Four Nations Issues

[pcpp]

Issues that probably need to be sorted out for next year's Four Nations.



Name

• Four Nations
• Quad Nations
• Something like Rugby League International Championship (to avoid changing names for future 4N expansion)

Format

• Single round robin (3 weeks + final)
• Double round robin (6 weeks + final, same length as 04/05/06 3N)
• Formats without a final? (to avoid the chance of England missing the final and having a non-sellout stadium)
• Something else?

Match order/location:

• Should England/Australia be played at Wembley? Should it be the opening match?
• Should Australia/NZ be played in Australia, NZ or England? Should it be the opening match?
• Where should the other pool matches be held?
• Where should the final be held?

 

[The Tank]

Richard Lewis refers to it as the Four Nations. I prefer Four Nations to Quad Nations myself. The format should be the same (double round robin + final). I'm not so sure on Wembley now, if England had've won the WC then yes - maybe though. Final at Old Trafford or Elland Road.

 

[bazza]

Issues that probably need to be sorted out for next year's Four Nations.




Name

• Four Nations
• Quad Nations
• Something like Rugby League International Championship (to avoid changing names for future 4N expansion)

Format

• Single round robin (3 weeks + final)
• Double round robin (6 weeks + final, same length as 04/05/06 3N)
• Formats without a final? (to avoid the chance of England missing the final and having a non-sellout stadium)
• Something else?

Match order/location:

• Should England/Australia be played at Wembley? Should it be the opening match?
• Should Australia/NZ be played in Australia, NZ or England? Should it be the opening match?
• Where should the other pool matches be held?
• Where should the final be held?

Name: Don't care

Format: Single round robin - less matches for players. Better to get crowds in. No repeated floggings

Match Order:
Week 1: Aus v NZ played in Aus/NZ
Week 2: Eng v France in Eng/France (Aus/NZ recover from jet lag)
Week 3: Eng v Aus at Wembley. Fra v NZ in France
Week 4: Eng v NZ at Wigan/Hull/Huddersfield. Fra v Aus in France
Week 5: Final at Elland Road/CoM

 

[The Tank]

Actually that's a pretty good schedul bazza. England are likely to beat France so spirits will be up for a big game against Oz.

 

[roughyedspud]

why should australia v NZ be played down under? it's the 4 nations held in europe,not all over the world..

and i'm sure richard lewis has confirmed,somewhere, that'll it'll be a single round format..

my 4 NATIONS schedule

week 1 - australia v NZ & france v england double header in toulouse

week 2 - england v australia* @ reebok

& france v NZ @ Béziers,stade

week 3 - england v NZ @ the KC

& france v australia in paris somewhere

week 4 - final @ the city of manchester stadium

had we made the RLWC final this game would have been at wembley..might still be but i can't see it..

 

[brendothejet]

No double headers for my mind. I was at Australa v NZ at Loftus Rd in 2004 and it was a top event and stood on its own two legs quite well. There are more than enough aussies and kiwis in london to take the game to one of the smaller football grounds and stand alone. This means more revenue and a better image for the game.

By having two games per weekend, on seperate days, of the tournament we get more media exposure and give ourselves more credability.

 

[roughyedspud]

the reason for having a double header in france serves a number of purposes,

1. kicking off the tournament in france will show we are committed to the french cause.
2.with the rematch of the world cup final plus france v the old enemy will get alot of coverage in the french media i reckon..

3. it'll likely be the biggest attended RL in france for 60+years.

4. reason 3 should be good enough to convince you :lol:

 

[pcpp]

the reason for having a double header in france serves a number of purposes,

1. kicking off the tournament in france will show we are committed to the french cause.
2.with the rematch of the world cup final plus france v the old enemy will get alot of coverage in the french media i reckon..

3. it'll likely be the biggest attended RL in france for 60+years.

4. reason 3 should be good enough to convince you :lol:

1. Giving France a chance in the 4N, having Catalans in SL, putting Toulouse in NL1 shows we are committed to the French cause.

2. Doubt it.

3. There are no guarantees of that. The biggest attended RL match in France for 60 years would only be something like 20K anyway - not worth it with two HUGE matches that would attract 50K+ in total in Australia and England.

