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Australia and New Zealand withdraw from RLWC

Welsh RL & RU watcher

Welsh RL & RU watcher

Juniors
Messages
246
stryker said:
RL is played in more than 70 countries with 7 of those holding professional competitions. Additionally, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are comprised mainly of players who operate professionally in Australia and the UK.
The 6 “minnows” who earn the right to be ranked in the top 16 nations deserve to test themselves against the professional countries. The short form WC allows this to happen and has led to professional careers. On top of this, all countries not considered in the big 3 get the chance to improve…which has led to test wins over these nations recently.
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There are only two countries with professional leagues, the UK and Oz. How many in the Tonga team were born AND brought up in Tonga? Very few. They're Kiwis and Aussies.
 
Azz

Azz

Juniors
Messages
12
The_Frog said:
They quarantine to be allowed to enter Australia. Then they have 8 weeks holidays during which time they can go wherever they like. Then, having been in broader society for 8 weeks, they have to enter the bubble. Before I retired my employer insisted that I clear my holidays every year, this was for employee welfare reasons. If you successfully argue that you need 8 weeks off for your own welfare, you can hardly decide all of a sudden that you don't need it after all.
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Yeah, it was for employee welfare reasons. Nothing to do with getting your leave entitlement off the company’s books…

And speaking of professional sportsmen who wanted more time off for welfare, didn’t the Australian cricketers all change their tune when the IPL’s millions were offered?

Just follow the money, and realise that 9 and the clubs get nothing from the WC going ahead
 
G

Gomersall

Juniors
Messages
71
Are there no dissentIng opinions in Australia? All we see in the U.K. from the Australian media is merely toeing the party line. And there was me thinking the Aussie press liked to shit stir. The word being used in the UK is betrayal. This is even worse than the Vichy government confiscating French RL assets. At least you could see it was an enemy doing the dirty on RL rather than a supposed ally. This will split the game into two hemispheres which will diversify in different directions. Ultimately becoming two more variants of rugby. Disappointed doesn’t come anywhere near describing it. A shameful time for RL.
 
Welsh RL & RU watcher

Welsh RL & RU watcher

Juniors
Messages
246
Gomersall said:
Are there no dissentIng opinions in Australia? All we see in the U.K. from the Australian media is merely toeing the party line. And there was me thinking the Aussie press liked to shit stir. The word being used in the UK is betrayal. This is even worse than the Vichy government confiscating French RL assets. At least you could see it was an enemy doing the dirty on RL rather than a supposed ally. This will split the game into two hemispheres which will diversify in different directions. Ultimately becoming two more variants of rugby. Disappointed doesn’t come anywhere near describing it. A shameful time for RL.
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I watch AFL 360, there's anxiety regarding Covid over there, mainly because so few have been vaccinated. The rhetoric is, 'we've kept the death rate quite low, lets keep it low, we're behind other nations in regards to vaccinations, so lets stay put, no travel, let's be careful'; that's the thinking down there are the moment.
 
Foreign Legion

Foreign Legion

Coach
Messages
11,934
thewest.com.au

Clubs behind RLWC withdrawals, Graham says

Former England captain James Graham says self-interest by NRL clubs is at the heart of the decision by Australia and New Zealand to withdraw from the World Cup.
thewest.com.au thewest.com.au

Former England captain James Graham says self-interest by the NRL clubs is at the heart of the decision by Australia and New Zealand to pull out of the World Cup.

The holders and 2008 champions cited player safety during the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for withdrawing from the England-based tournament which is due to get under way on October 23 but Graham has dubbed it a "straw man argument".

The former St Helens favourite, who has played in the NRL for St George Illawarra and Canterbury Bulldogs, has become a television pundit in Australia since retiring at the end of November's Super League Grand Final.


"There are enough sporting events in the world right now that are going ahead," he told the PA news agency.

