INTERNATIONAL sport is Australia v England in the Ashes at the Gabba, Wimbledon, a golf major, world championship athletics and swimming, a Bledisloe Cup, boxing in Las Vegas or the Tour de France. Some sports are not meant for the international stage - and the rugby league World Cup is one of them.
Australia's 62-nil quarter-final win over USA on Sunday was a farce, a game played in front of 5726 fans on a pitch that still had lines marked out for the local soccer team.
That team and individual records were broken is an insult to our champions of the past who once earned their milestones and greatness against genuine opposition in the days when Tests and World Cups were restricted to countries that could actually play the game.
The scoreline against USA should have been 70-plus but for Johnathan Thurston's rare day off with the boot.
At one stage of the first half four tries were scored in seven minutes against a team of brave but totally outclassed players.
For more than 20 years I've been listening to the same old lines from rugby league officials about having patience with the international game and developing countries.
From Kevin Humphreys to Ken Arthurson to Dave Smith … blah, blah, blah, blah.
When Australia beat Russia 110-4 in England in 2000, we were told to give them time.
The same when we beat France 74-nil in 1994 and PNG 82-nil in Townsville in 2000.
Seriously, no one cares.
Outside of Australia, New Zealand and England, it's a tournament of manufactured teams filled with NRL players, many of whom have never even visited the countries they are representing.
Distant relatives, grandmothers and great aunties, somehow allow them to qualify.
Players who quite frankly are flat out making NRL squads each week, let alone play at an international level.
It's all shown on 7mate - a channel a lot of people can't even get - at either one or six in the morning.
If there was any real interest in the tournament, Channel Nine and Fox Sports would be showing it.
This rubbish is not fair on the NRL clubs who fork out millions of dollars of wages to the elite players.
They should be resting and recuperating in the off-season, not spending eight weeks in England on what's become not much more than a boozy holiday, with a couple of serious games against the Poms and Kiwis.
Half of them are likely to struggle next year or suffer form lapses and burnout because they missed a proper off-season.
Cronulla have already lost Luke Lewis for half of 2014 and Storm could have similar problems with Billy Slater's knee.
There is one simple solution to fix this debacle.
In future World Cups should be played over three weeks and only include Australia, New Zealand, England and a country that wins a qualifying tournament.
Even a Rest of the World side could be thrown in as the fourth team.
Anything that gives us competitive football.
Anything that makes it worthwhile to suffer sleep deprivation from sitting up in the early hours of the morning.
No doubt the final in two weeks will be a blockbuster, almost certainly the Kangaroos v Kiwis.
Foran v Thurston, Sonny Bill v Gallen, Luke v Smith.
It's just a joke we've had to wait eight weeks and watch so many meaningless floggings to get to it.
