Should it be 5/6 nations in future?

[CC_Roosters]

I think the 4 nations should be expanded to 5 possibly 6 competing nations in the near future. At present i see the second tier nationsas playing at a similar playing level so it would be great to give them more games in elite tournament RL. Another benefit i see is that it would increase the likelihood of upsets as the likes of France and Wales play the big 3 more often in tournament footy.

Also could be part of a wider international divisional structure similar to that of the international ice hockey fed? As in the 4/5/6 nations is the top tier with promotion/relegation to a second division. With both played on an annual basis to maximise games and exposure.

Apologies if these ideas have been mooted before but thought it was worth discussion.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

No......look at the results of the four placed nation sofar....they are not improving, and this year could be the worst one of all.

First thing is we need to add France full time so they can develop...look at how long it took Italy to become competitive in the six nations for rugby. Give France 4-5 years playing regulary, home and away and it will bear fruit....same could be said for PNG or Fiji.

By the way, Italy have played 60 matches for 8 wins, 1 draw and 51 losses.

 

[thorson1987]

First thing is we need to add France full time so they can develop...look at how long it took Italy to become competitive in the six nations for rugby. Give France 4-5 years playing regulary, home and away and it will bear fruit....same could be said for PNG or Fiji.

This, but i would go as far as to add PNG full time aswell.

Then the 6th team could be a qualifier.

 

[DC_fan]

Then we would only have more thrashings then what we have now.

 

[siv]

YESSSS

A mid year Euro 4 Nations (Engalnd, France, Wales , Ireland)

plus a mid year Pacific 4 Nations (NZ, PNG, Fiji, Cooks Isl)

both being played while SOO is on

with tboth Euro and Pacific #1 an #2 teams qualifying for a end of year 6 nations against Australia and the winner of 3rd v 3rd playoff

Then a Tier 2 Euro and Pacific 6 nations needs to be played for the teams that miss out. The higher placed teams then compete in the following years mid year 4 nations

 

[WireMan]

With the logistics of having this many teams in a comp and the associated costs it may be hard to do it every year. So we could do it every say, 4 years?


Give it a snappy name like the World Cup.


Sounds good. ;-)



Give the lower teams there own 4 nations comp, played at the same time. They could form part of double headers for promotional purposes and be given the opportunity to train with the bigger teams. Helping development.

A mid year Europe 4 nations would not work, but a SOO time Pacific comp could work. That way the NRL can take a break for a week or two.

 

[RHCP]

It should be Four Nations maximum. I'm all for giving the minnows a go against the big boys, but in reality, they need to play each other more often before they play Aus/NZ/Eng on a regular basis.

 

[pcpp]

I honestly don't think the 4N has really helped any nation... primarily because the 4th nation can't participate every year.

I think the 2004-06 Tri-Nations has been one of the best periods of international RL in its history - pretty much every game was competitive, huge media coverage, great crowds.

It was a gigantic shame that there was no 2007 tournament, and the 4N has not been an adequate replacement.

I would go back to a Tri-Nations, with a Pacific and European Cup tournament should be held each and every year. The winners of these tournaments should win the opportunity to face against England/NZ during the midseason/Origin period.

 

[rlv]

Like someone said above I'd have France in it fulltime and be pretty much like the early World Cups. France over time will become more competitive and possibly be able to match the big 3 like old times

 

[Chook Norris]

No. way too soon. Having the fourth nation not even come close is bad enough imo

 

[Talanexor]

The minnows just need to play more matches against quality competition. Each other. If they play against Aust/NZ/England and get smashed by 100 each time the crowds will stop showing up and it will do more harm than good.

I like the earlier post about a 6 nations, with France being the permanent 4th nation and one euro/one pacific nation rounding out the top 6. These would actually help development in the weaker countries because they would only qualify after having played 5-6 games against similar-strength teams.

I also think they REALLY need to change the eligibility laws to allow a draft - on players with dual nationality, the weakest team gets first pick. The fact that Uate and Hayne play for Australia when their home nations badly need quality players is ridiculous.

 

[adamkungl]

I also think they REALLY need to change the eligibility laws to allow a draft - on players with dual nationality, the weakest team gets first pick. The fact that Uate and Hayne play for Australia when their home nations badly need quality players is ridiculous.

Lol how contrived can you get...

 

[Big Pete]

Forcing players like Uate and Hayne to play for Fiji will just end in tears. I don't think any of the pacific nations will do anything of note than fill the numbers and maybe just maybe pull off the one upset every decade or so. Got to focus on the bigger fishes.