"They are clearly motivated by things that they're not saying. I don't believe the motivation for not participating in this tournament to be COVID-19 or player welfare."

Graham believes the ARL Commission has bowed to pressure from the clubs, who feared disruption to their preparations for the 2022 season by some of their players not reporting back until February due to the need to quarantine on their return from England and then taking an agreed six-week holiday entitlement.

"This has always been an issue and a problem in international rugby league in terms of NRL-based players having legal entitlements and it's easily debunked," he said.

Graham, who played in the World Cups of 2008, 2013 and 2017, does not expect a change of heart from Australia or New Zealand but hopes their players are given the opportunity to play for other nations in the tournament.

"I can't see them changing their mind," said Graham.

"Part of me hopes that a majority of the 48 players denied an opportunity to play for Australia and New Zealand find another nation to represent.

"Victor Radley can play for England and Tyson Frizell for Wales again, wouldn't that be great? I even saw Ryan Papenhuyzen put out a tweet about the Dutch coming in.


"It would be player power to say 'we wanted to play and we're going to play, it's just not going to be under your banner'.

"But that's a bit of an emotional response, to put one back on them."

Graham, who won 44 caps for England and another nine for Great Britain, has been particularly upset by the lack of consultation and points to a survey conducted by the Australian players union, the RLPA, which claimed 75 per cent of its members wanted to go to the World Cup.

"If players decided they didn't want to go, I don't think anyone would begrudge them that but they haven't even been asked and that is not fair," he said.

World Cup organisers are continuing to weigh up their next move.
 
clarency

clarency

Juniors
Messages
1,217
The_Frog said:
The difference between RL and these other sports is that in the other sports international contests are the biggest show in town, where all the money is made. That is not the case with RL. The money is made in the NRL competition and they won't jeopardise that for a World Cup. Yes I know dollars are being put first, but that is the case with soccer, rugby and cricket as well.
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Then we can both agree that the NRL's "it's about player safety" speech is BS. It is all about money but they don't want to admit that.

In RL's situation, the RLWC is about generating wider interest and honouring the sport. It is an investment. Yes the NRL is the biggest show in town. Today. The goal should be for the RLWC to grow bigger and generate more money for the RL organisations world-wide to enjoy 20-30 years down the track. For that to happen everyone needs to be on the same page; and the NRL isn't. They want all the power... even if it means suppressing RL growth.

Because that is what they're doing. There's no way around that.
 
stryker

stryker

First Grade
Messages
5,277
Gomersall said:
That’s the policy. Just shut down any conflicting opinions without any reasoned argument. Is RL in Australia the equivalent of a police state where only the people in charge are allowed to comment and are ALWAYS right?
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It’s not just RL over here…
 
KennySterling

KennySterling

Juniors
Messages
1,098
Jack Deth said:
The legend that is Jason T has said he wants to play in the world cup with Tonga.

That guy has played the biggest role in Tongas emergence and will forever have my gratitude and admiration.
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He will go down as one of rugby league's greatest pioneers for what he has done for Tonga and international game.

I couldn't respect and admire Jason Taumalolo more.
Legend is an overused word - but not in his case.
 
G

Gomersall

Juniors
Messages
71
KennySterling said:
He will go down as one of rugby league's greatest pioneers for what he has done for Tonga and international game.

I couldn't respect and admire Jason Taumalolo more.
Legend is an overused word - but not in his case.
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Is the MoM in the WC final named after anyone? If Tonga actually put their hand up for the 2021 WC I’d love it if once JT retires they name it after him.
 
Rod

Rod

Bench
Messages
3,728
Daily cases in the UK have more or less already halved since this announcement was made. Early days but if this trend continues and the vaccine continue to keep a lid on cases and hospitalizations then this premature decision to pull out will look worse and worse.

Couple that with the fact that the players would have extra precautions to be on the safe side (bubbles, daily tests etc) and this decision by the ARL and NZRL could go down as one of the great administrative failures.
 
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