Rugby League World Cup 2021 (Merged Threads)

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

10 minutes ago, SydneyRoosters said:

 what some guy thinks the best team is.

Or gal

[hunsletgreenandgold]

5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The RLWC site and app doesn't have any squad numbers on there. 

It also doesn't have the Aussie team, which has been announced and is on the NRL site. 

Imagine if we were professional and teams were announced first on the RLWC site to drive traffic and give value to our sponsors etc? 

At the moment, it does rather feel like the Aussies are just doing their own thing and not playing along. But the silence from RLWC is poor in the opening week. 

Yeah there's definitely an element of Aussies doing their own thing - it feels a bit like they're trying to prove the RLWC organisers aren't getting things quite right. Team list Tuesday matters a lot in the NRL, same as the Premier League has a blanket ban on naming teams more than an hour before kick off. Aussies are being obtuse but RLWC have dropped the ball with setting out definitive guidelines for this kind of thing it seems. 

[Dave T]

1 minute ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Yeah there's definitely an element of Aussies doing their own thing - it feels a bit like they're trying to prove the RLWC organisers aren't getting things quite right. Team list Tuesday matters a lot in the NRL, same as the Premier League has a blanket ban on naming teams more than an hour before kick off. Aussies are being obtuse but RLWC have dropped the ball with setting out definitive guidelines for this kind of thing it seems. 

I assume there are protocols for teams to be named, we have established ones in the UK, although they differ to the Aussies. Tuesday seems early for a Saturday evening kick off. 

It'd be good if stuff like this was announced to fans though. Surely by now we should know when England will name their squad and team? 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

10 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I assume there are protocols for teams to be named, we have established ones in the UK, although they differ to the Aussies. Tuesday seems early for a Saturday evening kick off. 

It'd be good if stuff like this was announced to fans though. Surely by now we should know when England will name their squad and team? 

So the way the NRL does is it is all teams have to name an extended team on a Tuesday - this includes 4 reserves. This then needs to be an 18 man squad locked in 24 hours before the game. Obviously that's based on weekend games and wouldn't work for a WC but the main point is everybody (teams and fans alike) know when these announcement drop and it creates a buzz about each game. I worry here that there's no protocol/rule in place and each team will just announce via their own social media channels whenever they've got their line up nailed down. I agree with what you said before - they should all have to submit it to the RLWC and it initially gets posted by them as match up rather than individually. 

[RigbyLuger]

1 hour ago, Barley Mow said:

A one-man crusade seems to have started against the Ireland team's use of the republic's flag on twitter!

Or there's no emoji flag for the other Irish flag they use for rugby...

[Barley Mow]

4 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Or there's no emoji flag for the other Irish flag they use for rugby...

They often use the shamrock emoji instead. There are various sports that have teams representing all of Ireland, I'm not sure what they do.

[Madrileño]

13 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Or there's no emoji flag for the other Irish flag they use for rugby...

You mean the rugby union flag?? Why on earth would they use that?

Edited October 11, 2022 by Madrileño

[Dave T]

17 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

So the way the NRL does is it is all teams have to name an extended team on a Tuesday - this includes 4 reserves. This then needs to be an 18 man squad locked in 24 hours before the game. Obviously that's based on weekend games and wouldn't work for a WC but the main point is everybody (teams and fans alike) know when these announcement drop and it creates a buzz about each game. I worry here that there's no protocol/rule in place and each team will just announce via their own social media channels whenever they've got their line up nailed down. I agree with what you said before - they should all have to submit it to the RLWC and it initially gets posted by them as match up rather than individually. 

There is no reason to think there is no protocol, considering SL has protocols in place. Ours are just 48hrs before the game. 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

3 minutes ago, Dave T said:

There is no reason to think there is no protocol, considering SL has protocols in place. Ours are just 48hrs before the game. 

If you're right and all the other teams come out at the same time (relative to when their game is) then the Aussies should rightly be panned for this. 

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

There is no reason to think there is no protocol, considering SL has protocols in place. Ours are just 48hrs before the game. 

I think 48 hours before is fine and practical for a World Cup. Again though there should be set protocols around this for all teams to adhere to. As you say I would be amazed if there arent. I don't think doing this early, like the Aussies have done is a big deal, late is a definite no no.

[gingerjon]

14 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

They often use the shamrock emoji instead. There are various sports that have teams representing all of Ireland, I'm not sure what they do.

Cricket 

[Barley Mow]

14 minutes ago, Madrileño said:

You mean the rugby union flag?? Why on earth would they use that?

I think the reference is to the banner of the four provinces of Ireland, which is often used for sports teams representing the whole island to avoid taking a political position - not just used for RU.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Barley Mow

[Madrileño]

7 minutes ago, Barley Mow said:

I think the reference is to the banner of the four provinces of Ireland, which is often used for sports teams representing the whole island to avoid taking a political position - not just used for RU.

Union use their own four provinces flag. It's green with the union badge on it, and 4 emblems. He refers to the "other flag used for rugby". Its there in black and white. 

The 4 provinces banner looks nothing like it. 

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

1 hour ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Yeah there's definitely an element of Aussies doing their own thing - it feels a bit like they're trying to prove the RLWC organisers aren't getting things quite right. Team list Tuesday matters a lot in the NRL, same as the Premier League has a blanket ban on naming teams more than an hour before kick off. Aussies are being obtuse but RLWC have dropped the ball with setting out definitive guidelines for this kind of thing it seems. 