 

[NRL-TGG]

Yes, IT will definitely expand.

It will great for international Rugby League as well. Those minnow teams will finally get a four nations win and they will also develop by playing the worlds best regularly.

 

[RedVee]

Concentrate on a Euro Cup of France,Italy,Wales,Scotland,Lebanon and Ireland every year. It seems to much to ask for a Pacific Cup.

 

[jim_57]

I would go as far as to make France a permanent 4th nation since they can field a full team of pros and can attract a decent crowd. The 5th nations could then work as it does now.

France tend to be able to compete alot better post season with their best team on the park, their latest score V England was 32-18 (very close to full strength) and something like 34-12 in the '09 4 Nations. I remember they coppped a whole lot of injuries before the NZ and Aus games that year and still did reasonably well. Vs NZ they were 16-12 behind after about 55-60minutes with alot of semi-pro players who naturally faded at the end and let in alot of points.

The next 4/5 Nations will be in 2014 and the following year France should double their professional player base with Toulouse coming in (most likely it would seem).

 

[TommyGun]

I also think they REALLY need to change the eligibility laws to allow a draft - on players with dual nationality, the weakest team gets first pick. The fact that Uate and Hayne play for Australia when their home nations badly need quality players is ridiculous.

I believe Hayne was born in Australia. Uate on the otherhand should be playing for Fiji.
I think that the 2nd tier nations are only going to get better by playing more against each other. Getting flogged by 50 by Australia, NZ and England won't help them. They should make France a permanent member of the 4 nations as they are probably the most competitve team at the moment, as well as having 1 (and possibly 2 in the near future) team in the Super League. The other teams should then play internationals against each other, eg The Pacific Nations Cup, European Cup etc. Funding may be an issue though.

 

[Panfas]

My thoughts on a 4 year cycle, after 2013 WC. Top ranking teams from each region to participate in tournaments (except France over PNG for 4 Nations).

Year 1
World 4 nations - Aus (1), NZ (2), Eng (3) and France (5)

Euro 6 Nations - Wales (7), Scotland (10), Ireland (11), Serbia (14), Italy (15), Lebanon (16)

Euro Cup - Germany (17), Norway (18), Russia (19), Malta (20)

Pacific 5 Nations - PNG (4), Samoa (6), Fiji (8), Tonga (9), Cook Is (12)

Atlantic 4 Nations - USA (13), Canada (21), Jamaica (25), South Africa (26)


Year 2
Tour matches organised by nations.


Year 3 - WCQ
World 4 nations - Aus (1), NZ (2), Eng (3) and France (5) [auto qualify]
Seeds 1, 2, 3, 4 for WQ

Euro 6 Nations - Wales (7), Scotland (10), Ireland (11), Serbia (14), Italy (15), Lebanon (16) [too 3 qualify. 4th, 5th to qualify cup]
Seeds 6, 8, 10 for WQ

Pacific 5 Nations - PNG (4), Samoa (6), Fiji (8), Tonga (9), Cook Is (12) [too 3 qualify. 4th, 5th to qualify cup]
Seeds 5, 7, 9 for WQ

Atlantic 4 Nations - USA (13), Canada (21), Jamaica (25), South Africa [top team qualify. 2nd, 3rd to qualify cup]
Seed 11 for WQ

Qualify Cup - 4rd & 5th Euro, 4th & 5th Pacific & 2nd & 3rd Atlantic. [Top team qualify for WQ]
Seed 12 for WQ

Year 4
World Cup - 12 Nations as above

Minor Nations Cup - teams not involved in WC

 

[juro]

I loved the format Druzik proposed in one of his blogs a fair while back. Having regional tournaments acting as qualifiers for major events like the world cup and 4 nations. It gave all countries the chance to play a decent number of matches, and most games would be reasonably competitive.

 

[Raiderdave]

I think the 4 nations should be expanded to 5 possibly 6 competing nations in the near future. At present i see the second tier nationsas playing at a similar playing level so it would be great to give them more games in elite tournament RL. Another benefit i see is that it would increase the likelihood of upsets as the likes of France and Wales play the big 3 more often in tournament footy.

Also could be part of a wider international divisional structure similar to that of the international ice hockey fed? As in the 4/5/6 nations is the top tier with promotion/relegation to a second division. With both played on an annual basis to maximise games and exposure.

Apologies if these ideas have been mooted before but thought it was worth discussion.

so instead of having a 4th nation struggling to have an impact in the tournament

we should have another 1 or 2 :sarcasm:

:crazy::crazy::crazy: