2021 RLWC draw

[taipan]

Harry's appearance at the RLWC draw, has drawn media stories from around the World,such as a sample:-
Armed Services
https://www.forces.net/news/duke-sussex-first-royal-duty-queen-talks

Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/rugby/canada-rugby-league-world-cup-draw-1.5429007

Japan
The Japan Times
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2...faces-stays-silent-royal-rumpus/#.XiEh6i1L1uU

USA
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/...clicksource_4380645_17_film_strip_icymi_image

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...ficial-appearance-royal-crisis-talks-n1116916

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/16/sport/harry-rugby-draw-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

Plus places like Fiji,Tonga,France,NZ the usual.all the Australia TV outlets.

Publicity the game would have paid a fortune to have received ,under different no Harry circumstances.

If there is ever a sport that needs publicity ,particularly positive and global ,it's ours.

As Jack Gibson would say"Harry done good ,played strong."

 

[Force]

Im just glad theres no rigged pools, we dont need to rig them. As long as international games are played more often, it will strengthen the teams and cut the cricket scores.

 

[latingringo101]

Very professional event, watched Livestream and everything looked very posh.

As for the draw for each event I'm glad that there'll be match ups and teams from different parts of the world who wouldn't normally play against each other being put in the same pool.

What's cool is there's no clear winners to choose from in each tournament. Men's have now the big 4 which spices things up. Women's have newcomers Brazil and any team could create an upset. Wheelchair is dominated by England and France and great to see non RL Nations such as Norway, Spain and USA in it.

Should be a great combined tournament all up

 

[langpark]

Does anyone know when the exact dates/venues/matches will be known?

 

[deluded pom?]

Does anyone know when the exact dates/venues/matches will be known?

The only thing I’ve seen said in the coming months.

 

[adamkungl]

Could be a while yet. Bit of work to pair the right games with the right times and the right cities. And the city aspect of it might involve some negotiation, with some bidders expecting games of a certain stature etc.

There are 2 major pieces of World Cup news expected this year and I expect they'll be spaced out through the year to maximise exposure.
1 is the draw, and the other is the 2025 announcement.

It's also worth considering that they might delay ticket sales until after the Kangaroo tour, to avoid treading on their own toes. Or is that overly cautious?

 

[Springs09]

Well we can take a guess at some of the venues for games
England v Samoa is confirmed at Newcastle, which means England v France and England v Greece at Sheffield and Bolton. I'd guess Bolton for Greece and Sheffield for France.
One game each at Middlesbrough, Coventry and Hull, which you'd imagine would involve Australia or NZ. Probably Australia v Scotland at Middlesbrough? Possibly Australia v Fiji and NZ v Ireland at the others?
Then the rest at Headingley, St Helens, Warrington, Doncaster, Leigh and Kingston Park in Newcastle.

 

[adamkungl]

Playing around with finals formats a bit more...

There are 6 possible finals formats which are, on the surface, equally valid in that they don't repeat any pool games until the Final, no matter what.
My second rule, as I mentioned earlier, is the draw should be such that if seeds 1 and 2 win all their games, they shouldn't meet in a knockout before the grand final, and the grand final should be 1v2. Based on the fairly obvious concept that a world cup final should be the 'best' 2 teams if they don't choke.

Of course there are different ways to decide the #1 seed which make each option more or less valid:

England is 1st seed via hosting rights, NZ is 2nd by being #1 ranked the time of pool draw
ie. give the hosts the theoretical easiest path to the final

a) <--- this would by my choice
QF1 A1 v C2 ENG v LBN
QF2 B1 v D2 AUS v PNG
QF3 C1 v A2 NZL v SAM
QF4 D1 v B2 TON v FIJ

b)
QF1 A1 v B2 ENG v FIJ
QF2 B1 v A2 AUS v SAM
QF3 C1 v D2 NZL v PNG
QF4 D1 v C2 TON v LBN

SF1 Q1 v Q4 ENG v TON
SF2 Q3 v Q2 NZL v AUS

GF ENG v NZL

New Zealand is 1st seed via being top ranked at time of pool draw, Australia is 2nd
ie. the most obvious way, world rankings right now

