WCC in doubt?

[Henson Park Old Firm]

12 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

 

"It's understood the English club [Wigan] agreed to be part of the Las Vegas promotion on the proviso it would not be forced to head "down under" for the WCC play-off. Hull KR had indicated it will travel to Australia to contest the WCC should it win the Super League title. However, the Panthers have not waited for the result with management having informed the NRL they won't compete."

Stupid Penrith... there loss.

[Dave T]

Well. I'm shocked.

[Dave T]

Maybe there'll be some nonsense about the people of Penrith not buying into it because the SL teams are not competitive enough.

[sam4731]

Sounds like running scared to me. Not a great look for the NRL. Can we ask Melbourne to step in if Penrith are too chicken to play?

[Wellsy4HullFC]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Sounds like running scared to me. Not a great look for the NRL. Can we ask Melbourne to step in if Penrith are too chicken to play?

I'd prefer this to it being off completely.

I'd have thought Penrith would have been up for it seeing as they've never won it and have lost back to back. 

[M j M]

59 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

I'd prefer this to it being off completely.

I'd have thought Penrith would have been up for it seeing as they've never won it and have lost back to back. 

Penrith obviously running scared of yet another defeat. Better not to play at all than to further enhance their reputation as bottlers on the biggest stage.

[WN83]

Penrith have no league fixtures before Vegas and don't have one for two weeks after. To say they couldn't play the fixture at home is an absolute joke. They don't want the hassle of organising/financing it. The crowd was poor for the Saints game in 2023 and it just feels like the usual Aussie excuses. 

 

At least they've made sure that if Wigan win on Saturday, they don't get all the flak without people knowing the facts. 

[crashmon]

The bottom line is that for the NRL, the pinnacle of the club game is winning the grand final.  Thats it.
For the SuperLeague the WCC is seen as the pinnacle game, as thne your world champions

For the NRL is just a pre-season warm up game.

Sums up how the NRL and the Aussies see SL.

Yes we might beat them every year, but that does not change the perception that the NRL has of the NH and superleague in general.  And you need to change that perception somehow if you want Penrith et al to treat the WCC seriously

Edited October 8 by crashmon

[Dave T]

12 minutes ago, crashmon said:

The bottom line is that for the NRL, the pinnacle of the club game is winning the grand final.  Thats it.
For the SuperLeague the WCC is seen as the pinnacle game, as thne your world champions

For the NRL is just a pre-season warm up game.

Sums up how the NRL and the Aussies see SL.

Yes we might beat them every year, but that does not change the perception that the NRL has of the NH and superleague in general.  And you need to change that perception somehow if you want Penrith et al to treat the WCC seriously

The Grand Final is the pinnacle for SL too. That's not to say that the WCC is not a valuable and enjoyable game, but it isn't anywhere near as important as the Grand Final. 

And it doesn't need to be.

[WN83]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

The Grand Final is the pinnacle for SL too. That's not to say that the WCC is not a valuable and enjoyable game, but it isn't anywhere near as important as the Grand Final. 

And it doesn't need to be.

Yeah, the Grand Final means more. I loved beating Penrith but it didn't feel as good as winning at Old Trafford. Maybe some of that is because the Aussie clubs treat it with a bit of disdain and you're always second guessing yourself if you're actually beating the real version of your opponent. I got in to some debates with Saints fans about Penrith not taking that game against them seriously but they didn't and in fairness, I said with the game in Wigan, that no side taking a game 12,000 miles away completely seriously would turn up 6 days before it. On the flip side, they have all the advantages in the world and if they're as good as they claim, they should still be beating the English clubs. 

You're right though, it doesn't really matter if it's 'the' game. It is still a fixture that has it's place and should be prioritised above league fixtures, cup fixtures or in the Penrith case, a bit of extra rest (on top of all the rest they already get) before they play a fixture in Vegas and then get some more rest. 

[crashmon]

Also I don't see how you solve this either.  Even though I think the superleague as an organisation is a Joke, the top 5 or 6 clubs in superleague can match the Aussie club teams IMHO.  On the field the gap is not that big (if you exclude Hull FC), off the field its the size of the Pacific

[Damien]

43 minutes ago, crashmon said:

The bottom line is that for the NRL, the pinnacle of the club game is winning the grand final.  Thats it.
For the SuperLeague the WCC is seen as the pinnacle game, as thne your world champions

For the NRL is just a pre-season warm up game.

