Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:57 am  

Poky wrote:

Exactly. The decision should have been left to the players, not taken for them. If too many players didnt want to come and you couldnt raise a team, then pull out.

Looking at the thread on reddit about it, the vast majority of aussie fans are gutted about the situation, so its not just us brits who are disappointed

I think the recent relocation to queensland has played its part. Players are quarantined there for 3 months then again would be away from home and family for another 7 weeks in the UK.

Re: Why is the world cup still planning to go ahead?? : Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:57 am  

Durham Giant wrote:

There is a difference between trying to run a World Cup in the UK and the Aussies playing games in the antipodes

NZ hardly any cases no lockdown

Australia few cases but lockdown.

UK Covid rampant and government sticking its head in the sand or up its own booty..

I don’t blam the Aussies and Kiwis for not coming .

In my view it now needs to be postponed till 2022

Australia will be in the brown stuff for a while now, they shut the borders but did nothing to mitigate opening up again. Both them and nz will be in the same boat as the rest of the world just a year or so later.

The wc has to be cancelled now, extend our season by a month or so and get some credibility back

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:03 am  

Not great news, I think a postponement to 2022 is the only option. They will struggle to sell tickets if 2 small nations replace the two big nations. It'll lack credibility if England lift the trophy against say Fiji.

Also could be a chance to tweak some of the venues and ticket prices, as some seem to have sold well but others struggling. Prices are far too high for the games in Hull and I've always thought Middlesbrough and Coventry were ambitious choices. They do however seem to have got the England games right.

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:09 am  

The NRL are a disgrace. I tend to avoid Union, as I see it as a game who’s be quite happy to wipe League off the face of the earth but who needs enemies with the friends we have Down Under. I’ll probably treat watching the NRL/Origin much in the same way as I do watching Union now and just turn it over.

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:20 am  

The other problem is that a postponement to next year will clash with the FIFA World Cup which will no doubt affect broadcast rights, sponsorships, overall interest, etc.

Re: Why is the world cup still planning to go ahead?? : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:24 am  

barham red wrote:

nz will be in the same boat as the rest of the world just a year or so later.

Doubtful. Our auntie Cindy will have us tucked up in a snap.lockdown if someone as little as sneezes.....the aussies have a different issue, but we're quite happy in our little bubble for now thanks....you lot carry on regardless and we'll look on in horror as people like the guys above who reckon a few hundred bodies is worth going to a nightclub

Re: Why is the world cup still planning to go ahead?? : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:33 am  

Durham Giant wrote:

There is a difference between trying to run a World Cup in the UK and the Aussies playing games in the antipodes

NZ hardly any cases no lockdown

Australia few cases but lockdown.

UK Covid rampant and government sticking its head in the sand or up its own booty..

I don’t blam the Aussies and Kiwis for not coming .

In my view it now needs to be postponed till 2022

Up against a soccer World Cup,in Qatar, with all the publicity on that sport?

2023 - Rugby Union World Cup.Interesting challenge?

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:55 am  

puroresu_boy wrote:

They shouldn't have announced it was still going ahead last week.

They can't continue go ahead now. It would be a farce and nothing short of a joke.

Players would then be entitled to annual leave under their NRL contracts which would mean they wouldn’t return to preseason training until late January.

That alone is a problem. The players wouldnt be getting much of pre season before the season starts

It is not a problem, they can delay the start of the NRL season or stand down players involved (they would for origin) .

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 11:04 am  

Time to put the foot down on them 2 nations

The nrl is a minnow comp in the grand scheme of things played with 30,000 empty seats at Sydney football ground usually

I bet the world Cup final 2017 TV figures dwarf any origin match

The world Cup puts rugby league around the world the origin certainly doesn't

Re: Australia and NZ Withdraw from World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 11:09 am  

Wigg'n wrote:

The other problem is that a postponement to next year will clash with the FIFA World Cup which will no doubt affect broadcast rights, sponsorships, overall interest, etc.

Next years world Cup will be a farce and of course millions of people won't be happy with the PL and other big football comps having to stop cause of the farce in qatar