a)
QF1 A1 v D2 ENG v PNG
QF2 B1 v C2 AUS v LBN
QF3 C1 v B2 NZL v FIJ
QF4 D1 v A2 TON v SAM

b)
QF1 A1 v C2 ENG v LBN
QF2 B1 v D2 AUS v PNG
QF3 C1 v A2 NZL v SAM
QF4 D1 v B2 TON v FIJ

SF1 Q1 v Q2 ENG v AUS
SF2 Q3 v Q4 NZL v TON

GF NZL v AUS

Australia is 1st seed potentially via being the top ranked team at some later time when they finalise the format, New Zealand is 2nd
these are not valid right now by the rules i set out originally but may be after this year's internationals.

a)
QF1 A1 v D2 ENG v PNG
QF2 B1 v C2 AUS v LBN
QF3 C1 v B2 NZL v FIJ
QF4 D1 v A2 TON v SAM

b)
QF1 A1 v B2 ENG v FIJ
QF2 B1 v A2 AUS v SAM
QF3 C1 v D2 NZL v PNG
QF4 D1 v C2 TON v LBN

SF1 Q1 v Q3 ENG v NZL
SF2 Q2 v Q4 AUS v TON

GF AUS v NZL

 

[deluded pom?]

Well we can take a guess at some of the venues for games
England v Samoa is confirmed at Newcastle, which means England v France and England v Greece at Sheffield and Bolton. I'd guess Bolton for Greece and Sheffield for France.
One game each at Middlesbrough, Coventry and Hull, which you'd imagine would involve Australia or NZ. Probably Australia v Scotland at Middlesbrough? Possibly Australia v Fiji and NZ v Ireland at the others?
Then the rest at Headingley, St Helens, Warrington, Doncaster, Leigh and Kingston Park in Newcastle.

I’m hoping Hull get Tonga v PNG.

 

[Coastbloke]

Playing around with finals formats a bit more...

There are 6 possible finals formats which are, on the surface, equally valid in that they don't repeat any pool games until the Final, no matter what.
My second rule, as I mentioned earlier, is the draw should be such that if seeds 1 and 2 win all their games, they shouldn't meet in a knockout before the grand final, and the grand final should be 1v2. Based on the fairly obvious concept that a world cup final should be the 'best' 2 teams if they don't choke.

Of course there are different ways to decide the #1 seed which make each option more or less valid:

England is 1st seed via hosting rights, NZ is 2nd by being #1 ranked the time of pool draw
ie. give the hosts the theoretical easiest path to the final

a) <--- this would by my choice
QF1 A1 v C2 ENG v LBN
QF2 B1 v D2 AUS v PNG
QF3 C1 v A2 NZL v SAM
QF4 D1 v B2 TON v FIJ

b)
QF1 A1 v B2 ENG v FIJ
QF2 B1 v A2 AUS v SAM
QF3 C1 v D2 NZL v PNG
QF4 D1 v C2 TON v LBN

SF1 Q1 v Q4 ENG v TON
SF2 Q3 v Q2 NZL v AUS

GF ENG v NZL

New Zealand is 1st seed via being top ranked at time of pool draw, Australia is 2nd
ie. the most obvious way, world rankings right now

a)
QF1 A1 v D2 ENG v PNG
QF2 B1 v C2 AUS v LBN
QF3 C1 v B2 NZL v FIJ
QF4 D1 v A2 TON v SAM

b)
QF1 A1 v C2 ENG v LBN
QF2 B1 v D2 AUS v PNG
QF3 C1 v A2 NZL v SAM
QF4 D1 v B2 TON v FIJ

SF1 Q1 v Q2 ENG v AUS
SF2 Q3 v Q4 NZL v TON

GF NZL v AUS

Australia is 1st seed potentially via being the top ranked team at some later time when they finalise the format, New Zealand is 2nd
these are not valid right now by the rules i set out originally but may be after this year's internationals.

