having a chance at glory

[Big Picture]

4 hours ago, The Rocket said:

I think you`ve probably pretty well summed it up in your first two paragraphs.

Phil Gould because he is not officially part of the ARLC has felt free to say, and unfortunately in a tactless and inflammatory manner, probably what a lot of them are thinking behind closed doors. Certainly the part about thinking the game will be better off for it.

However I think you`re a little off the mark in your third, I refuse to believe that had there been no covid we wouldn`t have seen both Kangaroo tours last year and Oz and NZ participating in the WC this year. 

The NRL now in a somewhat calculated fashion think that one World Cup ain`t going to solve the NH`s games` problems, it hasn`t in the past, why should it this time. And given the opportunity to miss it, for what they think they can sell as legitimate reasons, aren`t going to come.  And I can`t help but think of one very good posters remarks on this forum a few months ago, WC finishes in November, 2-3 month break, it`s forgotten and it`s back to normal in clubland and club land problems. 

As I said I think the Kangaroo tour and the WC would have gone ahead, but I also agree that given the opportunity, on a somewhat questionable pretext, to forego attending both, they have taken it and that has revealed their hand in regards to the short to medium term control of the international agenda.

NZ could well be more than an innocent bystander in this, the 70% increase in the SKY TV deal explicitly included the rights to all NZ Kiwi and NZ Ferns representative matches, the implication being, they are going to be showing a lot more of both under the new regime.

Unfortunately, although the Brits on here won't like it a bit, they're probably right about the part which I bolded.

No matter how good a World Cup the organizers can deliver, it wouldn't and couldn't change the underlying fact that in Britain RL is a small, poor, downmarket regional sport with very little cut through in the population at large.  As long as that remains the case I can't why see more than a minority (and maybe a very small minority at that) of any newcomers who discover the game via the World Cup would become regular followers of it.

[Scubby]

40 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Unfortunately, although the Brits on here won't like it a bit, they're probably right about the part which I bolded.

No matter how good a World Cup the organizers can deliver, it wouldn't and couldn't change the underlying fact that in Britain RL is a small, poor, downmarket regional sport with very little cut through in the population at large.  As long as that remains the case I can't why see more than a minority (and maybe a very small minority at that) of any newcomers who discover the game via the World Cup would become regular followers of it.

But the difference is that the UK are 100% happy that all the profits - which could have been as high as £10-15m before this ###### - would have gone to the International game for future development.

The NRL/ARLC want to control both the game and its income. That is not international sport, that is a monopoly.

Edited July 31, 2021 by Scubby

[thebrewxi]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/political-football-why-boris-johnson-is-hell-bent-on-rlwc-going-ahead-20210729-p58dyi.html

This is probably the most balanced piece I've read to come from the Australian press (when theyve bothered to report it at all) but it's still so far off the reality of the state of affairs and our mindset here. You Aussies havent got a clue! And your journalism is bad; on a par with ours. 

Fingers crossed good news on Monday from the world cup committee and it will go ahead without nz and oz. And they'll have to qualify for the next one in France.