World Cup 20xx. Will it ever happen?

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

On 04/04/2024 at 17:34, sam4731 said:

Let's have an 8 team world series:

Queensland

NSW Country

NSW City

Indigenous All Stars

Maori All Stars

New Zealand

Pasifika

Rest of the World

 

Straight knockout with all matches played in Brisbane. Winner of the tournament plays the Kangaroos in the WC final... as a curtain raiser to the opening round NRL game in Vegas.

I like it 

But each team should be a 'development' side only

We really don't want first choice NRL players risked in meaningless rep games 

[sam4731]

1 minute ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I like it 

But each team should be a 'development' side only

We really don't want first choice NRL players risked in meaningless rep games 

And a Emerging Nations tri series between England, Wales and France to go alongside it.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

7 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

And a Emerging Nations tri series between England, Wales and France to go alongside it.

Yep....under 18s

[BristolDevonCharlie]

Hints are that IRL will announce the RLWC 2026 location this week. The thinking seems to be that at their IRL board meeting last week they decided (unsurprisingly) that it'll be in NZ.

https://twitter.com/NoHelmetsReq/status/1782326102603468851

https://twitter.com/HeCanPlayFor/status/1782473728992960885

Will be interesting to see the level of Pacific island nation involvement in hosting. 

[Henson Park Old Firm]

[BristolDevonCharlie]

23 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

Hints are that IRL will announce the RLWC 2026 location this week. The thinking seems to be that at their IRL board meeting last week they decided (unsurprisingly) that it'll be in NZ.

https://twitter.com/NoHelmetsReq/status/1782326102603468851

https://twitter.com/HeCanPlayFor/status/1782473728992960885

Will be interesting to see the level of Pacific island nation involvement in hosting. 

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

"FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

[GeordieSaint]

I hope it is NZ rather than Australia. Ride the Wahs wave and launch NZ2 (Christchurch) into the NRL straight after.

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

"FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

some rather depressing snippets in that isn't there?

Was that 2021 World Cup as disastrous for the RFL as the 2000 one?

[stookie]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

some rather depressing snippets in that isn't there?

Was that 2021 World Cup as disastrous for the RFL as the 2000 one?

Yes, really quite sad. Especially with the significant financial contribution from the UK government.

 

Looking forward, at the emotional level I'm still very sad about the reduction to 10 teams, but logically I think this is now absolutely imperative.

[Pulga]

5 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

"FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

Jesus. There really is no hope for the international game.

[Farmduck]

5 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

 It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

Why does Samoa owe the WCC/RFL money? It doesn't surprise me after the last Samoa "tour" of England but that was years ago. Surely the WCC committee wouldn't have been advancing money to participating nations?

[Jim from Oz]

14 hours ago, Dave T said:

some rather depressing snippets in that isn't there?

Was that 2021 World Cup as disastrous for the RFL as the 2000 one?

Ridiculously, both events had 16 teams, which is way too many at this stage in international RL's development.

[Hopie]

16 hours ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

"FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

If the money that Samoa owe the RFL is the same amount of money that the RFL owe the IRL then that might explain it. Maybe the RFL paid deposits/acted as a guarantor for facilities/accommodation or something to that effect during the world cup and Samoa didn't pay up? That would mean the IRL would be at an advantage to be helping the RFL to get the money, as eventually it would go to them.
If that were the case, it might explain why Samoa don't want to come over here again, as they would be on a hiding to nothing if any payment would come minus the debts, but it could also explain why they are being pressured to come over after saying no at first. 
Mind you speculation built on speculation is all we have in the international calendar, give us a fixture list goddammit.

[Jim from Oz]

The Second Coming of Jesus will occur before we ever get an international RL fixture list/calendar !! 

[Anita Bath]

Either that or a Titans win.

[BristolDevonCharlie]

4 hours ago, Jim from Oz said:

The Second Coming of Jesus will occur before we ever get an international RL fixture list/calendar !! 

We have an outline calendar until 2030, just not a fixture list for 2024, which ahead of the autumn is the same as the sports we find people comparing ourselves to internationally, like Rugby Union and Cricket (e.g. the finalised details/tickets for most of the November internationals and next autumn's England tour to Pakistan have not yet been announced).

Let's just hope all involved get their act in gear on this Samoa tour soon and we have an announcement of something soon. 

Edited Thursday at 05:44 by BristolDevonCharlie

[Farmduck]

2 hours ago, Anita Bath said:

Either that or a Titans win.

Titans just beat Warriors 27 - 24

[ATLANTISMAN]

19 hours ago, Dave T said:

some rather depressing snippets in that isn't there?

Was that 2021 World Cup as disastrous for the RFL as the 2000 one?

It was a car crash but hey ho all the sporting functioneers went off to other nicely paid jobs with their gongs leaving the RFL with the mess.

 

 

[frank]

doesn't look good but this WC will break even at best.

[gingerjon]

20 hours ago, Dave T said:

some rather depressing snippets in that isn't there?

Was that 2021 World Cup as disastrous for the RFL as the 2000 one?

The snippets are depressing and they also appear to contradict previous snippets.

[sam4731]

1 hour ago, BristolDevonCharlie said:

We have an outline calendar until 2030, just not a fixture list for 2024, which ahead of the autumn is the same as the sports we find people comparing ourselves to internationally, like Rugby Union and Cricket (e.g. the finalised details/tickets for most of the November internationals and next autumn's England tour to Pakistan have not yet been announced).

Let's just hope all involved get their act in gear on this Samoa tour soon and we have an announcement of something soon. 

Unfortunately we have had long term calendars before. False dawns though.

[Keith989]

50 minutes ago, frank said:

doesn't look good but this WC will break even at best.

Break even would be completely fine, the event and exposure then makes the whole thing worth it. 

[RigbyLuger]

On 24/04/2024 at 09:04, BristolDevonCharlie said:

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above:

"FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

I assume this clip is what Steve is referring to.

 

 

[ATLANTISMAN]

The extra money would have been due to the week + Samoa had to stay on hotels food coaches training facilities rebooked flight etc.

They prob budgeted for an England v Australia/New Zealand  final with everyone else out of the way by then

The name of that mouse comes to mind 

 

 

[Anita Bath]

3 hours ago, Farmduck said:

Titans just beat Warriors 27 - 24

All clear for a world cup announcement then