I think the should have a second tier cup running alongside the main world cup for emerging nations they could play curtain raisers for the main games it just gets them involved instead of the odd one off games they play

Name me the last 4 at the next RWC...each group from A to D has three teams capable of winning..the quarters are hard to predict, the semis even harder........Union is a long way away from being perfect, but it is at least interesting.


Like a Kid on Christmas eve here....I reckon some of the group games featuring lesser nations could be classics!

Well I'm struggling to think of a recent one!in fact look at your last ten posts in this, the Bradford, the rfl sponsorship , the broncos and the crowds threads and tell my you aren't either a union troll or the most pessimistic RLfan ever! Only you could see a three year six figure sponsorship deal for a busted club and come up with so many hypothetical negatives about it!

I'm glad to hear your looking forward to the WC I was about to call the Samaritans for you!

I used to be the most pessimistic, now I'm just ambivalent

It will never, ever be interesting.

NZ
SA
England
Australia

4 countries have contested the RLWC final in its history
5 teams the RUWC

Hardly an open competition is it?

Yet it has a far higher following than what our 'all star' World Cup will have. I wonder why ....

Probably because RU fans actually support their game instead of trying to make themselves look clever or funny by talking it down at every opportunity.

That's it, I'm trying to be clever or funny. It's not that I want the game I follow every week spending countless amounts of hours and pounds on (including internationals) to prosper and have a proper World Cup.. No, I just want to be clever or funny



Absolutely pathetic that some defend this joke as if it were there only child, international RL will always be a joke with attitudes like this.

What do you think would be better for the sport - that we stage a World Cup and it's a failure, or we stage a World Cup and it's successful? What do you think you're achieving by repeatedly trying to talk down the World Cup? Do you think you're making some sort of insightful comment and that we aren't all fully aware that there are only two full-time leagues and the majority of other nations will be reliant on heritage players? What exactly makes the RLWC a 'joke' to you given that it's being played with the exact same eligibility rules as all other international sports?

How could the World Cup be made any more 'proper', and how do you think your attitude could possibly help the sport to prosper in any way?

10 out of 16,000...great stuff



Bradford are in the ter.....no amount of spin regarding bartercard will change that....it is not a cash sponsorship deal.
Those 4 teams have never made up the semi-final line up....great generalisation.

Finally unshackled from the bonds of News ltd the Australian game is in a position to really drive the game in the region. Already we have seen a start with the supporting of the Tonga vSamoa mid season test match, the changing of soo eligibility to prevent the likes of Uate being lost to the PI teams and for the first time ever the ARL has stated in its strategic plan that the growth of the game in the PI's will be a responsibility they will undertake.

Might take another decade but eventually we will see the likes of PNG, Fiji etc contesti g semis with mostly home grown players.

NRL needs to be lobbying to get png visas relaxed for RL players, that will see many more png's playing in the NRL and benefitting from FT training and higher competition.

IIRC didn't those nasty people at News fund the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos? I accept that having them own the competition wasn't ideal, but in reality, they have promoted the game pretty full and have seen the competition grow.

The Aussies might be playing their second team aka Italy and it might not be the pushover you imagine.

Just like the proper Rugby World Cup, three of the last four in the Rugby Union World cup are nailed on, namely Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The 4th will be made up from five of the 6 nation wannabees plus Argentina. England might just not make it to the semi finals.

If England get to the final this year the two world cups will both have had five finalists, for us Aus, NZ, France, GB and England.

Oh dear.....you didn't research your sweeping statement did you?

1987 Wales, France, Australia, New Zealand
1991 Australia, England, Scotland, New Zealand
1995 South Africa, France, New Zealand, England
1999 South Africa, New Zealand, France, Australia (the one year your statement is right)
2003 England, New Zealand, Australia France
2007 South Africa, England, Argentina, France
2011 Wales, France, New Zealand, Australia.

....Wales, Scotland, England, France, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have all featured in semi-finals in the 7 RW Cups since 1987

as for the Proper World cup...the last 4 in the first 6 tournaments were pretty easy to pick, given there were only 4 teams entered...same again in 1977

. Wales joined the party in 1975, France couldn't play all their matches in the 3 year/5 team comp which was then repeated at the end of the 80's...

Technically, Wales England, New Zealand and Australia in 1995 was the first semi-final line up...and again in 2000. 2008 saw Fiji join the top 3........this year, the same 3 teams will be involved at the semi-final stage.

