RLWC 2026 Confirmed

[Dave T]

4 hours ago, eal said:

People confuse a World Cup with a festival of rugby league. 

People don't confuse it with that. That's just what some people think it should be. 

If we are just about sorting out the best team in the world we can use rankings to organise one or two games, but sporting tournaments are absolutely festivals - they are about minnows as well as giants, they are about bringing people together, celebrating a sport. 

I am supportive of being more challenging around minimum standards, but we should never worry about minnows being there. 

[crashmon]

SO I am probably going to get lots of "confused" or "sad" responses to this, but personally I think that we are not going to solve the WC issue, until we have a proper international calander.

Union, Football, Cricket, Ice Hockey  have robust international calanders for all levels of countries taking part.  Union for instance has a pyramid like (Six nations, Rugby Europe Championship,  RE Trophy, RE conference) with yearly competitiions for all levels of the international game in Europe, with (outside of 6 nations) relegation and promotion in the other tiers.

You get regular International RL every year, you get at least 3 games a year for each nation, you get regular tournaments set up properly, and I think the WC problem will actually resolve itself.  

I'd be more focusing on getting yearly comps going before worrying about expanding the WC.   Because right now I see the WC's as basically the NRL teams rebranded into countries + England.  Does not feel like a "WC" to me much

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

9 hours ago, Hello said:

You misspelt Bramalll ane, pedant (can't be bothered to count which number word it was that you wrote, got better things to do with my time)

 

 

 

Check out how you wrote it yourself

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

3 minutes ago, crashmon said:

SO I am probably going to get lots of "confused" or "sad" responses to this, but personally I think that we are not going to solve the WC issue, until we have a proper international calander.

Union, Football, Cricket, Ice Hockey  have robust international calanders for all levels of countries taking part.  Union for instance has a pyramid like (Six nations, Rugby Europe Championship,  RE Trophy, RE conference) with yearly competitiions for all levels of the international game in Europe, with (outside of 6 nations) relegation and promotion in the other tiers.

You get regular International RL every year, you get at least 3 games a year for each nation, you get regular tournaments set up properly, and I think the WC problem will actually resolve itself.  

I'd be more focusing on getting yearly comps going before worrying about expanding the WC.   Because right now I see the WC's as basically the NRL teams rebranded into countries + England.  Does not feel like a "WC" to me much

No confusion or sadness from me....I agree with this completely 

To be frank if I could be guaranteed a four nations each year with Oz, NZ and another I'd be happy for us to ditch the WC

[Damien]

14 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I love rugby league and always have 

I wanted to watch as many games as I could especially the England games so I did

I wish the Greece spot in our group had been taken by a better side (and yes less teams/groups overall) ...then I'd have seen a better game at Brammal lane 

Yet 18k still turned up for that game knowing exactly what we were getting in a game against Greece. Maybe some view World Cups about being a little more than just a select few good teams.

[JM2010]

25 minutes ago, crashmon said:

SO I am probably going to get lots of "confused" or "sad" responses to this, but personally I think that we are not going to solve the WC issue, until we have a proper international calander.

Union, Football, Cricket, Ice Hockey  have robust international calanders for all levels of countries taking part.  Union for instance has a pyramid like (Six nations, Rugby Europe Championship,  RE Trophy, RE conference) with yearly competitiions for all levels of the international game in Europe, with (outside of 6 nations) relegation and promotion in the other tiers.

You get regular International RL every year, you get at least 3 games a year for each nation, you get regular tournaments set up properly, and I think the WC problem will actually resolve itself.  

I'd be more focusing on getting yearly comps going before worrying about expanding the WC.   Because right now I see the WC's as basically the NRL teams rebranded into countries + England.  Does not feel like a "WC" to me much

I agree. The focus for international RL should be to have regular competitions at all levels with some kind of structure to them. A yearly 6N with the 5th and 6th spots being up for grabs each year for qualifiers from regional tournaments. These regional tournaments could be tiered to ensure that as many countries as possible get to compete at their level with p and r between the tiers.
 