a)
QF1 A1 v D2 ENG v PNG
QF2 B1 v C2 AUS v LBN
QF3 C1 v B2 NZL v FIJ
QF4 D1 v A2 TON v SAM

b)
QF1 A1 v B2 ENG v FIJ
QF2 B1 v A2 AUS v SAM
QF3 C1 v D2 NZL v PNG
QF4 D1 v C2 TON v LBN

SF1 Q1 v Q3 ENG v NZL
SF2 Q2 v Q4 AUS v TON

GF AUS v NZL

I notice a fair bit of Lebanon in there. What if Toulouse win Super League promotion this year for 2021?

 

[adamkungl]

I notice a fair bit of Lebanon in there. What if Toulouse win Super League promotion this year for 2021?

Just assuming the highest seed will win for arguments sake. Feel free to substitute Greece or France or Cook Islands if it suits your imagination

 

[Springs09]

I notice a fair bit of Lebanon in there. What if Toulouse win Super League promotion this year for 2021?

What about it? France are up against Samoa, not Lebanon. Lebanon have every chance to lose against Ireland or Jamaica however.

 

[Coastbloke]

Call me optimistic, but if Toulouse can finally get to Super League in 2021 they could possibly. Possibly lol come 2nd in their pool..

Hey I can hope hey?

 

[adamkungl]

Call me optimistic, but if Toulouse can finally get to Super League in 2021 they could possibly. Possibly lol come 2nd in their pool..

Hey I can hope hey?

They still wouldn't replace Lebanon

 

[Coastbloke]

I see where you're coming from..
I just abhor the thought of Lebanon reaching the finals..

 

[adamkungl]

I see where you're coming from..
I just abhor the thought of Lebanon reaching the finals..

Go Ireland then

 

[Springs09]

If I had to choose a finals draw I'd prefer something like this:

A1 v C2 - England v Ireland - Liverpool
B1 v D2 - Australia v PNG - Huddersfield
C1 v A2 - NZ v Samoa - Bolton
D1 v B2 - Tonga v Fiji - Hull

Semi 1 - England v Tonga - Emirates
Semi 2 - Australia v NZ - Leeds

Tonga v Samoa would be an awesome QF clash, but the other match-ups don't look quite as good
A1 v D2 - England v PNG
B1 v C2 - Australia v Ireland
C1 v B2 - NZ v Fiji
D1 v A2 - Tonga v Samoa

or

A1 v B2 - England v Fiji
B1 v C2 - Australia v Ireland
C1 v D2 - NZ v PNG
D1 v A2 - Tonga v Samoa

 

[Springs09]

Either way, how good is it that nearly all the possible quarter finals look like interesting games and not just automatic 50+ floggings!

 

[adamkungl]

If I had to choose a finals draw I'd prefer something like this:

A1 v C2 - England v Ireland - Liverpool
B1 v D2 - Australia v PNG - Huddersfield
C1 v A2 - NZ v Samoa - Bolton
D1 v B2 - Tonga v Fiji - Hull

Semi 1 - England v Tonga - Emirates
Semi 2 - Australia v NZ - Leeds

I also thought this was the best looking one.
Tonga v Fiji would be some game.

Of course it only takes 1 upset in the pool games to throw it all out of whack
Eg. if Samoa tops England or Ireland beats NZ they'd switch and we get England v NZ in the quarters
If PNG tops Tonga we'd get Australia v Tonga early, with Tonga last start victors (unlikely to play again between now and the WC). That would be hyuuuge

 

[Springs09]

I also thought this was the best looking one.
Tonga v Fiji would be some game.

Of course it only takes 1 upset in the pool games to throw it all out of whack
Eg. if Samoa tops England or Ireland beats NZ they'd switch and we get England v NZ in the quarters
If PNG tops Tonga we'd get Australia v Tonga early, with Tonga last start victors (unlikely to play again between now and the WC). That would be hyuuuge

Yep but I think that would possibly be even better. If Samoa beat England and we get Samoa v Ireland and NZ v England in the quarters that would be very interesting.