RLWC 2026 Details soon per official account

[Burns]

Do we consider where they are going to play these games?

is it just Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle/Canberra and Brisbane (and PNG?)

 

[adamkungl]

Do we consider where they are going to play these games?

is it just Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle/Canberra and Brisbane (and PNG?)

PNG will get their 3 games at home I'd bet. (Which guarantees they aren't in Pool A as they won't send Aus and NZ games to PNG -one more piece of the puzzle).

So far I have this - bolded is 95% certain (imo)
We know Aus and NZ in Pool A, therefore England and Tonga heading up Pools B and C.
We know PNG will not be in Pool A so they can host 3 lower drawing home games.
We know Samoa and Tonga are in opposite pools.
We hope that each pool has 1 non-Pacific nation.

A: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, France/Lebanon
B: England, Samoa, Cooks/Saffas
C: Tonga, PNG, France/Lebanon

Given a shorter tournament I would expect it to be quite focused on Sydney, Parramatta and Brisbane, with Gold Coast, Townsville and Newcastle also featuring. Maybe 1 event in Melbourne and 1 in Perth. I'd skip Canberra entirely, Canberra crowds have never got close to passable in previous Aus hosted World Cups.

 

[taste2taste]

They need to avoid the biggest mistake from the last world cup and make sure we get the big games.

Aus V NZ will be the opening match but we need to make sure the draw is in such a way that we can get Sam V Tonga and Eng v Aus in the semis.

 

[adamkungl]

They need to avoid the biggest mistake from the last world cup and make sure we get the big games.

Aus V NZ will be the opening match but we need to make sure the draw is in such a way that we can get Sam V Tonga and Eng v Aus in the semis.

You want the draw to knock out NZ?

If reports are correct a Samoa v Tonga semi final is impossible. But possible as a final.

Most likely semi finals are:
Australia v Tonga/Samoa/England
Tonga/Samoa/England v New Zealand

 

[taste2taste]

.

A: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, France/Lebanon
B: England, Samoa, Cooks/Saffas
C: Tonga, PNG, France/Lebanon

Given a shorter tournament I would expect it to be quite focused on Sydney, Parramatta and Brisbane, with Gold Coast, Townsville and Newcastle also featuring. Maybe 1 event in Melbourne and 1 in Perth. I'd skip Canberra entirely, Canberra crowds have never got close to passable in previous Aus hosted World Cups.

I think they'll put the weak teams in thier own pool ( France, Cooks, Lebanon )

This will ensure that the Top drawing teams are playing each other every week and there will be very few blow outs.

The tournament needs to be as profitable as possible. For big crowds and TV audience they need the Kangaroos, NZ, Sam, Tonga, Eng playing each other every week.

 

[taste2taste]

You want the draw to knock out NZ?

If reports are correct a Samoa v Tonga semi final is impossible. But possible as a final.

I think NZ will win the tournament but somewhere there needs to be Aus v Eng and Tonga v Samoa

 

[adamkungl]

I think they'll put the weak teams in thier own pool ( France, Cooks, Lebanon )

This will ensure that the Top drawing teams are playing each other every week and there will be very few blow outs.

The tournament needs to be as profitable as possible. For big crowds and TV audience they need the Kangaroos, NZ, Sam, Tonga, Eng playing each other every week.

No they won't. That's as contrived as it comes. If you have a pool of only weak teams does that mean one of the weak teams gets free passage to the finals?

Tonga v Samoa is a guaranteed pool game (if we believe early reports).
Aus v England is possible but not guaranteed as both a semi final or a final.

 

[taste2taste]

No they won't. That's as contrived as it comes. If you have a pool of only weak teams does that mean one of the weak teams gets free passage to the finals?

Tonga v Samoa is a guaranteed pool game (if we believe early reports).
Aus v England is possible but not guaranteed as both a semi final or a final.

They coukd be in an 'emerging nations 'pool.

Having those teams beaten by 90+ isn't going to do them or the tournament any favours.

Is it only 4 teams going through to the finals ? Semis and then the final ?

