BRISBANE is a favourite to host next years Rugby League World Cup final, but Gold Coast could miss out on staging any of the 28 matches.
RLWC chief executive Michael Brown said Australia will host as few as 10 or 12 of the 28 matches and the setup costs for matches made it desirable that selected venues mostly hold two or more matches.
The World Cup will be held in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea from October 26-December 2, 2017.
Brown said he rejected the veracity of a Wikipedia entry for the tournament that named venues for all matches, including a final at ANZ Stadium, with Suncorp Stadium to host the opening game between Australia and England.
Brisbane hosted the final of the last World Cup in Australia in 2008, when 50,559 watched New Zealand beat Australia, and has a record over more than 20 years of supporting Test league better than NSW.
Queensland has been incredibly fantastic supporters of the event and we are looking at playing in as many locations as we can, Brown said.
Cairns and Townsville have been nominated, as has Brisbane.
Its more likely than not we will go north rather than south
that the Queensland Government will want us to go north.
It (a match at the Gold Coast) hasnt been ruled out. What you have to match is the size of the game with the community involved.
We have yet to agree on a venue for the final. We plan to announce the venue and host cities in mid to late July.
We are looking forward to working with the (State Government) to finalise the content. Subject to everything working out, they will be a very, very significant partner of the RLWC.
Asked if a News Corp report that the 2017 final would be held in Brisbane had picked up on pessimism in Sydney over that citys chances of hosting the final, Brown said: The only thing I can think of is that (Brisbane hosting the final) happened in 2008.
If it is (in) Queensland, we will be excited but we have to go through the process with the governments.
We would expect a crowd of 50,000-plus for the final and the venue meet a standard, being a World Cup. Suncorp Stadium is certainly in the mix. By no means are they in front of other venues at this stage.
Brown said the detailed work on the Wikipedia entry was not that of the RLWC organising committee and its venue allocation was not even close to what organisers had in mind.
He noted the entry made forecasts of which three nations would qualify to complete the 14-country tournament and that referees and crowds had been included for every match.
PNG will host three pool matches of the Kumuls and there would be a split to be determined between Australia and New Zealand of the remaining 25 matches.
One semi-final may be held on each side of the Tasman, working on the basis both nations would possibly win through to the semis from different pools, Brown said.
Every state and territory has expressed interest in hosting matches, he said.
To set up a venue once (for one RLWC match) is very costly. You could have two or three matches in cities its highly possible.
Although organisers are planning for it to be the best supported RLWC, with total crowds of at least 450,000, some of the least attractive pool matches would be well placed at smaller venues.
