RLWC2007 plus international news

[dimitri]

International Rugby League has a future
Tue Nov 11, 6:02pm (NZ)
Written by: Carl Ewart
The news of Adrian Morley not getting suspended, was great news not only for the Lions but also International Rugby League. A judiciary panel ruled the sending off was sufficient penalty and did not ban him from the remaining two Tests. There was also more good news on the International Rugby League front today, with Chairman of the Rugby League International Federation, Colin Love has revealed that a World Cup in 2007 is firmly on the agenda. After the recent matches of test football between the three big nations of Rugby League getting closer and closer, it has proven that International Rugby League has a future.

Love, also admitted there won’t be another Ashes tour for at least the next four years. But he said he believed Great Britain’s showing in the first test match against the Kangaroos is that next year’s Tri-Nations series - between New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain - would be a huge success.

The only thing one could hope is that England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales benefit from Great Britain's exposure to more test matches…..Or we will see another two horse race between Australia and New Zealand. But judging by the amount of recent test matches played and the results, I believe that the World Cup in 2007 will be the closest ever in Rugby League. The teams to watch will be England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, and Lebanon. These teams will be the biggest threats to Australia and New Zealand, unless major development happens in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga in the next 4 years. Obviously the financial situation in PNG as prevented there Team from playing football in International rugby League which is a big shame for any league fan.

Hopefully the RLIF realise that for the 3 teams in next years tri series, that for warm up games they play teams like Lebanon, PNG, and France. There are so many ways to make International League stronger...but at the end of the day, lack of money will always hurt International League.

Recent Results from some of the rapid developing International Rugby League teams:

1. Lebanon (Mediterranean Cup Champions)

Lebanon 102 Serbia 0
Lebanon 60 Morocco 0
Lebanon 28 France 18

2. Scotland

Ireland 24 Scotland 22
Scotland 8 France 6

3. Ireland

USA 20 Ireland 12
Ireland 24 Scotland 22
France 26 Ireland 18

4. France

France 30 BARLA 24
France 29 Russia 12
France 28 NZ Maori 16
France 72 Morocco 0
France 120 Serbia 0
Lebanon 26 France 18
France 26 Ireland 18
Scotland 8 France 6

5. Wales

Wales 74 Russia 4
Austrailia 76 Wales 4
England A 22 Wales 4



If anyone knows any more results of International Rugby league scores for these teams in 2003 please email me carl@rleague.com

 

[Tidus_Raider]

So we have:

Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Lebanon, Russia, Tonga, Somoa, Fiji and PNG

as likely participants. That's 13 teams. Should it be cut down to 10 or 12 or expanded to 14 or 16.

 

[Stevo_G]

you cannot split up great britain sure maybe in the future split them up but not know england never play together so it would not be worth it
ideal line up

aus
nz
greatbritian and ireland
png
france
russia
lebanon
fiji
samoa
tonga

it may not be a huge field of teams for the cup but it would be a solid foundation of which to build on in the future like in future tournaments spiliting up of gb

 

[Y2Eel]

you cannot split up great britain sure maybe in the future split them up but not know england never play together so it would not be worth it
ideal line up

aus
nz
greatbritian and ireland
png
france
russia
lebanon
fiji
samoa
tonga

it may not be a huge field of teams for the cup but it would be a solid foundation of which to build on in the future like in future tournaments spiliting up of gb

That would be a start would also be close between the other teams but how would you have the pools? 2 by 5 teams or go up to 12 teams and have 3 pools of 4?

 

[dimitri]

if GB&I play as one team then id have 12 teams

if they play as separate nations then have 16

its important that there is qualifying tournaments so that greece, italy, morocco, usa, japan etc all have a chance to enter the world cup

 

[deluded pom?]

Although delighted to see the RLWC back on the agenda it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when you realise the only reason Australia are willing to host the event is because it`s their centenary . Where were they after 1995 when they should have been falling over themselves to host the next WC .In the end it was left to G.B. to step in and host the WC again . And as we found out due to some of the wettest weather on record and a train strike, as well as poor planning , it was a huge flop. G.B. shouldn`t have been put in that position .Australia owe it to the rest of the RL playing nations to take a lead in such occasions. 2007 is hardly a good year to hold a WC either with ,I believe ,the cricket and RU world cups also on . Whether we like it or not we will be held up in direct comparison to the aforementioned events. It seems yet again RL stumbles from one year to the next with no sign of any proactive planning on a rolling cycle .

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

I wouldn't criticise splitting GB up into the separate nations. At least from the English viewpoint anyway. Wales, Ireland and Scotland will always be very weak until a proper level of Rugby League is played in those countries. At the moment they are 90% sub-standard English players with some distant relative who once visited those countries.

However, England on their own will be better than New Zealand by 2007 in my opinion. We have seen the Australian youth touring side beaten by a team full of English players of equivilent age groups, and the England 'A' showing against the Roos first team was very encouraging. There is nothing to suggest that England wouldn't be better than the Kiwis, and I think GB probably are already.