If that's the case then you're right, they can't be on their own pool and get a spot in the semis.

 

[Jim from Oz]

I think they'll put the weak teams in thier own pool ( France, Cooks, Lebanon )

This will ensure that the Top drawing teams are playing each other every week and there will be very few blow outs.

The tournament needs to be as profitable as possible. For big crowds and TV audience they need the Kangaroos, NZ, Sam, Tonga, Eng playing each other every week.

No … this won't happen … we know pools B and C will only play teams in the opposite pool to each other.

So there won't/can't be any weak pool.

Cheers

 

[adamkungl]

Anyway, loving the news so far, wish it was 12 for a bit wider reach but starting to get hyped for this.

Hope we see 12 teams for the next iteration so we can guarantee an additional MEA and American slot.
I'm assuming 8 teams will again pre-qualify, with 7 being the usual Pacific 6 + England.

For a 12 team cup i'd like to see in qualification (remembering that only full members are now eligible):

if France take the 8th pre-qualification slot
9 - European Cup winner (Wales, Serbia, Ukraine)
10 - MEA Cup winner (Lebanon, South Africa)
11 - Americas winner (Jamaica + ...???)
12 - World series repechage (Europe runner up vs MEA runner up vs Cook Islands vs Americas runner up)

if Lebanon or South Africa take the 8th pre-qualification slot
9 - European Cup winner (France, Wales, Serbia, Ukraine)
10 - MEA Cup winner (Lebanon/South Africa)
11 - Americas winner (Jamaica + ...???)
12 - World series repechage (Europe runner up vs MEA runner up vs Cook Islands vs Americas runner up)

if Cook Islands take the 8th pre-qualification slot
9 - European Cup winner (France, Wales, Serbia, Ukraine)
10 - MEA Cup winner (Lebanon, South Africa)
11 - Americas winner (Jamaica + ...???)
12 - World series repechage (Europe runner up vs MEA runner up vs Americas runner up)

Ireland, Scotland, USA, Canada and hopefully some others need to sort out their full membership in time for the next qualification round.
If there fails to be a viable MEA or American qualification match in time due to membership, the World Series would split to 11 and 12 and nations would qualify vs runner-ups of more advanced regions.

 

[undertaker]

Given a shorter tournament I would expect it to be quite focused on Sydney, Parramatta and Brisbane, with Gold Coast, Townsville and Newcastle also featuring. Maybe 1 event in Melbourne and 1 in Perth. I'd skip Canberra entirely, Canberra crowds have never got close to passable in previous Aus hosted World Cups.

Not just because it's a shorter tournament - only 18 matches to play with, of which 3 of them will be in PNG - but because of the huge backlash that happened in the aftermath of the 2017 RLWC, with only 2 of the 28 matches held in NSW (both at Allianz Stadium). That's the equivalent of neglecting the north of England for a RLWC held in the UK. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! The whole bidding process horribly backfired. Tournament organisers will be a lot more conservative this time around regarding where matches are held.

So, there will be no "lets play at as many venues around Australia as possible", especially if there's going to be double-headers with the mens' and women's RLWC matches. This means that Darwin and Cairns must miss out (venues are too small).

The way I see it for the men's tournament:

- Suncorp Stadium to host the final (like they did in 2008 and 2017. Safe option).
- Allianz Stadium to host one of the semis (much better stadium and better public transportation links to the venue compared to when they last hosted a semi in 2008)
- Possibility of Tonga vs Samoa being played at Accor Stadium to maximise crowd attendance. Otherwise, hosting at Suncorp will also get another bumper crowd similar to last Sunday. Either way, this match might be the highest-drawing crowd of the tournament.
- Perth will definitely get a match, due to the Bears entering the NRL in 2027.

 

[adamkungl]

2017s stadium choices might be the worst ever seen in an international sports tournament but it still somehow had its defenders blaming the NSW government

 

[undertaker]

2017s stadium choices might be the worst ever seen in an international sports tournament but it still somehow had its defenders blaming the NSW government

Perth Red says hello! LOL!

