10 teams for World Cup

[In-goal]

No nation with the exception of Australia (host) should be given free passage to the WC, i think Australia should be sole host and have New Zealand host the next cup or the one after.

I read an arcticle this morning that states it would be near on impossible for NZ to sole host the RUWC, our event is still a small on the grand scheme of things and i believe NZ would do a great job of hosting a RLIFWC.

 

[carlnz]

Why do people here think that teams like Serbia , Lebanon , Russia and USA are more stronger than Fiji , Samoa and Tonga ?
A local team from Tonga and Fiji will thrash local teams from this coutries . And if Lebanon & USA borrow players from Sydney then a Samoan and Tonga team will thrash them with with players from the NRL .

Lebanon will go well against Tonga and Fiji....I think Russia would hold their own but wouldnt beat them.....People dont know how strong Tonga really are! I believe they will sometime in the near future do what they did to NZ at the 95 World Cup.....

Fiji hvae held their own against Australia at the last 2 world cups...and with a FULL strength team with all their world players...they would do alright.....remember Tonga thrashed USA in 40 mins this year

 

[carlnz]

No nation with the exception of Australia (host) should be given free passage to the WC, i think Australia should be sole host and have New Zealand host the next cup or the one after.

I read an arcticle this morning that states it would be near on impossible for NZ to sole host the RUWC, our event is still a small on the grand scheme of things and i believe NZ would do a great job of hosting a RLIFWC.

NZ did alright with last years Womens World CUp and this years Pacific's CUp's...only poor advertising let them down...however NZ have showen that in the U18 Soccer world cup the Whole country will support it...they were getting 10,000 people in the central watching crap nations play!!!

 

[In-goal]

How about this:

2008 RLIF WC Australia
2012 RLIF WC Russia (who have shown intrest in hosting the event)
2014 RLIF WC New Zealand hopefully buy this stage there will be a second club in the NRL possibly a 3rd.

 

[Tidus_Raider]

I dont think there will ever be 3 NZ teams in the NRL. Not with the season becoming shorter and so forth. The only way I could see it happening is if the national comp was split up into conferences.

 

[In-goal]

IMO NZ could easily cater for 3 clubs and i think the game would be better for it.

Auckland Warriors
Wellington Orcas
Christchurch Kings or North Harbour Centurions

 

[Big Bunny]

How about this:

2008 RLIF WC Australia
2012 RLIF WC Russia (who have shown intrest in hosting the event)
2014 RLIF WC New Zealand hopefully buy this stage there will be a second club in the NRL possibly a 3rd.

Russia worries me, as their money seems to rely upon the casino onwer as much as the government and he has apparently threatened to take Dynamo to union. Junior development in the RRL is also reported to be at a stand still.

 

[In-goal]

Russia worries me, as their money seems to rely upon the casino onwer as much as the government and he has apparently threatened to take Dynamo to union. Junior development in the RRL is also reported to be at a stand still.

I wasn't aware of this current situation in the Russian game, if this is the case then things are looking quite grim for the Russians at a rapid rate.

 

[taipan]

Russia worries me, as their money seems to rely upon the casino onwer as much as the government and he has apparently threatened to take Dynamo to union. Junior development in the RRL is also reported to be at a stand still.

I wasn't aware of this current situation in the Russian game, if this is the case then things are looking quite grim for the Russians at a rapid rate.

Apparently there is an internal dispute in Russia,and the juniors are effected. They will need to pull their finger out otherwise all the good work will have been wasted.

 

[Paul Condon]

I guess the big discussion if it is a ten team competition is this

What would be the impacts of marginalising the game in the USA and Russia. What is the global impact? If we are just picking countries with professional players why have qualifyers?

The RLIF has to weigh the benefits of the 10 supposed top player strongest nations v distribution and competition for places. How tough would a Wales v Ireland qualifer be if only one knew they would qualify. If all the PI nations knew there was only one spot, how great do you think the P Cup tournament would be. How enthusiastic would the Eastern European countries like Holland, Germany, Georgia, Serbia be if they have to beat Russia to qualify. How much harder will the Russians work to hold their regional dominance.

I disagree with even the higher ranked countries getting in easy. I think a little bit of pain of not qualifying would do the world of good to the PI nations and Wales or Ireland.

There is money to think in qualifying too. Why should the US have to travel to Europe to qualify? It makes no sense.

If we are going to have a ten team WC (not teams from the same region cup) lets not have all the teams in the comfort zone in qualifying, and make it a World Cup. We are going to have the same problems as Union with some countries not being competitive. But let's be honest here, only 3 teams have a chance of winning. Wales, Ireland or any PI nation will not beat the big 3.

If we want our game to expand (even if slowly) we must make it a World Cup. This is the only time I would agree with Union.

Hopefully the RLIF will make some quick decisions so countries can plan for qualifying and the next WC.

I still reckon holding the WC in 2009 is a better idea to get it away from the Olympics clash.


Finally, the grouping would look like this. How the qualifying games would be played would be up to debate.

Australia, NZ and England automatically qualify as top 3 nations at the last WC.

(one qualifier from each group)

West Europe 1 - Wales and Ireland
West Europe 2 - France and Scotland
Asia - PNG, Japan, Singapore
Americas/Africa - USA, West Indies, Argentina?, Chile?,South Africa, Kenya?
Eastern Europe - Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Holland, Germany
Southern Europe - Lebanon, Italy, Greece, Morocco
Oceania - Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa, New Caledonia, Niue, Amerika Samoa, Fiji

It will be interesting to see which way the RLIF goes.

