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I think squad numbers is a good idea especially for the likes of Jamaica and Greece so have less kits to fund.

I honestly reckon that the Australian squad numbers won’t go ahead after all the debate. This was probably made by a few people (Meninga and his buddies) at the top, But something tells they’ll be forced to change it back to normal.

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Just now, Gomersall said:

The stupidity IMO was giving the Australians the chance to do what they’ve done in the first place.

Nobody is blameless but I have far more understanding of why the Tournament organisers would go with squad numbers, than I do of why the Aussies would do what they have. 

As pointed out above though, it's one we could go round and round on. I don't agree with it but it's done now. The Aussies will win the thing again and their daft number system won't change that. 

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6 minutes ago, SydneyRoosters said:

I think squad numbers is a good idea especially for the likes of Jamaica and Greece so have less kits to fund.

I honestly reckon that the Australian squad numbers won’t go ahead after all the debate. This was probably made by a few people (Meninga and his buddies) at the top, But something tells they’ll be forced to change it back to normal.

Define normal please?

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22 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Tradition? It’s the WC organisers who are peeing on tradition IMO. We’ve never traditionally had squad numbers at a WC before.

We've also never had captains challenge. 

Maybe England should just be silly with it to make a point. 

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22 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

The stupidity IMO was giving the Australians the chance to do what they’ve done in the first place.

Interesting micro debate on state control v individual responsibility.

Couldn't we take this further and make referees ensure players with certain numbers are playing in their rightful positions? They could penalise 9s locking the scrum, or fullbacks stepping into the attacking line as an additional halfback. 

I can confirm 30+ less sales for Scotland vs Italy at Workington, after this afternoons test purchase for the Tonga match, £7.50 is extremely reasonable, however a £2.50 'delivery' fee for a walk in purchase is beyond taking the mickey, good luck with that, it's cheaper on the telly.

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Could the WC organisers just make it standard that once the first game day squads are announced those 19/21/however many just stick with their numbers and the rest are assigned a number alphabetically?

Sure it will mean some anomalies if teams “rest” players first up or players like Taumalolo or Manu miss the opening game but for the most part it would be fine.

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2 minutes ago, jim_57 said:

Could the WC organisers just make it standard that once the first game day squads are announced those 19/21/however many just stick with their numbers and the rest are assigned a number alphabetically?

Sure it will mean some anomalies if teams “rest” players first up or players like Taumalolo or Manu miss the opening game but for the most part it would be fine.

They shouldn’t have to. The other 15 will manage fine without being told what to do. The Aussies are just being needlessly awkward 

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7 minutes ago, Spidey said:

They shouldn’t have to. The other 15 will manage fine without being told what to do. The Aussies are just being needlessly awkward 


Yeh good point. I can see some players getting wind of this and wanting particular numbers as well which if let fly could see some weird numbering.

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14 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

Silly comment. The argument  was that squad numbers at the WC were traditional when they obviously aren’t.

The poster you quoted didn't claim that squad numbers were traditional at the WC. He referred to tradition around a scrum half having a number 7, which is still the case with squad numbers.

Things change - people don't have to like everything, but it doesn't mean we should trash it.

 

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Just now, Dave T said:

The poster you quoted didn't claim that squad numbers were traditional at the WC. He referred to tradition around a scrum half having a number 7, which is still the case with squad numbers.

Things change - people don't have to like everything, but it doesn't mean we should trash it.

 

No, the poster I was responding to said the Aussies had peed on the tradition of allocating squad numbers when squad numbers have never been used at a WC previously.

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5 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Have any other nations announced squad numbers?

Because if not it would support the claim that the Aussies are trying to undermine it.

I think it was mentioned further up the thread that Wales have announced theirs, but I haven't seen them (or even looked for them) anywhere.

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1 minute ago, Gomersall said:

No, the poster I was responding to said the Aussies had peed on the tradition of allocating squad numbers when squad numbers have never been used at a WC previously.

No. They have peed on tradition by giving the number 6 shirt to a prop forward.

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14 minutes ago, Dave T said:

No. They have peed on tradition by giving the number 6 shirt to a prop forward.

Good luck to em. 

If we're bothered about this, blame the RLWC, not Australia.

Firmly in Dunbatron's camp on this one.

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1 hour ago, Dave T said:

The poster you quoted didn't claim that squad numbers were traditional at the WC. He referred to tradition around a scrum half having a number 7, which is still the case with squad numbers.

Things change - people don't have to like everything, but it doesn't mean we should trash it.

 

I will just step back in again to ask. 

If we allocated game numbers as we always have done then every scrum half in every game would wear the number 7 shirt (DCE or Cleary, Williams or Sneyd).  It is the squad numbers that are causing us to lose this, not avoid it isn't it?

I am very open to being convinced on this one though, if someone can explain to me a compelling reason why squad numbers will add value to the World Cup then I will accept it.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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I wouldn't be opposed to smaller nations using squad numbers, if they wanted to cut down on costs or jerseys. I'd imagine they'd assign them and we'd see most players in positional numbers we are accustomed to.

There's a tradition to GB/England, the Kangaroos and the Kiwis that should be maintained. There's a lustre, an aura, a lineage, an importance and a recognisability to the 1-13 numbers that the RLWC are responsible for breaking apart.

In a strange way, the Kangaroos' actions are a love letter to tradition, showing the ridiculous and confusing consequences of bringing in these unnecessary changes.

For once, I find myself completely in Australia's corner.

Edited by StandOffHalf
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I missed it in the thread earlier but it sounds like player's names will not be on the shirts.

The one valid argument that I can see with squad numbers (mostly for lengthy domestic competitions though) is to have a player and number linked so that can help with player recognition and perhaps sales of shirts where a number and name are locked together.

But with no names on shirts then this benefit is gone (not that I would think anyone would be more likely to buy a Nathan Cleary shirt with the number 19 on the back than number 7 anyway). 

So the only benefit I can see for this is that for the first time in a Rugby League World Cup we get to see players with numbers 18 to 24 play on the pitch.  Yay!

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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5 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Firmly in Dunbatron's camp on this one.

I know that this is not the desired outcome for anyone on this thread and it is deeply disturbing, but just to let everyone know, I shall be asking my wife to call me this in bed tonight.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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6 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Good luck to em. 

If we're bothered about this, blame the RLWC, not Australia.

Firmly in Dunbatron's camp on this one.

It is possible to dislike squad numbers and also not believe that the Aussies should act like spoilt brats who didn't get their way. 

It really is schoolboy stuff to trash something just because it isn't quite to a particular preference. But that is RL through and through. 

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I know this is tangential, but have you ever tried explaining Rugby League positions to anyone with no knowledge of either code of rugby.

I have. Because they asked me to do it a few years' ago before I forced them to watch a London Broncos game.

Fantastic. All went well. Except, the only thing they knew before my lecture is what a scrum was. And so, who did they expect to feed "our" scrums throughout the game? Logically, the scrum-half. Obvious, isn't it. Obvious. I thought he would too.

Who did feed the scrum? Kieran Dixon.

"I thought you said he was a winger. Why is a winger feeding the scrums? I thought they were meant to run fast and stuff. You've just been making this up."

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2 minutes ago, Dave T said:

It is possible to dislike squad numbers and also not believe that the Aussies should act like spoilt brats who didn't get their way. 

It really is schoolboy stuff to trash something just because it isn't quite to a particular preference. But that is RL through and through. 

It seems like you can get angry about a coach not wanting to name his preferred side before he has even had a chance to work with them.  I can't.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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