langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 4 minutes ago, Big Picture said: I can help you there, https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/teams/tonga/results.html. It looks like it was in 2006 against Fiji. Thanks for that, great resource! Actually 2007 according to the link you sent. https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/dates/19-october-2007/tonga-vs-fiji.html Still, 15 years is a helluva long time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marklaspalmas Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 7 minutes ago, langpark said: Correct. Early indeed, but let's not forget, there are far more nations involved now. Plus, for RLWC2021, all teams had qualified by the end of 2019. Something I personally do not like, I believe the team we see at WC should be as close as possible to the one that got them there. Whereas a lot of teams can change significantly in 2-4 years. However, given what happened with covid in 2020, it worked out well in the end. Yeah. Regardless of numbers and processes, two years 2023 and 2024 ought to be enough to cover all qualifying. That way, the possibility of the scenario you outline would be mitigated. https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said: There are a lot of Nigerians in super league? I know muizz mustapha. Sadiq adebiyi and doro are Nigerian plus a few in the champ and sl academy’s then you have Jason saab and okunbor in the NRL and a young fb at parra, komolafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulga Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 A bit unfair that all Women's teams don't have to qualify. The 8 that go through from this year will have never qualified. One team hasn't played a single sanctioned game and is guaranteed two World Cups.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowes Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 23 hours ago, langpark said: In the men’s competition, Asia Pacific will have between 5 and 7 berths, Europe will have 6 to 8, Americas will have 2 and Middle East Africa will have 1 or 2. This paragraph suggests we will be seeing quite a few repechage matches across continents, which I look forward to seeing! https://www.intrl.sport/news/international-rugby-league-announces-qualification-places-for-france-2025/ I would guess that means the Repechage is: Repechage 1 Pacific 6 Vs Europe 7 Repechage 2 A four team knockout with: Pacific 7 Europe 8 Middle East/Africa 2 Loser Repechage 1 I suspect both Repechage spots will go to Pacific Island teams, although Greece may have a chance against Cook Islands in Repechage 2 if they field enough heritage players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 6 minutes ago, Pulga said: One team hasn't played a single sanctioned game and is guaranteed two World Cups.... Yes, Brazil!! Historic moment, you and I actually agree!! Overall though, I like what they have done. For the most oart I think they have gotten it right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowes Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 11 hours ago, Waghi Tumbe said: I think the following nations will feature in RLWC 2025: Asia Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands. Europe: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, Scotland, Greece and Serbia. Americas: United States and Jamaica MEA: Lebanon and Morroco (if they bring over their french based players in the qualifiers on September). I'm sure there'll be at least one or two changes to this list especially in Europe, if some heritage players in the NRL and Superleague decide to take the field in the qualifiers. I think: Asia Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands. Europe: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Wales and Scotland Americas: United States and Jamaica MEA: Lebanon Greece might have a chance against Cook Islands though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 1 minute ago, bowes said: Greece might have a chance against Cook Islands though. I think this year's WC will give us a better idea. But overall I think people are over-rating Italy and under-rating Greece. Too many people it seems are still picturing 2017 Italy, a team full of NRL stars including Tedesco. So many players from that WC have since retired. But overall, you are not far off. I think it will come down to Greece and Italy for those last spots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulga Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 5 minutes ago, langpark said: Yes, Brazil!! Historic moment, you and I actually agree!! Overall though, I like what they have done. For the most oart I think they have gotten it right. If they started with a clean slate, did qualifiers for all the women's teams it would bring a lot of goodwill. It's like having a neutral ref. There may not be any corruption but there will always be doubt if they don't go about it the right way. Cards on the table: I think the IRL is as crooked as the day is long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theswanmcr Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 Having two guaranteed spots for Americas is a good start. Would like to see MEA also with two, with Europe and Asia Pacific having six each for the next World Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marklaspalmas Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, Charlie said: I know muizz mustapha. Sadiq adebiyi and doro are Nigerian plus a few in the champ and sl academy’s then you have Jason saab and okunbor in the NRL and a young fb at parra, komolafe. Hmm. https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowes Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 38 minutes ago, langpark said: I think this year's WC will give us a better idea. But overall I think people are over-rating Italy and under-rating Greece. Too many people it seems are still picturing 2017 Italy, a team full of NRL stars including Tedesco. So many players from that WC have since retired. But overall, you are not far off. I think it will come down to Greece and Italy for those last spots. I always find out of all of the teams, people are most inclined to overrate Serbia and Russia (the latter presumably won't be in this world cup qualifying). They have good domestic development for a developing nation, but are nowhere near world cup standard due to not having enough heritage players. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 15 minutes ago, bowes said: I always find out of all of the teams, people are most inclined to overrate Serbia and Russia (the latter presumably won't be in this world cup qualifying). They have good domestic development for a developing nation, but are nowhere near world cup standard due to not having enough heritage players. Serbia have a good amount of heritage players it’s just getting them to play small nations is the problem 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 17 minutes ago, bowes said: I always find out of all of the teams, people are most inclined to overrate Serbia and Russia (the latter presumably won't be in this world cup qualifying). They have good domestic development for a developing nation, but are nowhere near world cup standard due to not having enough heritage players. Indeed, Russia were not even on the radar, long before the war began. Serbia are well above the minnow nations, but still well below the WC nations. If they could get every available heritage player to commit, things would be different. (3 Trbojevic brothers, Cotric and Opacic). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 22 minutes ago, theswanmcr said: Having two guaranteed spots for Americas is a good start. Would like to see MEA also with two, with Europe and Asia Pacific having six each for the next World Cup. This is why I like repechage as it gives them the opportunity to get there but it ensures the strongest team goes through. MEA though, a lot of their nations are still so new and it would be super risky given one of them direct passage to the WC, at the expense of a tried and tested outfit like the Cook Islands for example. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 24 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said: Hmm. You can find most of there player profiles on Nigeria fb or instagram pages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marklaspalmas Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 19 minutes ago, Charlie said: You can find most of there player profiles on Nigeria fb or instagram pages Right. I really hope the game takes off there and as a nation they can be competitive. I suppose I was challenging your use of "a lot" to describe one player on loan to a championship club, one yet to debut, and one other Nigerian descent player in SL. These are the first steps and let's not overstate the case. 2 https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theswanmcr Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 7 minutes ago, langpark said: This is why I like repechage as it gives them the opportunity to get there but it ensures the strongest team goes through. MEA though, a lot of their nations are still so new and it would be super risky given one of them direct passage to the WC, at the expense of a tried and tested outfit like the Cook Islands for example. That’s fair enough and I understand that point of view - though the question is always whether a WC is about the 16 best teams or about representing nations from across the globe. With the repecharge you’re likely to get the same team(s) qualifying each time eg Cook Islands. If we’re serious of showing we are a global game we need to guarantee an African representative going forward. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langpark Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 17 minutes ago, theswanmcr said: That’s fair enough and I understand that point of view - though the question is always whether a WC is about the 16 best teams or about representing nations from across the globe. With the repecharge you’re likely to get the same team(s) qualifying each time eg Cook Islands. If we’re serious of showing we are a global game we need to guarantee an African representative going forward. Well I believe that is slowly happening. For example, the 2025 qualification means the Americas get an extra spot and Africa is getting an extra playoff spot. Which is a start. It is getting more diverse with every WC that passes. However, we also need to be smart about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said: Right. I really hope the game takes off there and as a nation they can be competitive. I suppose I was challenging your use of "a lot" to describe one player on loan to a championship club, one yet to debut, and one other Nigerian descent player in SL. These are the first steps and let's not overstate the case. My argument would still be with these players they would be better than Morocco. But guess we will just have to wait and see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marklaspalmas Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 22 minutes ago, Charlie said: My argument would still be with these players they would be better than Morocco. But guess we will just have to wait and see Yes, indeed. That's the beauty of sport. Morocco v Nigeria could answer that question. 1 https://www.fevarchive.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anita Bath Posted March 25 Share Posted March 25 5 hours ago, langpark said: I think this year's WC will give us a better idea. But overall I think people are over-rating Italy and under-rating Greece. Too many people it seems are still picturing 2017 Italy, a team full of NRL stars including Tedesco. So many players from that WC have since retired. But overall, you are not far off. I think it will come down to Greece and Italy for those last spots. Italy should be OK given they dont have a RL team in Macedonia (or even one part of it) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RL Sonja Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 17 hours ago, Charlie said: I’d have Nigeria over Morocco. They have a lot of players in sl and a couple in the NRL I’m not sure any sport can do without Nigeria. Lagos will be the most populated city on the planet by the end of the century. 1 "There has never been a Challenge Cup semifinal of 65,000 either individually or combined" - Damien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM2010 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 13 hours ago, marklaspalmas said: Yes, indeed. That's the beauty of sport. Morocco v Nigeria could answer that question. I thought Nigeria won the African championships last year? Is there one again this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM2010 Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Just seen that the MEA championships are in September Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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