RLWC Pros and Cons

[VictoryFC]

Have to disagree with u. It’s a Southern Hemisphere World Cup these are the conditions teams sign up for. same as conditions are great for Wales and Ireland when the World Cup is in the northern hemisphere. Besides it didn’t seem to affect Ireland playing in the heat they looked great today. Whether u played that game in the arvo or at night PNG are a far better team then Wales atm

Don't think anyone is saying that PNG wouldn't have beaten Wales, but the idea that conditions suit northern hemisphere teams when WC is on in the NH is just plain wrong.

Every single player wants to play in cold conditions. They may get a few goosebumps on the walk from the dressing room, but once you start playing, you'll have a very comfortable body temperature in a very short amount of time. 5-15 degrees is perfect for playing. The equivalent to the heat we're talking about in SH in the NH would be snow, or sub-zero temperatures - which isn't a problem in Wales or Ireland last I heard.

More importantly, RL is a winter sport in SH, as you very well know.

Case in point: players not exposed to playing in the heat during the year will suffer far more than players not exposed to slightly colder climates than what they're used to playing in the SH during wintertime.

 

[Saxon]

The FIFA World Cup is either the biggest or second biggest sporting event in the world. The group stages always have mismatches, that’s just part of this kind of event.

But not 80% of games played in the soccer version are floggings.
I gave up watching in the end - it wasn't even that the winning teams were actually that great, more that one team was fairly good and the other was very poor. There wasn't even a great deal of spectacular football; it was mostly just simple plays capitalising on very average defence. they all tried hard, but I didn't think it was much fun to watch.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Don't think anyone is saying that PNG wouldn't have beaten Wales, but the idea that conditions suit northern hemisphere teams when WC is on in the NH is just plain wrong.

Every single player wants to play in cold conditions. They may get a few goosebumps on the walk from the dressing room, but once you start playing, you'll have a very comfortable body temperature in a very short amount of time. 5-15 degrees is perfect for playing. The equivalent to the heat we're talking about in SH in the NH would be snow, or sub-zero temperatures - which isn't a problem in Wales or Ireland last I heard.

More importantly, RL is a winter sport in SH, as you very well know.

Case in point: players not exposed to playing in the heat during the year will suffer far more than players not exposed to slightly colder climates than what they're used to playing in the SH during wintertime.

I think anyone who has played in 5 degrees or less would argue. As I said previously, the PNG players who had never been out of PNG in their lives were almost hypothermic playing in single digit temps in Wales. It might be okay once you're really warmed up but that doesn't happen immediately and getting things like your hands and fingers warm is nearly impossible.

 

[Rory]

In my opinion, having the blow out score lines are a massive con. It makes games not worth watching. I recorded and watched every game, except for Tonga vs Scotland, i watch the first 3 mins, then thought nah f**k this, and spent my time doing other things awaiting LebVFrance. Let us not forget the world cup of 2000 was a failure due to too many blow out score lines.

 

[Perth Red]

Sadly RL is a cruel game and the slightest difference in quality can lead to massive score differences. Not like soccer where Brazil might beat Monaco 3-0.

Soo is so supposed to be between the two best sets of players in the world yet look at Queensland dominance and the blow outs you get in it sometimes, doesn't take much in a game of league to be off your game and get a big score on you.

 

[VictoryFC]

Sadly RL is a cruel game and the slightest difference in quality can lead to massive score differences. Not like soccer where Brazil might beat Monaco 3-0.

Soo is so supposed to be between the two best sets of players in the world yet look at Queensland dominance and the blow outs you get in it sometimes, doesn't take much in a game of league to be off your game and get a big score on you.

For one, Brazil would never play a professional club in a competitive game...but thats by the by.

The difference between SOO and WC mismatches is that the audience watching knows that both sides are very strong in terms of personnel. So QLD smashing NSW 80-0 wouldn't prompt a 'god that was boring, uncompetitive tripe'...but 'holy shit was that the greatest ever origin performance?'.

Expectations play a huge part in this. In some WC games, the expectations are that the two sides are completely mismatched in terms of personnel, so the expectations is low, and there is a downbeat reaction to what takes place. Certainly, the eligibility issue doesn't help matters when minnows are playing off against one another. But their positive outweighs negatives because they will hopefully bridge gaps at the top end of the game. And getting the top end right is more important than anything else.

It doesn't matter what WC it is, a core of 5-8 solid teams that could 'win on their day' (even if they don't most of the time) is what you'll find. That should be the aim.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

For me the pros have been the players that have missed out or chose not to play for the tier 1 nations, turning out for the other nations and showing a lot of passion for their heritage. They sing the national anthem with pride and put in so much work.

Another pro is Lebanon. Whilst attendances have been a bit disappointing in Australia so far, to me Lebanon's win in Canberra could boost the crowd figure when they take in England in Sydney. There looked like quite a lot of Cedars fans made the trip down to Canberra, witnessing their first win and a chance for the quarter finals. so imagine how many will turn up in both games against the Poms and Kangaroos when they don't have to travel too far.

I can probably see the crowd above 10,000 but would love to see it get past 20,000 or even 30,000. Would be an amazing atmosphere.

The TV coverage has been great also. Ch 7 have been building up this tournament for a while and haven't let us down.

As for cons The blowouts are a concern but I don't it'll be as bad as 2000 although I have concerns for Scotland and France taking on New Zealand and Australia. Take nothing away from Tonga, Fiji and PNG's performances. They were brilliant. Tonga are probably rated a big chance to make the semis with a lot of first grade experience. Fiji have a lot of experience also and PNG have been improving each year, especially since the Hunters came into the QLD Cup. I hope they do really well this tournament. Scotland aren't fielding their best squad, Wales is the same, USA have a lot of domestic players and barely any NRL experience.