 

[paulmac]

Pool B England Samoa Fiji
Pool C Tonga PNG Lebanon

It is not beyond the realms of possibility for England Samoa & Fiji to all win all 3 games which would lead to the farcical situation of a team winning all 3 matches but not making the semifinals.
Dumb format which could have been avoided simply by going to 12 teams, which couldn’t have cost that much more when you consider the NRL has delusional dreams of a Global round.

 

[Burns]

Cairns and Darwin were embarrassing last time.

As adam is saying, I’ve come around to this model. Best system to avoid absolute blowouts.

Teams should play where they are best to draw a crowd. Ala, England should get the 1 Perth game. Lebanon should play at Parramatta.
Any game with Tonga or Samoa is either at Parramatta, or say the Gold Coast. When they play each other, you could do Accor, but that would be wild.
Australia is in Newcastle and Townsville for the two ‘other games’.

 

[undertaker]

Venues I'd like to see host the 18 matches for the men's tournament:

- PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby to host all 3 of the Kumul's matches during the group phase. That's a no-brainer.
- Suncorp Stadium to host two matches: the final + one semi-final
- Allianz Stadium to host two matches: the Australia vs New Zealand tournament opener + one semi-final.
- CommBank Stadium in Parramatta to host two matches (involving Lebanon and/or at least one of the Pacific Island nations)
- Accor Stadium to host Tonga vs Samoa (if the tournament organisers were to take the gamble playing this out at Homebush, this could be one of the largest ever RL test attendances in Australia)
- Newcastle to host one match (involving Australia)
- AAMI Park in Melbourne to host one match (involving New Zealand or England)
- HBF Park in Perth to host one match (involving England)
- Gold Coast to host one match (involving New Zealand or one of the Pacific Island nations)
- Townsville to host one match (involving Australia)
- Canberra to host one match
- Gosford to host one match (involving at least one of the Pacific Island nations)
- Wollongong to host one match (involving at least one of the Pacific Island nations)

So, NSW would host 8 of the 18 matches (5 of them held in Sydney), a significant improvement on the 2 out of 28 they hosted in 2017 (both of them were in Sydney).

 

[adamkungl]

boot Canberra into the sun

anything people think should be at Accor should be at Allianz.

 

[adamkungl]

Pool B England Samoa Fiji
Pool C Tonga PNG Lebanon

It is not beyond the realms of possibility for England Samoa & Fiji to all win all 3 games which would lead to the farcical situation of a team winning all 3 matches but not making the semifinals.
Dumb format which could have been avoided simply by going to 12 teams, which couldn’t have cost that much more when you consider the NRL has delusional dreams of a Global round.

Fiji wont be seeded in Pool B. The last spot in each pool will be for the bottom 3 teams - one of Lebanon, France, and the final qualifier Cook Islands or South Africa.

Fiji near certain for Pool A as PNG will need to be in Pool C to host 3 home games.

It is very far beyond the realms of possibility of someone like Cook Islands winning 3 games.

And 12 teams doesn't really solve this problem as we'd still probably have 3 pools of 4 so a 'wildcard' finalist is likely

 

[Burns]

boot Canberra into the sun

anything people think should be at Accor should be at Allianz.

Agree on Canberra, curious on Accor.

I do worry there is too much reliance on the Pacifica fan base to turn out. Like, they will no doubt. But how many times can you draw from that well over the Pool games?

Accor could work; but again you would need to be so aggressive with sales etc. Allianz does have the benefit with it being a ‘hub’ similar to Suncorp in terms of a place where big games are played.

 

[adamkungl]

Agree on Canberra, curious on Accor.

I do worry there is too much reliance on the Pacifica fan base to turn out. Like, they will no doubt. But how many times can you draw from that well over the Pool games?

Accor could work; but again you would need to be so aggressive with sales etc. Allianz does have the benefit with it being a ‘hub’ similar to Suncorp in terms of a place where big games are played.

Allianz has the advantage of not being a shithole