I’d still keep a 8/10 team WC every 4 years with the countries from the previous years 6N plus 2/4 qualifiers taking part.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

Yet 18k still turned up for that game knowing exactly what we were getting in a game against Greece. Maybe some view World Cups about being a little more than just a select few good teams.

I get that to an extent - I guess there are two positions 

1. WC = best of the best against each other to see who prevails 

2. WC = celebration of RL and try and include teams who are are likely to get beaten by a large score 

The former is preferable for me 

Like I say if it was a straight choice I'd  rather an annual 4-nations (or in a perfect world a 6 Nations with the top 6 teams) than a festival type WC

Edited August 1, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

36 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I agree. The focus for international RL should be to have regular competitions at all levels with some kind of structure to them. A yearly 6N with the 5th and 6th spots being up for grabs each year for qualifiers from regional tournaments. These regional tournaments could be tiered to ensure that as many countries as possible get to compete at their level with p and r between the tiers.
 

I’d still keep a 8/10 team WC every 4 years with the countries from the previous years 6N plus 2/4 qualifiers taking part.

Yep...

[Damien]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I get that to an extent - I guess there are two positions 

1. WC = best of the best against each other to see who prevails 

2. WC = celebration of RL and try and include teams who are are likely to get beaten by a large score 

The former is preferable for me 

Like I say if it was a straight choice I'd  rather an annual 4-nations (or in a perfect world a 6 Nations with the top 6 teams) than a festival type WC

I simply don't think this should be either/or. We can and should be doing both. This is what we did for many years and there is no reason we can't have a World Cup along the lines we have seen and 4/5/6 Nation tournaments in between.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

Yet 18k still turned up for that game knowing exactly what we were getting in a game against Greece. Maybe some view World Cups about being a little more than just a select few good teams.

How many more would have turned up in Sheffield if that game had been Australia or NZ? 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

30 minutes ago, Damien said:

I simply don't think this should be either/or. We can and should be doing both. This is what we did for many years and there is no reason we can't have a World Cup along the lines we have seen and 4/5/6 Nation tournaments in between.

We get such little exposure and so few Internationals we should make sure the precious ones we do count....make them between the best teams (top 8 to 10 at a stretch) 

England Vs Greece was just a stupid fixture when we had NZ, Tonga, Australia and Fiji in the country ....even more stupidly the only decent side we had to play we ended up playing twice ...crazy 

If people want to kid themselves that it would lead to regular RL articles in the Athens Gazette then more fool them

Our game needs to be strengthened in the places it is played before we start offering freebies to a few dozen volunteers and their families in far flung outposts 

 

Edited August 1, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[Damien]

22 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

How many more would have turned up in Sheffield if that game had been Australia or NZ? 

NZ in the North is traditionally not a great deal different. Its also more than any crowd of last year's Tonga series.

It seems a silly line to go down anyway unless you just want to play NZ and Australia all the time forever more year on year. And we know and have seen the obvious flaws with that strategy.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

NZ in the North is traditionally not a great deal different. Its also more than any crowd of last year's Tonga series.

It seems a silly line to go down anyway unless you just want to play NZ and Australia all the time forever more year on year. And we know and have seen the obvious flaws with that strategy.

Sorry but NZ in a World Cup would have been VERY different ...

I was part of that incredible 68,000 Wembley crowd of 2013

Also the one big side we did play (Samoa) was hugely different to the 18k of the Greece game ...I suspect Brammal Lane may have been close to full if it has been NZ.....and a lot of non RL fans would have seen a much better spectacle on the BBC 

Edited August 1, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[Damien]

4 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Sorry but NZ in a World Cup would have been VERY different ...

I was part of that incredible 68,000 Wembley crowd of 2013

Also the one big side we did play (Samoa) was hugely different to the 18k of the Greece game ...I suspect Brammal Lane may have been close to full if it has been NZ.....and a lot of non RL fans would have seen a much better spectacle on the BBC 

Again we can't play NZ and Australia all the time. They don't even want that. 

