Attendances

[taste2taste]

I'm sure this Tongan team has had some positive growth of league, the amount of publicity they receive back home would inspire some youngsters to try the game. Besides, what's the alternative ? Tonga could easily field a team of locals but they would get smashed by 100 just like they do in Union...and the Union team being made up of home grown talent hasn't made them competive. It's better having a competive heritage team inspiring kids back home.

Teams like Jamaica, Italy, Greece, Lebanon qualified using home grown talent but brought in heritage players for the world cup so they wouldn't loose by 160. So in future why not have 3 pools in the group stages, pool 1 tier 1 teams, pool 2 tier 2 teams and pool 3 the rest. That way Jamaca, Greece, Lebanon could field local players knowing they will be competive. It would also give the world cup more credibility having actual Jamaicans playing for Jamaica, Greeks playing for Greece ... etc Is there anything more cringe than seeing an Italian player interviewed with a broad Aussie accent.

Anyways this thread is getting way off topic lol

 

[England87]

A 12-team tournament should be the future.

Especially for France 25, where I just can't imagine there being that much interest.

I would be shocked if any game in any stadium gets a 30k + crowd. Even the Final. Even if they give away tickets. I say that as the biggest fan of the french league in these forums.

3 Pools of 4 teams with seeds/rankings to decide who plays in Quarter Finals. Similar to this year's Rugby World Cup in Auckland. It will add some more must-watch games in the group stages against bigger teams. Plus points difference will actually matter.

England could hypothetically be in a group with Samoa AND Papua New Guinea for example. You would see a drastically improved competitive group stage even if the same old sides make the second round of competition.

Throw in an Emerging Nations Cup of 4,6 or 8 teams if you want.

Just a thought.

 

[England87]

And there NEEDS to be an 8-team Confederations Cup-style tournament alternating hemispheres in between World Cups. I'm fine with all these heritage-based faux international sides. It is what it is, but they need these players to stick it out for a period of time for there to be any real development and to get eyes watching their side outside of 3 weeks every 4/5 years.

Luke Keary and Mitch Moses aren't going to play in some Euro Cup qualification tournaments in front of a few hundred people but if there was another genuine international tournament in between world cups then that will more likely commit to the cause for the long haul.

 

[LeagueXIII]

Whilst the tournament has been predictable mostly, no one saw England smashing Samoa in game 1. People who just look for wins and losses miss the point of what a world cup is about, it is a celebration of the sport when we get to the KO phase that is when it gets serious.

English Journo Martyn Sadler suggested this format for more balanced scores:

Great stuff, even if it’s one sided

League Express editor MARTYN SADLER discusses the Rugby League World Cup after the first two rounds of fixtures. This is his ‘Talking Rugby League’ column that was published in this wee…

www.totalrl.com

The organisers moved away from the underlying logic of the 2017 tournament, but in doing that I’m not sure they were very wise.
14 nations took part in that tournament, with two seeded groups of four, which included the top eight nations, from which six won through to the quarter-finals, and then two weaker groups of three, from which two teams won through.
If we had followed the same pattern in 2022, we might have had a Group A consisting, for example, of England, Samoa, Australia and Fiji, and a Group B of New Zealand, Lebanon, Tonga and PNG, with three from each qualifying for the quarter-finals.

We might then have had a Group C of France, Greece, Italy and Scotland, and a Group D of Ireland, Jamaica, Wales and the Cook Islands, with the top team from each group going through to the quarter-finals.
In Rugby League we can never guarantee avoiding one-sided games, as England showed against Samoa, but that structure wouldn’t have generated as many lopsided scorelines as we have seen. Scotland and Jamaica might still have struggled, but they at least wouldn’t be expected to turn out against Australia and New Zealand respectively.
The games would have been much more competitive.

 

[LeagueXIII]

And get rid of the damn six again rule...it just blows games apart.

 

[taste2taste]

Whilst the tournament has been predictable mostly, no one saw England smashing Samoa in game 1. People who just look for wins and losses miss the point of what a world cup is about, it is a celebration of the sport when we get to the KO phase that is when it gets serious.

English Journo Martyn Sadler suggested this format for more balanced scores:

Great stuff, even if it’s one sided

League Express editor MARTYN SADLER discusses the Rugby League World Cup after the first two rounds of fixtures. This is his ‘Talking Rugby League’ column that was published in this wee…

www.totalrl.com

The organisers moved away from the underlying logic of the 2017 tournament, but in doing that I’m not sure they were very wise.
14 nations took part in that tournament, with two seeded groups of four, which included the top eight nations, from which six won through to the quarter-finals, and then two weaker groups of three, from which two teams won through.
If we had followed the same pattern in 2022, we might have had a Group A consisting, for example, of England, Samoa, Australia and Fiji, and a Group B of New Zealand, Lebanon, Tonga and PNG, with three from each qualifying for the quarter-finals.

