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Oceania Cup confirmed

Burns

Burns

First Grade
Messages
6,039
Loooooooooooool.

The Mid Season is disappointing. Campbelltown is laughable as a venue over Western Sydney. How you want to bet that the matches will overlap in Australia/New Zealand.

Would have pushed for Tonga to play NZ at Eden Park instead.

Eden Park triple header could be messy if fans leave after the Tonga game.

Christchurch? Doubleheader? Why not have Fiji play PNG in PNG?
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,955
I get sick of being negative. Sometimes we can be negative over minor details when the bigger picture is we're heading in the right direction.

But every part of this season's calendar, of the return of GB, and of the Oceania Cup is at best a big step sideways, and in a lot of ways a step backwards.

The on-field stuff will be excellent, we all know that. The matchups are great.
But from as a concept, it kinda stinks. The #1 design goal seems to be to minimise the amount of games played by NRL players, and #2 to minimise the cost. The new Oceania Cup and the return of GB are lipstick on a pig and glitter on shit respectively. Putting fancy new labels on things to hide the reality, they're taking fans for a ride. The whole thing reeks of cheapness.

There are so many design failures that it's an effort to actually list them all. We've been over the GB stuff enough times, so I'll look at this new Cup.

A double header at Campbeltown. There's a brand new stadium at Parramatta, if for some reason it must be held in Western Sydney.

3 team,1 round tournaments suck. This is a fact. Messy scheduling, too few games, and the obvious fact that a 4 team tournament can be completed in the same amount of time with far more satisfaction.
3 games and no final doesn't prove anything. Trophy handed out for potentially 1 win, with no time for teams to hit their straps.

The triple header - good god, putting Australia as an undercard, putting the big 3 and Tonga all on one ticket, is amazing stupidity. Massive undersell of the sport and the brands involved.
Samoa and Fiji get shafted, most people won't bother showing up early to sit in a plastic seat for 7 hours.
At least it's at Eden Park - but lets be honest, as a sport we should be aiming for NZ v Tonga or Australia to draw 30k+ alone.

Fiji get shafted again. No game vs Great Britain and relegated to 2nd tier in the Oceania Cup, despite finishing as high as Tonga in the World Cup and beating NZ too.

Cook Islands shafted again. They make their return to the calendar to fill a gap mid-year, but miss out on a tournament in their region despite the fact that their inclusion would make a neater tournament.

Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga get no actual HOME games again.

The P&R concept is immediately made worthless by Australia not participating next year due to a planned UK tour.

This is a step backwards from the 4N of a decade ago, which was a better tournament in every way and gave opportunities to 2nd tier nations. Australia is playing less games than ever.
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

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42,955
There are some clear attempts here to introduce Continuity and Context which is a key feature of sport that international Rugby League lacks.
It means that every game has meaning, even one-off tests, because you follow the ups and downs, the trophies and the history. Teams have a running story, results this year matter for next year, etc.

The reason Rugby League stops and starts at international level is because the structure doesn't allow for the above. Teams play in a World Cup and then are barely sighted for the next 4 years. Successful tournaments are removed and replaced due to money and politics. The NRL strangeholds too high a proportion of players and limits the opoprtunities for other nations to play even when they can afford to.

By including 2nd tier nations, putting a trophy on it and having it roll through with P&R, there's a clear attempt to introduce continuity and context, and provide opportunities for more nations.

But they have tried to build a roof with no walls or floor. The tournament structure sucks, a 2 game per team tournament won't give fans enough to care. And Australia's exit next year takes the piss out of the entire thing. It's better off being not played next year (there are other ways to fill a calendar in a WC-eve year) than to immediately compromise a new concept.
 
jim_57

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
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4,360
I won't throw too much criticism at the Oceania Cup because; a) It has all been said above and b) It is a pilot for the concept so hopefully sucess will it see it run a bit more ambitiously in years to come.

The thing that annoys me is the lack of continuity with Australia dropping in and out of the "Cup". So essentially if Australia win in 2019 the holders won't compete in 2020, bit of a hollow victory for whoever wins it.
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,955
Even excusing it as a pilot is a bit of a stretch.
All they've done is taken the 4N, made it worse and rebranded it. Short tournaments are nothing new for the sport.