What you really want is to scrap the World Cup and have a 4 Nations, which can be done anyway.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

3 minutes ago, Damien said:

Again we can't play NZ and Australia all the time. They don't even want that. 

What you really want is to scrap the World Cup and have a 4 Nations, which can be done anyway.

We haven't played Australia since 2017

We haven't played NZ since 2018

My preference is a WC of 8-10 teams every four years with four nations in between yearly

 

 

Edited August 1, 2024 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[JM2010]

4 minutes ago, Damien said:

Again we can't play NZ and Australia all the time. They don't even want that. 

What you really want is to scrap the World Cup and have a 4 Nations, which can be done anyway.

I’d like England to be able to play Australia , NZ, Samoa and Tonga every year outside WCs and the opportunity to play at least 2 or 3 of those during a WC.

I’d also like to give teams like France and Wales competitive tournaments every year and the opportunity to qualify to have a shot at the best teams in a 6N or WC

[Damien]

14 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

We haven't played Australia since 2017

We haven't played NZ since 2018

My preference is a WC of 8-10 teams every four years with four nations in between yearly

That was the point. Its not beyond the realms of possibility that a World Cup may go the same way as the rest of the international game once it becomes a NRL light competition either. We've seen what putting all our eggs in one basket has done already.

You are getting your World Cup wish with the next World Cup and a return to 2008.

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I’d like England to be able to play Australia , NZ, Samoa and Tonga every year outside WCs and the opportunity to play at least 2 or 3 of those during a WC.

I’d also like to give teams like France and Wales competitive tournaments every year and the opportunity to qualify to have a shot at the best teams in a 6N or WC

I'd be happy with all that too.

Let's face it the World Cup debate is minor in comparison to the wider issues in the international game and the lack of games, structure and organising 3 years out of 4. The likes of Greece and Jamaica being in the World Cup wasn't responsible for what we saw happen with RLWC2021 either. In the list of issues it's absolutely tiny and personal preference .

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

I simply don't think this should be either/or. We can and should be doing both. This is what we did for many years and there is no reason we can't have a World Cup along the lines we have seen and 4/5/6 Nation tournaments in between.

Absolutely - I find it sad that people almost seem to have forgotten what was happening just a decade ago. As an England/GB Fan we have seen:

2008 - World Cup

2009 - Home Four Nations

2010 - Away Four Nations

2011 - Home Four Nations

2012 - NRL Year Off (poor lambs) - Eng/Fra/Wal Tri Series

2013 - World Cup

2014 - Four Nations

2015 - Aussie Year Off (sigh) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2016 - Home Four Nations

2017 - Away World Cup

2018 - Aussie Year Off (notice a pattern?) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2019 - GB Tour of NZ/PNG

2020 - Cancelled Ashes

2021 - Cancelled World Cup

 

The Aussies taking three years off in seven basically halted any progress. We still have nothing confirmed for this year either.

[Mathius Hellwege]

6 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

We get such little exposure and so few Internationals we should make sure the precious ones we do count....make them between the best teams (top 8 to 10 at a stretch) 

England Vs Greece was just a stupid fixture when we had NZ, Tonga, Australia and Fiji in the country ....even more stupidly the only decent side we had to play we ended up playing twice ...crazy 

If people want to kid themselves that it would lead to regular RL articles in the Athens Gazette then more fool them

Our game needs to be strengthened in the places it is played before we start offering freebies to a few dozen volunteers and their families in far flung outposts 

 

Playing Samoa twice (before the final) was only stupid scheduling and not dependent on the 16 teams

 

[Mathius Hellwege]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

Absolutely - I find it sad that people almost seem to have forgotten what was happening just a decade ago. As an England/GB Fan we have seen:

2008 - World Cup

2009 - Home Four Nations

2010 - Away Four Nations

2011 - Home Four Nations

2012 - NRL Year Off (poor lambs) - Eng/Fra/Wal Tri Series

2013 - World Cup

2014 - Four Nations

2015 - Aussie Year Off (sigh) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2016 - Home Four Nations

2017 - Away World Cup

2018 - Aussie Year Off (notice a pattern?) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2019 - GB Tour of NZ/PNG

2020 - Cancelled Ashes

2021 - Cancelled World Cup

 

The Aussies taking three years off in seven basically halted any progress. We still have nothing confirmed for this year either.