 

[roughyedspud]

well it's not going to be in australia anyways so you can forget that one

 

[jim_57]

I would have 3 games in France, 3 in England including the final. I don't mind the double header but I'm undecided whether it would cost us profit. I would go with something like this:

Week 1
England V Australia - Emirates, London - 60,000
France V New Zealand - Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan - 15,000

Week 2
France V England &
Australia V New Zealand - Parc Des Princes, Paris - 48,000

Week 3
England V New Zealand - Elland Road, Leeds - 40,000
France V Australia - Stade Ernest Wallon, Toulouse - 18,000

Week 4
Final - CoM Stadium, Manchester - 48,000
3rd V Euro Cup 1st - Euro Cup Host
4th V Euro Cup 2nd - Euro Cup Host

 

[roughyedspud]

all of france's game in france, too give them a fighting chance and all of england games in england cos .......well...cos we are rubbish...


just like when australia & NZ co-hosted the 2006 tri nations........though i wish we would get away from co-hosting tournaments...it's rubbish

 

[roughyedspud]

Week 1
England V Australia - Emirates, London - 60,000

sorry jim...just noticed that one..........you've more chance of raising the titanic........the only other sport that'll ever be allowed on the emirates pitch is crown green bowls :lol:

 

[gatesheadthunder]

Forget playing a game anywhere in London, it's a struggle to get 25,000 in yorkshire or lancashire. It would look terrible playing at wembley (90,000) with thousands of empty seats.

 

[roughyedspud]

the only way we could play it at wembley is if the RFL sold tickets for 10quid for adults & 5quid for kids..

 

[rlo]

Wembley would be a big ask - with the World Cup just a year after, the Four Nations would be relegated to the "second tier" annual competition, from 2004 to 2006 it was the only top int'l RL competition. Maybe an Aus-NZ match in London to entice all the expats. Just throwing it up in the air, how about something in Wales?

I don't see why Australia and New Zealand can't play Tests in the southern hemisphere for their initial matches, this was done in 2005 and 2006. There's not a lot of better ways to kick off the 2009 international tournament with a home NZ crowd watching their World Champions against the perennial odds-on favorites. AFAIK, the NRL GF is a couple of weeks before the SL's one. Either play 1-2 matches in Sydney/Brisbane/Newcastle/Auckland, or perhaps do a warm up, NZ v PNG and Aus v Samoa/Tonga.

It should be a single round robin, though one downside of having an equal number of sides.

 

[Spitty]

The whole 4 nations is going to be held in NZ and Aus in 2010 so I don't see a reason for Aus v NZ to be played down here in 2009. I think it should be played in Wales/Ireland/Scotland, with a pregame involving the home national side. This'd be a great promotion for the European qualifiers in 2010.

I'm not an expert on stadiums but my draw would be;
Week 1:
England v France @ England
Australia v New Zealand @ Wales/Ireland/Scotland
Week 2:
England v New Zealand @ England
France v Australia @ France
Week 3:
England v Australia @ England
France v New Zealand @ France
Final @ England

 

[gatesheadthunder]

The whole 4 nations is going to be held in NZ and Aus in 2010 so I don't see a reason for Aus v NZ to be played down here in 2009. I think it should be played in Wales/Ireland/Scotland, with a pregame involving the home national side. This'd be a great promotion for the European qualifiers in 2010.

I'm not an expert on stadiums but my draw would be;
Week 1:
England v France @ England
Australia v New Zealand @ Wales/Ireland/Scotland
Week 2:
England v New Zealand @ England
France v Australia @ France
Week 3:
England v Australia @ England
France v New Zealand @ France
Final @ England

With the Crusaders now in super league, taking NZ v Australia to wales is a good idea, hopefully after a season of super league the welsh fans would be well up for a top international.

 

[Tigers, tiger, tiger]

 

[The Electric Horseman]

Use the Courtney Goodwill Trophy for next years tournament.

 

[brendothejet]

The whole 4 nations is going to be held in NZ and Aus in 2010 so I don't see a reason for Aus v NZ to be played down here in 2009. I think it should be played in Wales/Ireland/Scotland, with a pregame involving the home national side. This'd be a great promotion for the European qualifiers in 2010.

I'm not an expert on stadiums but my draw would be;
Week 1:
England v France @ England
Australia v New Zealand @ Wales/Ireland/Scotland
Week 2:
England v New Zealand @ England
France v Australia @ France
Week 3:
England v Australia @ England
France v New Zealand @ France
Final @ England

That is one of the better ideas I have heard in my time. The Wales/ireland/Scotland option for the AUs v NZ game is one worth exploring. Realistically the crowd would be just as big as playing it in london at a smaller championship football club side ground, with the added benefit of generating/building on league interest.

If you have it in scotland you capitalise on the Murrayfield Magic event this year, in Wales the Crusaders inaugural superleague season, and in Ireland, the recent succes of the irish national team.

My option would be to go for Wales, only slightly ahead of Scotland.

Perhaps though if the scots watch true really classy sides in the Aussies and Kiwis going at it they might wake up to the true version of rugby...