Which nations will field fully professional teams at this year's world cup?

[titoelcolombiano]

I'm trying to get a guage on how many Rugby League nations now have the ability to field fully professional squads. Obviously if we can hit a point where all nations that compete in future WC's are fully professional it is ideal. At the moment I think we have:

Australia
New Zealand
England
France
PNG
Tonga
Samoa
Fiji
Wales

Not bad compared to say the 2000 RLWC

 

[morningstar]

Good idea.

Are you including semi pros in that list though? If not you will have to bump Wales, France & PNG. Fiji will have a couple of domestic players in the 24 as well..

 

[Rory]

Ireland and scotland will have full pro teams. Every Irish player comes from super league and only 1 from NRL being Luke Keary.

 

[StadiumXIII]

Italy, Lebanon, Scotland too. There will only be a handful of domestic players if that. The majority is either pro or semi pro.

 

[Heritage XIII]

Ireland and scotland will have full pro teams. Every Irish player comes from super league and only 1 from NRL being Luke Keary.

Luke Keary is a potential future Kangaroo & will drop Ireland at a hat if he ever gets selected. Ireland should never have picked him.

 

[Pommy]

Ireland and scotland will have full pro teams. Every Irish player comes from super league and only 1 from NRL being Luke Keary.

Did Ireland not put a limit on non Irish players recently? Is there a enough actual Irish players in the SL to make that happen?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

There's no Irish players in SL. Ireland has said it will have some domestic players and there's only two or three from the Irish league playing semi pro in England so that should mean one or two amateurs from the local comp.

 

[Rory]

the only 1 i can think of is matty hadden who plays for roachdale

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Mikey Russell at Coventry and James Kelly at Sheffield.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Good idea.

Are you including semi pros in that list though? If not you will have to bump Wales, France & PNG. Fiji will have a couple of domestic players in the 24 as well..

I guess I was more asking which nations could put out 17 professional players rather than a full squad. I could be wrong but I think the Hunters are full-time pros so along with other NRL and SL players they should be able to do so. Again I could be wrong but I think Fiji, Wales and France should be able to squeeze 17 pros - not much depth though but good progress for the game since 2000.

 

[Pommy]

There's no Irish players in SL. Ireland has said it will have some domestic players and there's only two or three from the Irish league playing semi pro in England so that should mean one or two amateurs from the local comp.

So they’re not taking heritage English players? Genuine question not trying to be as sarcastic as the message reads.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

So they’re not taking heritage English players? Genuine question not trying to be as sarcastic as the message reads.

Of course. But we're talking about amateur players who might be in the squads and Ireland have said they'll have some domestic players. What their definition of domestic players could vary but even if it includes domestically produced players who now play in England it seems that will only account for about three places, so they may still pick some domestic players currently playing in Ireland. Either way the bulk if their squad will be ring ins of one type or other. We know Luke Keary and James Hasson have put their hand up and there's the usuals like Finn, McCarthy and Grix. The rest will be SL, championship and NRL lower graders most likely.

 

[Pommy]

Of course. But we're talking about amateur players who might be in the squads and Ireland have said they'll have some domestic players. What their definition of domestic players could vary but even if it includes domestically produced players who now play in England it seems that will only account for about three places, so they may still pick some domestic players currently playing in Ireland. Either way the bulk if their squad will be ring ins of one type or other. We know Luke Keary and James Hasson have put their hand up and there's the usuals like Finn, McCarthy and Grix. The rest will be SL, championship and NRL lower graders most likely.

That’s what I assumed i just read your post and thought it wasn’t the case.

I like the path they have chosen. Having a number of domestic players give the side more legitimacy than say Scotland.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

That’s what I assumed i just read your post and thought it wasn’t the case.

I like the path they have chosen. Having a number of domestic players give the side more legitimacy than say Scotland.

An Antarctic team made up of anyone who could spell Antarctic would have more legitimacy than Scotland.