Best post ever

[Mathius Hellwege]

3 hours ago, Dave T said:

Absolutely - I find it sad that people almost seem to have forgotten what was happening just a decade ago. As an England/GB Fan we have seen:

2008 - World Cup

2009 - Home Four Nations

2010 - Away Four Nations

2011 - Home Four Nations

2012 - NRL Year Off (poor lambs) - Eng/Fra/Wal Tri Series

2013 - World Cup

2014 - Four Nations

2015 - Aussie Year Off (sigh) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2016 - Home Four Nations

2017 - Away World Cup

2018 - Aussie Year Off (notice a pattern?) - Eng v NZ Test Series

2019 - GB Tour of NZ/PNG

2020 - Cancelled Ashes

2021 - Cancelled World Cup

 

The Aussies taking three years off in seven basically halted any progress. We still have nothing confirmed for this year either.

To add: how bad that the NRL is now able to forbid NZ these tours (result of the Denver fiasco?)

[langpark]

23 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

England Vs Greece was just a stupid fixture when we had NZ, Tonga, Australia and Fiji in the country ....even more stupidly the only decent side we had to play we ended up playing twice ...crazy 

If people want to kid themselves that it would lead to regular RL articles in the Athens Gazette then more fool them

Was not a stupid fixture at all. Georgia lost by a similar scoreline to England in the 2003 RUWC, then in 2022, they have now reached a level where they managed to beat both Italy and Wales. Because RU showed patience and persistence with them. In RL, the loud, whiny voices (like yours) that expect every match to be a golden-point thriller, sadly have gotten their way. 

They may not have made the "Athens Gazzette", but this was the reaction in a bar where the RL community of Athens gathered, when they scored their first WC try. And RL in Greece was only 10 years old at the time. So who knows what they could have become with a little patience and nurturing....

 

 

[Keith989]

On 02/08/2024 at 12:12, langpark said:

Was not a stupid fixture at all. Georgia lost by a similar scoreline to England in the 2003 RUWC, then in 2022, they have now reached a level where they managed to beat both Italy and Wales. Because RU showed patience and persistence with them. In RL, the loud, whiny voices (like yours) that expect every match to be a golden-point thriller, sadly have gotten their way. 

They may not have made the "Athens Gazzette", but this was the reaction in a bar where the RL community of Athens gathered, when they scored their first WC try. And RL in Greece was only 10 years old at the time. So who knows what they could have become with a little patience and nurturing....

 

 

Georgia are backed by a billionaire who funded any training center and pitches they wanted to though. A better example might be the likes of Namibia who have been awful in every world cup they've been in. 

[Mathius Hellwege]

On 02/08/2024 at 13:12, langpark said:

Was not a stupid fixture at all. Georgia lost by a similar scoreline to England in the 2003 RUWC, then in 2022, they have now reached a level where they managed to beat both Italy and Wales. Because RU showed patience and persistence with them. In RL, the loud, whiny voices (like yours) that expect every match to be a golden-point thriller, sadly have gotten their way. 

They may not have made the "Athens Gazzette", but this was the reaction in a bar where the RL community of Athens gathered, when they scored their first WC try. And RL in Greece was only 10 years old at the time. So who knows what they could have become with a little patience and nurturing....

 

 

And what did they do in the WC 23, the better comparison?

 

Amd of course RU has the annually (!!!) 6N, so every WC comparison  betwenn RU and RL  does not matter anyway