What combination looks more attractive in terms of public and fan interest

1. Australia
2. England
3. New Zealand
4. France
5. Papua New Guinea
6. Lebanon
7. Ireland
8. Tonga
9. Wales
10. Cook Islands

or

1. Australia
2. England
3. New Zealand
4. France
5. Papua New Guinea
6. Lebanon
7. Ireland
8. Tonga
9. USA
10. Russia

Cheers!

 

[In-goal]

Euro nations is the wa to go with a numer of births to the top teams from that comp, you ca have repacharge.

 

[carlnz]

1. Australia
2. England
3. New Zealand
4. France
5. Papua New Guinea
6. Lebanon
7. Ireland
8. Tonga
9. Wales
10. Cook Islands


I think is the way it will go....though Fiji could sneak in ahead of the Cooks or Russia

 

[Tidus_Raider]

IMO NZ could easily cater for 3 clubs and i think the game would be better for it.

Auckland Warriors
Wellington Orcas
Christchurch Kings or North Harbour Centurions

NZ might cater but the NRL cant.

How many teams do you want in the NRL?

QLD:
Nth Qld
Brisbane

NSW & ACT:
Manly
Newcastle
Canberra
St george Illawarra
Sydney Roosters
Cronulla
South Sydney
Wests Tigers
Parramatta
Canterbury
Penrith

VIC:
Melbourne

NZ:
Warriors

That's already 15 clubs. Central Coast needs a team. So does Gold Coast and Brisbane has been crying out for a 2nd team for years. Perth and Adelaide have a claim for admission too.

That's already 20 teams. Plus a rejuvinated International scene means fans want more internationals.

NZ have one club. If they get 2 they will be lucky. 3 is overkill.

Imagine the crowds at games like Sydney V Orcas. Roosters V Warriors club games hardly gets a decent crowd and they have a good history together.

Or what happens if 2 kiwi teams made the Grand Final? The NRL is the primary RL competition in Australia and has invited a team from NZ to play. This isn't the super 12. Improve the domestic competition in NZ before thinking about including another NZ team.

 

[In-goal]

It's not upto the away clubs to bring in the crowds why can't you see that, i is the sole responsibility of the home club to find enough fans and if they haven't then i questions there place in first grade.

 

[Tidus_Raider]

It's not upto the away clubs to bring in the crowds why can't you see that, i is the sole responsibility of the home club to find enough fans and if they haven't then i questions there place in first grade.

I'm not saying it is. But clubs need to survive to have a viable competition and 3 matches a year against out of country teams isnt going to help that clubs chances.

 

[Misanthrope]

That's already 15 clubs. Central Coast needs a team. So does Gold Coast and Brisbane has been crying out for a 2nd team for years. Perth and Adelaide have a claim for admission too.

That's already 20 teams. Plus a rejuvinated International scene means fans want more internationals.

NZ have one club. If they get 2 they will be lucky. 3 is overkill.

Bold suggestion, but why not cut some of the dead weight in NSW? I don't see what Cronulla, Souths, or Manly really bring to the game....

 

[shaggy]

the nrl will never kick out a team again after the souths issue
they will let the club die then remove it from the competiton istead of deciding who stays & who goes

 

[Charge]

What is needed is a 23 team comp where everyone plays each other once, then there is a top 10 playoff. Plenty of places for everyone then.

 

[Der Kaiser]

This is my opinion of the NRLs future-
have 20 teams in the comp so bring in Perth, Adelaide, Wellington, Gold Coast and Central.

Have 2 pools of 10 picked at random in front of live TV-ratings winner surely!Each team will home and away 18 games-9 at home.

Then top 5 from each group go in to a random draw again on live TV to be split into 2 groups of five to play each team home and away 8 games-4 at home

26 games 13 home

Then the play offs for the right for the GF would be only involve the top 4 from each group so the winners from group A would play the 4th team from B etc with the 1st and 2nd team having won the right to play at home
with the last team out!

semi and GF at Sydney with GF on Sunday with Jersey Flagg

The same procedure with 2 groups of 5 for the lower 5 teams from the first group games with the same knockout for the right to play in the plate final on Saturday also shown live on TV with also the other final-forgotten its name for now to play on same day.Weekend of RL!

Would mean each team would have something to play for even if they get off to a bad start and the lower clubs and maybe the brand new clubs and fans would also have the chance to reach a finalo and win something

Will never happen but i think it sounds a good idea as there are too many clubs to place in one league and only 1 club has any chance of winning somthing in the NRL at mo.Not only the games would get good crowds but the draws also would get huge tv figures as well!

 

[Big Bunny]

NRL capped at 18 teams, allowing for growth and security within current and new clubs alike.

Pre-Season Challenge Cup: 20 Teams, 4 Rounds + Finals (18 NRL teams + 2 invitational sides like PNG and the winner of the Pacific Cup).

NRL Season: 18 Teams, 1 complete round played + Finals

That would bring the NRL club season to 21 Rounds (not including split rounds) + 2 sets of finals, producing 2 quality competitions that would each bring in revenue (enough to offset the possible loss caused by the reduction in home games) and remove the meaningless double fixtures. Clubs could nominate 5 top grade players that they would like to rest during the Challenge Cup, whilst giving 5 juniors or trial players a shot at displacing others in the top 25 list without affecting the salary cap.