See...what I've done here is not make a generalised sweeping statement, but used facts to show that the Union semi-final make up is no way near as predictable as the same 3 ing teams always......since 1954 featuring in the semi-finals of the RLWC.


England will play New Zealand in a Semi-final to see who gets beaten by Australia in the final...I am looking forward to the RLWC...I am really looking forward to the pool matches in C & D.
The more I think about it, I still say Fiji for the semi-final spot.....they are looking very strong.

Yeh and it only cost the game $100mill a year plus no strategic vision and a news ltd stooge in charge. Of all the stupid things you have posted, suggesting news ltd running The NRL was a good thing is up there with the best of them!

So as for top 4 finishes in Union:

Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Wales, South Africa, Scotland, Argentina

Top 4 finishes in League:

Australia, New Zealand, England (GB), France, Wales, PNG, Fiji

We're well behind, absolutely. But RU is pretty damn weak too, their fans just don't promote that fact.

As con tricks go, they're pretty damn good. Do they use that Dynamo fella to make it look like they play internationals in full stadiums? Of the 8 Squads of the Quarter-finalists at RWC 2011, 96% of the players represented the country of their birth.
I honestly believe that The RLWC is flawed...it should be a Tri-Nations comp, with the second tier nations playing in a separate competition featuring development squads from the big 3 (certain number of age restrictions). Slowly, you will see the development of counties such as Italy, USA etc becoming more competitive.

Samoa v Tonga earlier this year was a great game, but would have done little for the development of the sport in those countries because 29 of the 34 players on show were Australian.

Still, I reckon Fiji will make the semi finals....they only need to win 2 games to make it.....the 2nd placed team out of group B will have had 3 very hard hit outs...all Fiji need to do is beat Ireland....they will then meet Australia in the semi-final....let's hope for better than 52-0 this time around.

How dare you cheapen the national jersey that I have paid hard earned money to watch and passionately support for over a decade!

I want to see Wales mix it with the best, the pride I see from guys like Benny Flower represent his homeland at Wembley, against the English and on big occasions is worth more than any scoreline. That wouldn't be the same when my country are deemed second tier by default.

Whilst I agree things may change development wise for smaller and newer nations, I think the World Cup is fine.

I thoroughly enjoyed Briers taking the out of the Aussies in 2000 and us shock them into life in the 4 Nations.

Seriously though...for RL to grow as a sport, then the international systems need to be re-jigged and both SL and the NRL need to look at some form of funding to ensure that most of these developing counties get at least regular scheuled games a year, every year.

A pacific Nations Cup featuring Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, PNG, Canada, the USA and possibly inviting Jamaica, held in Australia every 2 years over 1 month would be a start.
2 Groups of 4, top teams from each group play in a final........it would be hard at first with some players needing to take time off work, but with centrally funded travel and accommodation, I could see this working. Especially of the group games were played as curtain raisers to NRL games.
Repeat this in Europe, with France, Wales, Scotland, Italy, Ireland, Serbia, Germany and Lebanon hosted in the UK for 4 weeks every 2 years.

If you could get NRL/SL coaches to give a few hours of their time to these emerging nations, then that would be even better......


Anyway, still Fiji for me.......big game v Ireland then big game v PNG/FRANCE/SAMOA=Semi-final!

Nobody will become more competitive by being confined to a meaningless second-tier tournament that nobody cares about.

What right do you have to determine which nations can and can't compete, or to say that others aren't worthy? Typical arrogant 'big 3' mentality.

It was my opinion...I didn't determine anything and didn't say anyone wasn't worthy.

Ireland v Fiji in 2008 was a cracking game......it was both teams RLWC Final in reality, because of whom they were playing to meet.
Since then, AFAIK, Ireland have played 12 games....smashing Serbia but regularly loosing to Scotland, Wales, England Knights and France as well as being beaten by Lebanon.

Interestingly, Lebanon fielded a fair smattering of NRL stars with a few locals....Ireland was predominantly made up of Championship club players and a handful of locals....I fail to see the benefit to either games standing back at home from this game, played in front of 200 locals in Wales on a wet and windy November Sunday.
The Last 2 years, the England Knights have hammered Ireland 118-8 over 2 games...feel free to detail how that has helped develop the game in Ireland?

most of the Irish lads that received these pastings will likely as not miss out this October/November because some okers mum had a pint of stout one......happy for you to explain how this benefits the game in Ireland?

If I were an Irish rep RL player and I lost my RLWC spot in such a fashion, I am not sure I'd be keen to step up again for the European Cup hammering by the Knights in 2014.