Re: RL World Cup : Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:48 pm  

Jack Napier wrote:

Bored, so worked out an Aus SL team. Would probably beat England to be fair . . .

Hastings
French
Mamo
Leutele
Sio
Sezer
Maloney
Prior
Parcell
Fifita
Thompson
S Mata'utia
Austin

*Not sure if any of these would be ineligible as a few have played for other countries.

That lot would thrash our national team..look what happened to our so called national team down here a few weeks back

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:17 am  

MorePlaymakersNeeded wrote:

It will bring a lot of beef to the RFL if there's a full house at Twitters, Cardiff and Murrayfield in November.

Not sure on the relevance really, even if the RLWC was going ahead, even with the inclusion of Australia & NZ, past history has shown we're still likely to see RLWC games being played in half empty stadiums

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:04 am  

Uncle Rico wrote:

You very rarely get statements like the one issued this morning "selfish and cowardly" from a tournament organizer and I'd say in this case it's well deserved.

Unfortunately his comments seemed to have been grabbed by the media. Not the best choice of words for a man in such a position and unlikely to heal wounds.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:39 am  

Smiffy27 wrote:

Unfortunately his comments seemed to have been grabbed by the media. Not the best choice of words for a man in such a position and unlikely to heal wounds.

Had to be said.

Let them know how they are perceived, outside their parochial bubble.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:46 am  

Boss Hog wrote:

Had to be said.

Let them know how they are perceived, outside their parochial bubble.

But it's like the owner of a corner shop slating Tesco - he might have a point, but Tesco is that big & dominant over its corner shop rival, that it can simply laugh it off and ignore them.

All this episode is showing is that in the grand scheme of RL things, British RL & international RL is small fry, compared to the NRL.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:24 am  

The Australian International Rugby League group have publicly stated (reported on the sports news) that the players want to go and play and are being held back by the NRL. I didn't think we would here that from them, but they a pressuring the NRL with that statement, especially with the other code coming over at roughly the same time.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:27 am  

shinymcshine wrote:

Not sure on the relevance really, even if the RLWC was going ahead, even with the inclusion of Australia & NZ, past history has shown we're still likely to see RLWC games being played in half empty stadiums

I often think this when you get all the people warning of doom to the game if the RLWC doesn't go ahead, slagging off the RFL for lack of marketing about the RLWC and whatever....how many games do these people actually go to.

I am pretty ambivalent about the RLWC but as its generally cheap and easy to get tickets I take advantage of it and also drag other people to games who wouldn't usually watch it, as it sounds good to go to a "World Cup". In 2000 I think I went to 9 games (they had some great 3 for 2 deals if I remember correctly), in 2013 I went to 3, in 2017 I went to 2. Went to all the finals.

How many World Cup games does the typical rugby league fan go to? I wonder whether a lot of long standing RL fans just watch the games on the TV and then slag off the RFL on internet forums for not marketing it well enough to 'new audiences'.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:14 am  

NickyKiss wrote:

An Australian female won the singles at Wimbledon.

NZ won the World Test cricket championship here last month.

The All Blacks and Wallabies are over in November.

No Australian/Kiwi player living here as become seriously unwell with Covid from what I gather.

They’re taking the mick.

I know it won’t happen because our sport is small fry nationally but this is where the government should step in and state that if the country is not deemed safe enough for the rugby league World Cup then all events involving Australian and New Zealand sportspersons and sports teams in this country can only continue with the absence of their mentioned countries.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:16 am  

If the RLWC goes ahead without Aus and NZ, it will be remembered like the Moscow Olympics, where all the top nations boycotted the games. The winners will be constantly reminded that they only won because the Aussies and Kiwis weren't here. Don't know what the answer is. but slipping it 12 months will clash with the Football World Cup and we all know who will get maximum television coverage if that happens.Either way it's a no win situation.

Re: RL World Cup : Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:59 am  

wireforever wrote:

slipping it 12 months will clash with the Football World Cup and we all know who will get maximum television coverage if that happens.Either way it's a no win situation.

I thought that but there is only a one-week overlap.

You could bring the seasons (and therefore the WC) forward by a couple of weeks and try and capitalize on some national excitement.

Would seem like the most sensible solution right now.