5 Nations Post 2013?

[titoelcolombiano]

To continue the momentum that the game has built, particularly through Europe recently I think it is imperitive that we stick with the current structure the RLIF have but expand the 4 Nations to a 5 Nation tournament.

My criteria for a fourth permanant nation (5th coming from qualifiers like we have now) is as follows:

Strong Domestic League
Pathway for players to a professional league (ie team in SL / NRL)
Fully professional national squad of players

I believe this is the right platform for a nation to enter the tournament from - yes they will be well beaten to start with but with the above structure will grow and develop quite quickly with a permanant spot in the 4N and will give the game in that particular country a shot in the arm.

The only nations that qualify for this currently (and probably be the same in 2014) is France & Wales. I would lean towards France to try and boost SuperLeague TV rights - boost the game in France and get extra clubs aiming for SL but would also be happy if wales got the spot.

Thoughts...

 

[adamkungl]

Should stay at 4 for the forseeable future I think.

 

[bowes]

I wouldn't say Wales has a strong domestic league, some weeks all or most the games were off due to clubs not raising a team, plus it has to be very short to avoid RU. PNG, Fiji, Tonga and USA would have stronger domestic league

France does but think we're either not ready or 5 should be due to the winners of Europe and the Pacific going in as there's no stand out 4th team

 

[Kurt Angle]

5 nations premise is garbage.

The old tri-nations took too long as a double round robin, and the euro tournaments saw Aus and NZ play France in off weeks. It made sense to incorporate them as to build france and complete the tournanment in 4 weeks instead of 7.

The big 3 are the only drawcards in international RL, the 4th is to be there to strengthen it, and its great the 4th has to qualify.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Wait and see by how much Wales gets flogged next year.

 

[adamkungl]

I'm tipping Wales to do better than PNG - more professional players, hopefully no off-field issues and a better coaching structure

 

[Wilson1]

5 teams would make it too long, there would be too many mismatches and I think that fans would lose interest.

BTW, New Zealand would not qualify under "strong domestic league."

 

[juro]

I think the balance is right at the moment with 4 teams. I like how the 4th team alternates between the European Cup and Pacific Cup winners, especially given the competition between France and Wales for the European spot.

Down the track, depending on the profitability of the Four Nations and the competitiveness of the Atlantic Cup squads, expansion to 5 or 6 teams could be looked at, but we aren't there yet.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Ok I should clarify – No NZ don’t have a strong domestic league but they are clearly of 4 Nations standard. My goal of my criteria was to select the best nation outside of the big 3 to join the 4N permanently.

Point taken on the Welsh domestic league but they are part of the British Rugby League conference system which is a good start, they do have the Scorpions in the Championship and the Crusaders in SL so the structure is there which will strengthen over time.

France has a two tier domestic comp with Toulouse in the championship and Cats in the SL.

I selected these two nations as candidates as they have the structure in place to move them forward at a faster rate than any other nation outside of ENG, AUS & NZL.

I know the new side would struggle initially but at least their structure will be there – I would consider it similar to Italy joining and forming a 6 Nations in RU in 2000.

More money would start to flow for the new nation which would assist with coaching etc – France’s crowds in the Euro Cup this year suggest that they would be a good addition. It would be nice to land a good RL TV deal in France for the sake of French RL, SL and international RL – this move plus Toulouse in SL (when ready) may be the catalyst for such a deal and suddenly the game has a new revenue stream from a nation with a history (and a history of success) in the game.

NOTE: PNG would also come into contention as a candidate as long as they sort current political probs and can land a team in the Queensland RL or NRL comp (I don’t know how likely this is) and start feeding players through to the NRL which would provide the fully professional national squad.

 

[langpark]

I think this should be the aim, adding a 5th nation, but i really hate it when it's an odd number, so we should keep it at 4 until we can increase it to 6. But then there'll be a problem with the naming of it, yawnion will kick up a big fuss etc.

 

[Hollywood Jesus]

France does but think we're either not ready or 5 should be due to the winners of Europe and the Pacific going in as there's no stand out 4th team

This.

 

[Wilson1]

Ok I should clarify – No NZ don’t have a strong domestic league but they are clearly of 4 Nations standard. My goal of my criteria was to select the best nation outside of the big 3 to join the 4N permanently.

Point taken on the Welsh domestic league but they are part of the British Rugby League conference system which is a good start, they do have the Scorpions in the Championship and the Crusaders in SL so the structure is there which will strengthen over time.

France has a two tier domestic comp with Toulouse in the championship and Cats in the SL.

I selected these two nations as candidates as they have the structure in place to move them forward at a faster rate than any other nation outside of ENG, AUS & NZL.

I know the new side would struggle initially but at least their structure will be there – I would consider it similar to Italy joining and forming a 6 Nations in RU in 2000.

More money would start to flow for the new nation which would assist with coaching etc – France’s crowds in the Euro Cup this year suggest that they would be a good addition. It would be nice to land a good RL TV deal in France for the sake of French RL, SL and international RL – this move plus Toulouse in SL (when ready) may be the catalyst for such a deal and suddenly the game has a new revenue stream from a nation with a history (and a history of success) in the game.

NOTE: PNG would also come into contention as a candidate as long as they sort current political probs and can land a team in the Queensland RL or NRL comp (I don’t know how likely this is) and start feeding players through to the NRL which would provide the fully professional national squad.

Adding a 5th nations would not be what the 6 Nations did. Adding in the 4th qualifier was like adding Italy. Adding a 5th team would be like them adding Spain or Portugal.

I think this should be the aim, adding a 5th nation, but i really hate it when it's an odd number, so we should keep it at 4 until we can increase it to 6. But then there'll be a problem with the naming of it, yawnion will kick up a big fuss etc.

Do you really have such a low opinion of "yawnion"? They never cared when it was the Tri nations. A six nations would be like a world cup every year.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

I guess when we get to the 6 Nations stage – probably Eng, Wales, France, Aus, NZ & PNG – all professional competitive squads we would be looking at a Euro Tri Nations and a Pacific tri nations so, like was previously mentioned we are not playing a world cup every year – but that is a thread for a decade or 2 down the track.

 

[Mullins_y2k]

I really like the idea of letting the winners of the atlantic cup qualify for the 4 nations but yeah prob a few years away

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I guess when we get to the 6 Nations stage – probably Eng, Wales, France, Aus, NZ & PNG – all professional competitive squads we would be looking at a Euro Tri Nations and a Pacific tri nations so, like was previously mentioned we are not playing a world cup every year – but that is a thread for a decade or 2 down the track.

Absolutely can not wait for that thread.