I still don't think a World Cup in 2007 would be successful though. In Australia you cannot fill a stadium for Aus Vs NZ or GB, so how would France V Russia go attendance wise? 5,000 max? It's a dilema which has no answer in my opinion. You either be realistic and don't hold a World Cup, which removes any hope of improvement in the future as their would be no incentive, or you hold one which Australia walks and the media ridicules it. If the 2007 World Cup was held in Aus, we in the UK would probably not know it was happening as the RU World Cup will be here in 2007 unless I'm mistaken. We've already had several double page spreads promoting it, and its four years off!

You guys in Australia would have a better idea how a RL World Cup would fare, but I cannot imagine for one moment it would get anywhere near the RU one we are being smothered with at the moment.

What can you do?

 

[JOBPS]

If Australia and New Zealand didn't take all the Pacific Islands best players then the world cup would be better, Great Britain needs to be split up, for financial reasons if anything. Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England would all get better support than Russia, USA, Japan etc.

By 2007 France and Lebannon will hopefully have more professional players in the NRL and Super League. Wales may even have a team in one of the three English professional divisions by then.

USA and Russia are improving year by year and a World Cup would really give them something to aim for.

 

[dimitri]

to get the crowds we simply need to promote this as an "EVENT"

have live sites and all the other stuff

set ticket prices at affordable levels

the france v usa rugby yawnyawn world cup match was only $5 for adults and $2.50 for children

we need plenty of promotion

also THERE IS A HUGE TREND IN AUSTRALIA THAT ONLY LOCAL DOMESTIC EVENTS SEEM TO GET ANY NEWS COVERAGE

when the aussie cricket team is overseas we hear nothing about them
overseas tennis tournaments are never on free to air (except the 3 grand slams)
etc etc

a RLWC in australia would be a great thing if promoted right

 

[dimitri]

i think we need to promote it a lot like we promote the world sevens in sydney

we seem to get good crowds at the world sevens

because it is promoted as a great event or a great day out

with plenty of fun, colour etc etc

we should do the same for a rlwc

 

[JOBPS]

Would it be worth playing to games at the same venue on the same day? You'd probably get a bigger attendance with supporters of 4 nations teams going, as well as neutrals who are more likely to watch two games than one. This would also cut costs, eg. policing and stadium hire etc.

 

[Moffo]

yeh, but if we use the granparents rule (like union do and we did in 2000), then the teams shouldn't be too bad. If they had guys like Ricko and Campion playing for Ireland, than they aren't going to be as bas as we think

Cheers,
Moffo

 

[hgfds]

No south africa ??? surely they are ahead of russia,they would be difficult to beat at home in a world cup qualifer and their team would be stacked with some decent union players for a world cup.

 

[dimitri]

south africa also have some decent players in the nrl and super leagues

eg

sean rutgerson
and
jamie bloem etc

 

[Stevo_G]

but they south africa never play

 

[incredible_holc]

Dimi you will never get it classed as an event as there wouldnt be that much of an international following of it. It would be only England and New Zealand, where Union had supporters from england, ireland,wales, france, nz, who would fly over to see their team and in much bigger numbers.
There wouldnt be enough worldwide axposure and tourism for australia to come out of it for the top guys to start classing it an event

 

[Fampa]

i think we need to promote it a lot like we promote the world sevens in sydney

we seem to get good crowds at the world sevens

It may have been promoted in Sydney, but in every other state (QLD included) you would never know it was on. I had to ring around early this year so I could organise my drive down as no one up here seemed to know anything about it.

 

[Stevo_G]

I still don't think a World Cup in 2007 would be successful though. In Australia you cannot fill a stadium for Aus Vs NZ or GB, so how would France V Russia go attendance wise? 5,000 max? It's a dilema which has no answer in my opinion. You either be realistic and don't hold a World Cup, which removes any hope of improvement in the future as their would be no incentive, or you hold one which Australia walks and the media ridicules it. If the 2007 World Cup was held in Aus, we in the UK would probably not know it was happening as the RU World Cup will be here in 2007 unless I'm mistaken. We've already had several double page spreads promoting it, and its four years off!



What can you do?

play matches like france v russia in places like townsville or wollongong thay should get crowds over 8000 but they would have to have decent priced tickets and the rlwc has to be promoted right

they have 4 or 5 years in which to plan the event and get it right

 

[Stevo_G]

I still don't think a World Cup in 2007 would be successful though. In Australia you cannot fill a stadium for Aus Vs NZ or GB, so how would France V Russia go attendance wise? 5,000 max? It's a dilema which has no answer in my opinion. You either be realistic and don't hold a World Cup, which removes any hope of improvement in the future as their would be no incentive, or you hold one which Australia walks and the media ridicules it. If the 2007 World Cup was held in Aus, we in the UK would probably not know it was happening as the RU World Cup will be here in 2007 unless I'm mistaken. We've already had several double page spreads promoting it, and its four years off!



What can you do?

play matches like france v russia in places like townsville or wollongong thay should get crowds over 8000 but they would have to have decent priced tickets and the rlwc has to be promoted right

they have 4 or 5 years in which to plan the event and get it right

 

[DIEHARD]

Maybe have 3 games in a night for the RLWC. One ticket buys a seat for 3 games. A carnival atmosphere. Give free tickets to juniors.