Lebanon Eye Tests against France and England in 2024

[RP London]

On 17/02/2024 at 09:03, BristolDevonCharlie said:

I think World Cup qualification is worth waiting around for. 

Why would they organise fixtures that jeopardise their participation in RLWC 2026?

The other alternative is that they have been told that Europe is not having an official qualification process and it is all down to highest world ranking for the World Series spot. In which case a series against Lebanon plus a game against someone they can easily beat is the perfect mix for the autumn. 

But if there is nothing organised and they wait and nothing gets organised they miss out on what could be a good series and good exposure.. isnt international RL great! what other sport has no idea what is going on in its international calendar within the year.. a world cup 2 years away and we dont even know where its being held let alone how to qualify for it.. 

[JohnM]

On 16/02/2024 at 15:35, Quinskolar said:

But when are the eye tests? Or have I missed something?

Too late, I'm afraid. ©2024 JohnM

[Gomersall]

3 hours ago, JohnM said:

Too late, I'm afraid. ©2024 JohnM

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Jon.

[JohnM]

2 hours ago, Gomersall said:

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Jon.

[BristolDevonCharlie]

On 19/02/2024 at 09:10, RP London said:

But if there is nothing organised and they wait and nothing gets organised they miss out on what could be a good series and good exposure.. isnt international RL great! what other sport has no idea what is going on in its international calendar within the year.. a world cup 2 years away and we dont even know where its being held let alone how to qualify for it.. 

I mean, it has been in a parlous state but the green shoots are good. 

RLWC 2026 needs a sensible bidding process, so do not mind the delay. More understandable given the French government u-turn. 

France will know more about qualifying than us, and I believe all this was being discussed last Thursday at the IRL board meeting. One would suggest that France have not organised a series as they know qualifying is coming.

Lebanon, sadly are the odd ones out - having already qualified but having nobody to play. A warm up game for France pre or mid quals, and for England pre-Samoa would be a good outcome. Or maybe games in Australia on the bye weeks of Pacific Championships teams. 

[RP London]

18 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

I mean, it has been in a parlous state but the green shoots are good. 

RLWC 2026 needs a sensible bidding process, so do not mind the delay. More understandable given the French government u-turn. 

France will know more about qualifying than us, and I believe all this was being discussed last Thursday at the IRL board meeting. One would suggest that France have not organised a series as they know qualifying is coming.

Lebanon, sadly are the odd ones out - having already qualified but having nobody to play. A warm up game for France pre or mid quals, and for England pre-Samoa would be a good outcome. Or maybe games in Australia on the bye weeks of Pacific Championships teams. 

So what you are saying in your last paragraph is a game against England, a game against France and a game against Wales (similar to the France situation) is possible and a good outcome.. excellent we agree its what I suggested originally when it was mentioned France may already have plans... 

The fact we are having this discussion though is a joke and one of the reasons we are in the position, as a sport, that we are.. the one thing that can get eyes on the sport is left to fester and ruination by the game. 

[damp squib]

On 16/02/2024 at 05:53, Eddie said:

Fair enough. People in Australia seeing themselves as Lebanese and people in Lebanon seeing those Australians as Lebanese is not necessarily consistent (eg Americans like Biden thinking they’re Irish while I can only assume your average Irishman doesn’t think they are), but I take your point. 

My wife is Lebanese and I'm Irish so I can make an attempt at explaining the differences as I understand them.

Lebanon and Ireland are the two perfect examples of why there is no one size fits all solution to the problem of heritage players in international rugby league. The Lebanese diaspora in Australia are far more "fresh off the boat" than the Irish diaspora in the North of England which ceased to be a significant destination for Irish emigrants decades ago. This means that in general the links are far stronger and more meaningful between Lebanese and Lebanese-Australians than for Irish and British-Irish. Lebanese people tend to see their diaspora as more "authentic" than the Irish people. I also got this impression from the media output of both sets of players during the last two world cups - the Aussie-Lebanese players would talk about their parents hometown in Lebanon whereas the British-Irish players media content was far more superficial (players drinking Guinness, Micky McIllorum posting the Ivory Coast flag etc.)

I'm far from an expert on Rugby League in either Ireland or Lebanon but having followed both for years I would say that overall domestic Rugby League in Lebanon has mostly benefited from the heritage involvement whereas in Ireland I think it's been hugely detrimental to the development of the sport here.

[Griff]

Booked an Eye Test for next week.

Thanks for reminding me.

[Gomersall]

4 minutes ago, Griff said:

Booked an Eye Test for next week.

Thanks for reminding me.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

[BristolDevonCharlie]

Seems France will be in World Cup quals this autumn.

From the IRL Annual Report:

"The inaugural men’s World Series in 2025 will feature Cook Islands, as the sole Asia-Pacific nation yet to qualify for RLWC2026, and the winners of the 2024 European, Middle East Africa and Americas Championships"

[Barley Mow]

2 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

Seems France will be in World Cup quals this autumn.

From the IRL Annual Report:

"The inaugural men’s World Series in 2025 will feature Cook Islands, as the sole Asia-Pacific nation yet to qualify for RLWC2026, and the winners of the 2024 European, Middle East Africa and Americas Championships"

I think that's identical to what they told us last summer.

The concerning thing is that they still haven't said how the 2024 championships are being run - participants, format, etc.

[Archie Gordon]

Announcement on Autumn internationals and RLWC qualifiers by 1 September.

[mrfranco]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

Announcement on Autumn internationals and RLWC qualifiers by 1 September.

What year though?....

[welshmagpie]

2 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

I think that's identical to what they told us last summer.

The concerning thing is that they still haven't said how the 2024 championships are being run - participants, format, etc.

Currently reviewing memberships aren’t they, full members only eligible for qualifiers I’m sure I read. Mid-March deadline I think. 

[Mathius Hellwege]

1 hour ago, welshmagpie said:

Currently reviewing memberships aren’t they, full members only eligible for qualifiers I’m sure I read. Mid-March deadline I think. 

Yes, I hope they take their own rules seriously (looking at Ireland and Scotland)

To be honest I also would like to deny any chance to countrires that did not play in 2023 when Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Greece.....could make it work

[JM2010]

Do Lebanon have any serious competition in the MEA championships? Could Nigeria put a strong team out?

[welshmagpie]

35 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Do Lebanon have any serious competition in the MEA championships? Could Nigeria put a strong team out?

Nigeria and South Africa have fair depth 

Source: HeCanPlayFor (X/Instagram)

[Barley Mow]

10 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Do Lebanon have any serious competition in the MEA championships? Could Nigeria put a strong team out?

Lebanon won't be taking part will they? They've already qualified for the world cup by getting to the quarter finals last time.

As someone said up thread (I think it's this thread) currently the only full member nation in MEA who will take part in qualification is South Africa.

Edited February 28 by Barley Mow