Anyway - look this will probably go close to 2 sellouts.
It will be hailed as a success on surface merits and the media and organisers spin will completely ignore how under-ambitious it was, because as a sport if there's one thing we do well, it's set low expectations and feel overly proud when we meet them.

Hopefully that will provide some momentum to aim a little higher next time round.
 
Burns

Burns

First Grade
Messages
6,039
Campbelltown Stadium will annoy me to no end. I’m not even sure what kind of crowd that will attract without Tonga there. Don’t think PNG or Fiji have ever bought great numbers, especially in the wilderness that is Campbelltown.

The Tonga/NZ - Samoa/Fiji games better not clash timezone wise.
 
Matua

Matua

Bench
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4,562
So,WR announce a stupid competition that annoys most countries, players and fans - so then I guess the RLIF felt left out and so sprung this on us?
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,955
Here's what should have happened in the Pacific. And it should have happened last year instead of the last minute couple of tests that were thrown together.
Note it's very similar to what we have this year, but with ambition and coherency. And Australia actually playing games.

June:
PACIFIC TESTS
Tonga v Samoa @ Auckland
NZ v Fiji @ Wellington
Cook Isl v PNG @ Wellington

Oct-Nov:
PACIFIC CUP (PC) 4N (Aus, NZ, Tonga, Fiji)
Entrants decided by ranking
3 games each + final
PACIFIC SHIELD (PS) 3N (Samoa, PNG, Cook Islands)
2 games each + final
In future this tournament may double as a first round WC Qualifier
In this iteration Cook Islands automatically qualify as Asia-Pacific entrant into WC Qualifiers due to other nations not yet meeting RLIF affiliate membership requirements
ENGLAND PACIFIC TOUR
5 games
ASIA-PACIFIC BOWL (PB) 4N (Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Niue)
Entrants decided by invitation.
Future iterations to decide entrants by regional tournaments and promote winner into SHIELD level.

w1
AUS v NZL, PC R1 @ Sydney
TON v FIJ, PC R1 @ Tonga
VAN v SOL, PB R1
PHI v NIU, PB R1

w2
ENG v AUS @ Brisbane
NZL v TON, PC R2 @ Auckland
PNG v SAM, PS R1 @ PNG
FIJ v CKI @ Fiji
VAN v PHI, PB R2
SOL v NIU, PB R2

w3
ENG v NZL @ Wellington
AUS v FIJ, PC R2 @ Gold Coast
CKI v PNG, PS R2 @ Rarotonga
TON v SAM @ Auckland
VAN v NIU, PB R3
PHI v SOL, PB R3

w4
ENG v TON @ Auckland
NZL v FIJ, PC R3 @ Christchurch
SAM v CKI, PS R3 @ Samoa
AUS v PNG @ Newcastle
BOWL FINAL @ Newcastle double header

w5
ENG v NZL @ Auckland
AUS v TON, PC R3 @ Parramatta
SHIELD FINAL @ PNG

w6
ENG v FIJ @ Fiji
CUP FINAL
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,955
Omg this is peak Rugby League

On November 2, the same day as the triple header.
The f**king Rugby World Cup final is on.
The World Cup final kicks off at 10pm NZ time. Odds on the All Blacks will be in it.
Most people won't bother going and those that do will disappear midway through the headline act so they can get to pubs to watch the ABs

Sometimes I think the conspiracy theories that Rugby League is deliberately administrated into the ground by Union plants has to be true.
 
Burns

Burns

First Grade
Messages
6,039
So we get the added bonus of thete being zero media attention on the Triple Header. Cool!

How can such an amateur mistake happen?
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
Burns said:
So we get the added bonus of thete being zero media attention on the Triple Header. Cool!

How can such an amateur mistake happen?
Click to expand...

I expected the cheap half-arsed tournament but this is a new low

Do you think:

A) Oblivious negligence, no one in RLIF, NRL, NZRL, RFL, or 4 other national bodies involved actually remembered that the RWC is on this year or bothered to have a quick google

B) Arrogant stupidity, everyone in all of those organisations actually agreed that going head to head with All Blacks hype in New Zealand was a good idea
 
Burns

Burns

First Grade
Messages
6,039
How do you even move tickets for this thing for when everyone involved will keep the night free for the Rugby World Cup Final. Presales will be average.

I thought it would be a pretty easy sell out, but now I’m not sure if we push past 30,000.
 
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