It's just the Aussies being Aussies. Didn't want a squad number system, didn't get their own way, so opted to try and make it look ridiculous by subverting normal practice (in a range of sports, not just ours). If course as always they only end up making themselves look daft, like any petulant child does.

In country development terms they're like a 14 year old teenager, they'll grow out of it eventually. In about 2054 by my extrapolation.   

[FearTheVee]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

Meninga complaining about the squad number system. Some absolute gems here..... 

“We signed off on it about two years ago, so I have no real comeback on it… We had no idea when it was signed off on,” Meninga said on SEN"

"We have 13 debutants on tour, so the jersey that they get to play in for the very first test is their tour number, Isaiah Yeo is No.24 mainly because of where he sits on the alphabet, he is the premier 13 of our competition."

So give him the no. 13 shirt then. You have actively chosen not to give him that number, not the organisers. 

Australia really are a bunch of negative whiny children aren't they.  It never ceases to amaze me that such a tough sport can breed such toddlers.

[MattSantos]

11 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

 

In country development terms they're like a 14 year old teenager, they'll grow out of it eventually. In about 2054 by my extrapolation.   

I'd rather blame the parents. There should be agreed minutes that tells all nations when and how to release their match day squad / team.

This stuff isn't hard.

[Maximus Decimus]

6 hours ago, Dave T said:

4 days to go. Tried to go in to buy tickets just now, website stuck on a loop asking me to tick the reCaptcha box, which I have done. 

Whoever has designed and built their digital sales journeys shouldn't be paid. 

You're presuming they were in the first place!

[Maximus Decimus]

5 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

I don't think we can talk about "losing the wrong one" - teams usually build into tournaments and saying you beat a team off the plane without a warm up game but couldn't beat them in a knock-out game later are two very different things.

In theory yes, and if this was football or dare I say it even Union this might apply.

However, one of England or Samoa could very likely only play two truly competitive games in this tournament. It'll just so happen to be against the same team. The idea of growing into a tournament doesn't really apply in this instance.

[FearTheVee]

1 minute ago, Maximus Decimus said:

The idea of growing into a tournament doesn't really apply in this instance.

I can't agree with that - when Samoa play on Saturday they will have had a few days training together and no match.

When they play a QF they'll have had a month training together and three matches.

Hard to imagine that Samoa won't be better prepared as the touranment progresses.

[Dave T]

59 minutes ago, FearTheVee said:

I can't agree with that - when Samoa play on Saturday they will have had a few days training together and no match.

When they play a QF they'll have had a month training together and three matches.

Hard to imagine that Samoa won't be better prepared as the touranment progresses.

Agreed. I see no logic in the claim that growing into a tournament doesn't apply. I'd absolutely expect England to be better in game 4 and 5 than 1.

[burnleywelsh]

2 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

Or there's no emoji flag for the other Irish flag they use for rugby...

Then they shouldn't use the tricolour.

Ireland national rugby league team - Wikipedia

Edited October 11, 2022 by burnleywelsh
Addition

[Maximus Decimus]

2 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

I can't agree with that - when Samoa play on Saturday they will have had a few days training together and no match.

When they play a QF they'll have had a month training together and three matches.

Hard to imagine that Samoa won't be better prepared as the touranment progresses.

I don't dispute this, but for me the idea of growing into a tournament implies an element of improving based on an increased level of challenge.

England in Euro 2020 are a good example of this, but what is fundamentally different is that for England each game was an increasing level of challenge.

Samoa and England will be better in the same way a boxer doing more sparring will be better, or a team playing more friendlies will be better.

The potential second England-Samoa game could be a different kettle of fish to the first, but it doesn't change the fact that of the other 4 decent teams we'd have only played one of them and twice leaving it feeling hollow if we were to lose IMO.

[Madrileño]

3 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

Australia really are a bunch of negative whiny children aren't they.  It never ceases to amaze me that such a tough sport can breed such toddlers.

I think that's a bit of a generalisation to be honest. They can be, sure. However I find Aussies in general are at least tolerant of other fans' viewpoints when discussing League. Pretty much the only real childish whining I have come across from fans who simply refuse to see other people's POV has been from older English fans. (Although I can definitely think of one Australian fan who is like that too!) Most  Aussies - even if they disagree with you - will at least tolerate supporters of other teams opinion. (In my experience at least). 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Madrileño

[Dunbar]

3 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

I can't agree with that - when Samoa play on Saturday they will have had a few days training together and no match.

When they play a QF they'll have had a month training together and three matches.

Hard to imagine that Samoa won't be better prepared as the touranment progresses.

What you have assumed here is that the Samoan camp builds on its intensity week on week and the players reach the peak of their performance at the end of the tournament. 

What about every other World Cup suggests this will happen this time?

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

3 hours ago, MattSantos said:

I'd rather blame the parents. There should be agreed minutes that tells all nations when and how to release their match day squad / team.

This stuff isn't hard.

Fair - I'd say both things are true. The organisers could have defined how squad numbers were to be used (e.g. FIFA says that 3rd choice GKs have to be no.22, previously no.21). But then to be fair they'd mistakenly thought they were dealing with adults, who didn't have to be asked not to use squad numbering to make infantile gestures. Now they know the age of their offspring though, they do need to adjust their parenting style accordingly at future family events.