We might then have had a Group C of France, Greece, Italy and Scotland, and a Group D of Ireland, Jamaica, Wales and the Cook Islands, with the top team from each group going through to the quarter-finals.
In Rugby League we can never guarantee avoiding one-sided games, as England showed against Samoa, but that structure wouldn’t have generated as many lopsided scorelines as we have seen. Scotland and Jamaica might still have struggled, but they at least wouldn’t be expected to turn out against Australia and New Zealand respectively.
The games would have been much more competitive.

This is absolutely the model we need to go back to moving forward. ...back to the future.
Although I must admit it's starting to grind my gears with people complaining about lopsided scores. Basketball and rugby union are far more global games than ours and thier group stages of thier world cup have just as many blow outs.

 

[LeagueXIII]

This is absolutely the model we need to go back to moving forward. ...back to the future.
Although I must admit it's starting to grind my gears with people complaining about lopsided scores. Basketball and rugby union are far more global games than ours and thier group stages of thier world cup have just as many blow outs.

Also, netball world cup, have a look at the group stage for Australia and other major teams in this never hear any whinging about this.

 

[taste2taste]

It's ingrained in rugby league to undervalue our game. Imagine if Aussie Rules had this world cup ? They would be singing from the roof tops how successful it's been.

League hadn't even tried to spread its wings until 10 years ago. In that time League has had good growth in Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Brazil, Czech Republic, Philippines, Hungary, Canada and Spain.

Trying to make inroads into countries that union is established is pointless. They have more money, more pathways and when a talented kid playing league comes along they'll sign them up ( like we saw in France 10 years ago )

It takes decades to grow the game. The only way to accelerate the growth would be for league to hit the lotto in the USA, a billionaire backing the game to start a professional comp. But Toronto have shown the game can grow quickly. They went from crowds of 300 people to capacity crowds in 3 years.

 

[yakstorm]

8342 in Middlesbrough
5006 in Leigh
6756 in Warrington

 

[BadnMean]

It's ingrained in rugby league to undervalue our game. Imagine if Aussie Rules had this world cup ? They would be singing from the roof tops how successful it's been.

League hadn't even tried to spread its wings until 10 years ago. In that time League has had good growth in Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Brazil, Czech Republic, Philippines, Hungary, Canada and Spain.

Trying to make inroads into countries that union is established is pointless. They have more money, more pathways and when a talented kid playing league comes along they'll sign them up ( like we saw in France 10 years ago )

It takes decades to grow the game. The only way to accelerate the growth would be for league to hit the lotto in the USA, a billionaire backing the game to start a professional comp. But Toronto have shown the game can grow quickly. They went from crowds of 300 people to capacity crowds in 3 years.

We had that guy, he was backing Toronto Wolfpack wasn't he and SL kicked him out...
They were about to bring in a NY team...

 

[taste2taste]

We had that guy, he was backing Toronto Wolfpack wasn't he and SL kicked him out...
They were about to bring in a NY team...

Imo that was the second biggest 'what if' moment in the history of the game. The ESL could have had teams from Toronto, Ottawa, NY and Boston...but they preferred a team in Leigh lol

The biggest ' what if ' moment was the southern union not agreeing with the Northern rule changes...what could have been *sigh

 

[Perth Red]

This is absolutely the model we need to go back to moving forward. ...back to the future.
Although I must admit it's starting to grind my gears with people complaining about lopsided scores. Basketball and rugby union are far more global games than ours and thier group stages of thier world cup have just as many blow outs.

All sports do, it seems only Rl fans have a problem with it lol. Even in the Olympics the gap between the best and the weakest is massive in the early parts of the games in most sports.

 

[Gobsmacked]

All sports do, it seems only Rl fans have a problem with it lol. Even in the Olympics the gap between the best and the weakest is massive in the early parts of the games in most sports.

The interesting part is that people don't look at if in terms of how amazing Australia, NZ or England are but rather that there's a problem..
We have some amazing talent! Amazing talent! That isn't a problem.
Mike Tyson was an amazing talent! That wasn't a problem for boxing- it was it's asset !!

 

[BadnMean]

Imo that was the second biggest 'what if' moment in the history of the game. The ESL could have had teams from Toronto, Ottawa, NY and Boston...but they preferred a team in Leigh lol

The biggest ' what if ' moment was the southern union not agreeing with the Northern rule changes...what could have been *sigh

I tried to follow it but lost touch somewhere (the news about the Wolfpack guy that is).

I gather covid made it too hard during that period so SL thought, let's just concentrate on local.

But gee yeah, Leigh is not going to grow the pie. The North America stuff could have been a genuine game changer within a decade. You've only got to interest 1-2% of the population of North America to double or triple your tv rights fees, with the chance that if you can interest 5%, add a zero instead.

There's no USA or Canada at this WC but they have an awful lot more potential than Jamaica or Wales as $ markets + an existing player pool of union talent to be pinched by a decent professional career possibility (whereas trying to pinch fro Heineken Cup nations is just not realistic).