Id say ticket pricing and maybe scheduling have been the cons. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the Australia game in Melbourne but from what someone told they were selling $90 tickets in a ridiculous spot in the corner. There were empty seats in the stand, it anything they'd be more $90 worth if not less.

 

[Springs09]

In my opinion, having the blow out score lines are a massive con. It makes games not worth watching. I recorded and watched every game, except for Tonga vs Scotland, i watch the first 3 mins, then thought nah f**k this, and spent my time doing other things awaiting LebVFrance. Let us not forget the world cup of 2000 was a failure due to too many blow out score lines.

The 2000 World Cup was a failure because they expanded too fast, had teams like NZ Maori and were way too ambitious in scheduling and choosing venues. Plus the weather was awful and there was a railway strike or something that affected travel by train.

Blowout scorelines aren't a reason for failure. By that logic every Union WC is a failure. The All Blacks consistently put 100 points on lower teams. 2008 and 2013 had plenty of blowouts but they were successful.

 

[adamkungl]

The 2000 World Cup was a failure because they expanded too fast, had teams like NZ Maori and were way too ambitious in scheduling and choosing venues. Plus the weather was awful and there was a railway strike or something that affected travel by train.

Blowout scorelines aren't a reason for failure. By that logic every Union WC is a failure. The All Blacks consistently put 100 points on lower teams. 2008 and 2013 had plenty of blowouts but they were successful.

Stop making sense
That's not what we're about here

 

[Valheru]

Having a vast majority of games as blowouts has to be a con. The average fan, who would be the difference between decent and very good crowds just wants to see a decent contest or at least have reasonable expectation of seeing one.

It is true that there is blowouts in every competition on Earth, it happens week in week out in the NRL for example. It is also true that there are blowouts in other world cups, soccer, rugby, cricket etc. however this week's RLWC games offer a combined multi price $1.53 if picking all 7 favourites to win! Exclude Tonga and it is $1.26. I can't imagine any of the other tournaments mentioned would be anything close to that for a full round of fixtures within 4 pools.

Having said that, the answer isn't to play less and this should be a catalyst for all the key stakeholders to better fund the international game and drastically increase opportunities that nations not named Australia NZ and England have to compete and improve.

 

[T-Boon]

Con: Russell Packer.

 

[typicalfan]

Pro is the scheduling.

How good would it be for the NRL to have this scheduling. All games on FTA even if they were simulcast on fox. They would probably rate better on average too.

 

[Force]

Theres been 3 blowouts so far but in saying that, they havent been as bad as 2000 so I can live with that. What I find more frustrating than scorelines is the fact Wales played poorly. At least USA gave it a go, Wales didnt even look threatening and they were also crap last World Cup. Scotland are in the pool of death so blowouts are inevitable given the calibre of team they have and face.

As for the scheduling, they obviously pushed the tier 1 teams to the prime time slots and the smaller Nations to the afternoon slots.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

There are no cons for me.

We have the biggest and best world cup ever, Governments (except NSW) elbowing each other out of the way to bid for matches, positive, respectful TV coverage, games hosted in 3 countries, passion and pride on display from various nations and cultures, bumper Australian TV ratings that shows that international RL is as important to fans as any other national team.

Who cares about a few blow outs, it happens in all sports, in all tournaments. The Pacific Island teams are showing how good they are and how much they have progressed simply by playing once a year together - imagine how far they will go with an annual pacific cup. Ireland were fantastic beating a quality Italian side and by the looks of it we will have some very credible and competitive quarter finals. I dare say that if Lebanon go through to the quarters the game will move forward in quantum leaps back in Lebanon just like it did when they qualified for the WC but went out in the group stage in 2000. We have a strong and confident England side and a Kiwi team that has no expectations on it (which historically is when they are the most dangerous).

I am going to enjoy every second of this month of international rugby league because it is my favourite part of the season.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

Pros tv ratings smashing codes like union.

Pros this World Cup running at a profit before it even started.

Pros awesome seeing teams like America send out a lot of domestic players no matter the result.

Pros the Tongan welcome at the airport in Hamilton.

Pros Lebanon winning its first World Cup match.

Pros png just in general, international football in png long overdue.

Cons, Scotland in my books, I think they will fade away unless things are sorted out at home.

Cons some poor crowds up in north qld and act.

 

[adamkungl]

CON
Multiple people have claimed no France or Lebanon jerseys available at their game.
Mascord reckons official retailers only have Aus and England shirts.

Absolute f**kin amateur hour

 

[Jim from Oz]

CON
Multiple people have claimed no France or Lebanon jerseys available at their game.
Mascord reckons official retailers only have Aus and England shirts.

Absolute f**kin amateur hour

RLWC 2017 absolute f**kin amateur hour example #33,489

 

[miguel de cervantes]

international football in png long overdue.

um....

 

[Disinterested third party]

But not 80% of games played in the soccer version are floggings.
I gave up watching in the end - it wasn't even that the winning teams were actually that great, more that one team was fairly good and the other was very poor. There wasn't even a great deal of spectacular football; it was mostly just simple plays capitalising on very average defence. they all tried hard, but I didn't think it was much fun to watch.

You didn't watch too carefully then

 

[TheFrog]

CON
Multiple people have claimed no France or Lebanon jerseys available at their game.
Mascord reckons official retailers only have Aus and England shirts.

Absolute f**kin amateur hour

Lebanon jersey's, both home and away available online. Couldn't see France though. Maybe it is thought they wouldn't sell. There aren't a lot of French expats living here.