Sums up how the NRL and the Aussies see SL.

Yes we might beat them every year, but that does not change the perception that the NRL has of the NH and superleague in general.  And you need to change that perception somehow if you want Penrith et al to treat the WCC seriously

Thats not true

[Damien]

This seems a pretty good solution to me. As always where there is a will there is way. The will is usually the issue though:
 

 

[mrfranco]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

This seems a pretty good solution to me. As always where there is a will there is way. The will is usually the issue though:
 

 

Seems like a great solution to me, and I'm sure if it were put seriously on the table, Wigan would do all in their power to make it happen... but like you say, it's about the will from the other side. The Twitter comments are full of people saying how Penrith shouldn't do it because it would disadvantage them to lose a bye week...

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, mrfranco said:

Seems like a great solution to me, and I'm sure if it were put seriously on the table, Wigan would do all in their power to make it happen... but like you say, it's about the will from the other side. The Twitter comments are full of people saying how Penrith shouldn't do it because it would disadvantage them to lose a bye week...

If they are genuine in having concerns about player burnout then losing the bye week doesn't change that.

They obviously don't want to play it.

[StandOffHalf]

One game in four weeks and they can't be bothered to put on a game that they have never won.

Incredibly poor from Penrith. This shames their club.

[Dunbar]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

This seems a pretty good solution to me. As always where there is a will there is way. The will is usually the issue though:
 

 

Not objecting to the solution, it seems sensible.  But it is a bit premature to state who Penrith would be playing in the WCC at Magic.

[Damien]

32 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Not objecting to the solution, it seems sensible.  But it is a bit premature to state who Penrith would be playing in the WCC at Magic.

To be fair it quotes the original tweet that discusses Hull KR and Wigan both winning, the latest tweet just elaborates on a solution if Wigan win.

[eal]

The likely cancelation of the WCC puts to bed the argument that the Aussies would be more interested in competitive RL if they were beaten more regularly. I think whether they win or lose is neither here nor there, they just simply aren't interested.

[StandOffHalf]

16 minutes ago, eal said:

The likely cancelation of the WCC puts to bed the argument that the Aussies would be more interested in competitive RL if they were beaten more regularly. I think whether they win or lose is neither here nor there, they just simply aren't interested.

I wouldn't throw in all the NRL clubs and tar them with Penrith. Melbourne have been really good in travelling, as have others.

[Hopie]

Penrith have lost four times, no interest in a fifth, but it shouldn't come down to which club qualifies. The game should be a guaranteed part of the calendar.

[StandOffHalf]

I could understand Penrith not wanting to travel for 2025 after going north in 2024 with a Wiganer in Moore reffing and ultimately losing to a double movement try.

Not being willing to put it on at home when they have three weekends to choose from either side of Vegas is frankly inexcusable though. They should be stripped of their NRL Premiership and Melbourne named Champs, with the chance to play KR or Wigan. This is a dereliction of their duty as NRL Premiers towards the game.

Edited October 9 by StandOffHalf

[Dunbar]

I stopped expecting anything from Rugby League a while back and so I don't get disappointed now.  It is quite a liberating feeling.

As proof, I could have posted this on the England Samoa series thread or the WCC thread (or probably half a dozen more).

[JohnM]

Easy fix: if one GF winner defaults, award the WCC to the other GF winner. Engrave the trophy accordingly:  such-and-such defaulted.

Edited October 9 by JohnM

[Gerrumonside ref]

Some quotes from the Penrith players here on it:

”Co-captain Yeo felt it was a shame to miss the fixture, but understood the club’s predicament.

“You’d love to get it on, I just don’t know you could work it, to be fair,” he said at Wednesday’s official fan celebration for the Panthers’ grand final win. “Obviously as a group we’d love to because it’s something we’ve missed, sort of the only thing that’s missing on the resume.

“You’d love another opportunity to try and make amends for that. It’s just so hard with Vegas. If we weren’t doing Vegas I reckon we’d be a chance, but that just makes it a bit harder.””

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/oct/09/penrith-panthers-nrl-abandon-world-club-challenge-isaah-yeo

Edited October 9 by Gerrumonside ref