 

[Perth Red]

The interesting part is that people don't look at if in terms of how amazing Australia, NZ or England are but rather that there's a problem..
We have some amazing talent! Amazing talent! That isn't a problem.
Mike Tyson was an amazing talent! That wasn't a problem for boxing- it was it's asset !!

yeh like the all blacks putting 100 plus on opposition. No-ones crying there's a problem in Union, just how amazing the all blacks are. I swear there is something in FL fans DNA lol. I mean look at attendances. Games in non RL cities have avg'd as many as games in RL heartlands. That's a cause for celebration not hand wringing!

 

[Perth Red]

I tried to follow it but lost touch somewhere (the news about the Wolfpack guy that is).

I gather covid made it too hard during that period so SL thought, let's just concentrate on local.

But gee yeah, Leigh is not going to grow the pie. The North America stuff could have been a genuine game changer within a decade. You've only got to interest 1-2% of the population of North America to double or triple your tv rights fees, with the chance that if you can interest 5%, add a zero instead.

There's no USA or Canada at this WC but they have an awful lot more potential than Jamaica or Wales as $ markets + an existing player pool of union talent to be pinched by a decent professional career possibility (whereas trying to pinch fro Heineken Cup nations is just not realistic).

He was shonky (WA resources guy what do you expect lol) and stopped paying the wages and bills. SL didnt have much choice. Shame as it seemed Toronto was really taking to the game. Ideally we'd see the NARL finally get off the ground with a ten team professional league. That would be a better outcome than joining SL. America has had more false starts than me on the race track!

 

[BadnMean]

The interesting part is that people don't look at if in terms of how amazing Australia, NZ or England are but rather that there's a problem..
We have some amazing talent! Amazing talent! That isn't a problem.
Mike Tyson was an amazing talent! That wasn't a problem for boxing- it was it's asset !!

Mike Tyson being amazing wasn't a problem for heavyweight boxing because everyone in the world knew who Mike Tyson was- and boxing draws champions from the USA, England, Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America etc, etc etc. Boxing does not have a market/player/money pool expansion problem.

Boxing is one of the highest earning & highest PPV sports in the world. Regularly featured in the Forbes list. A single major boxing match to unify a few belts would buy the entire NRL roster for a year (depending on the match up).

Rugby league, played in Oz (small), NZ (tiny), PNG (tiny), a segment of Northern England (small) and a few other tiny nations lacks any economic pull outside Oz and it's struggling NE England base- DOES have a depth problem.

This cricket WC we have seen Namibia beat SL, Scotland beat WI, Ireland beat Eng... League has a depth issue. Cricket has added Ireland and Afghanistan as legit t20 teams in recent history. Plus 100 million plus Bangladeshi's before that. League just sits on its hands or bites hands that reach out (see North America).

Supporting countries with decent populations/connections to Oz and fan bases where we are a decent chance of leapfrogging rugby union and pinching their thunder should be a pathway to growing the pie. USA, Canada, Greece, (Lebanon maybe but smaller, poorer and unstable) are good targets. Trying to re-establish France or grow England possible but rugby has the power.

 

[THE CHAMP]

New Zealand has the best roster ever assembled and thier best odds of winning a world cup. Yet all this pessimism from kiwileaguefan ?
Obviously a troll.

Obviously a f**ken union fan

 

[kiwileaguefan]

I'm not a union fan....I have been following RLWC since 1995. Rugby League in NZ is on life support, and that is a fact. I am involved in the grass roots level and district rep level and I'm telling you now in a several years time it's more than likely going to die unless we see a massive investment from NZRL/NRL. Alot of the districts around the country are being operated by volunteers...there is no money that filters down.

In my region we stopped playing In the winter as we couldn't compete against Rugby and had only one men's team. We have gone from that to 8 this year by playing in spring. Taranaki and Hawkes Bay are the same.

An article was released on the weekend stating Auckland Rugby League has lost 2,000 mens players recently. Though women's numbers have increased.

Wellington Rugby League is dying and struggling across all grades. And I believe Canterbury Rugby League figures are declining. So the three major areas of Rugby League in NZ are declining - rapidly.

Just because the Kiwis have a strong side is not a reflection of the state of the game in NZ. Kids are still getting snapped up and taken across the ditch....that's the only reason NZ has a decent team at the moment. The Warriors are at rock bottom and a embarrassment to Rugby League in NZ.

 

[Perth Red]

Isnt the NRL supposed to be investing more in NZ? The amount they currently fund NZRL is a pittance and is a disgrace. Happy to take out $32mill a year and put very little back in.
The games fortunes ebb and flow. In WA we had 10k players in the 90's, that went down to under 1k by 2000. We are back up to 4.1k and climbing again. NZ winning the WC, Warriors getting settled and actually winning for a change and more NRL games to other NZ cities as well as grass roots investment out of the new Sky money and should be sweet.