The 4 Nations 2014 is a Mess

[RoosTah]

lol i could do this all day cupcake............or we could just talk RL...upto you darling

Mate, I've been talking footy the whole time. It was your decision to carry on like a total c#nt and hurl abuse. That seems to be all your good for from what I can tell, so I don't really give a shit what you say.

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I'll ask this, why should any of those other cities get these games when they don't worry about the local game played there now?

Avignon eventually want to have a team in the ESL, they have shown over the last couple of years that they will turn up. They got rewarded for their efforts earlier and came through with flying colours in the RLWC.

If France gets to host the WC or a whole group, yeah take some games to these other places, when you have limited games, play them where they are wanted and where the fans are.

 

[RoosTah]

But isn't the World Cup about developing the game?

It's true that Perpignan isn't home to any major stadiums, but Marseilles isn't all that far really - in fact it's just a little over the distance as Canberra to Sydney - and given that it was a world cup I reckon they should have chanced their arm and put at least one game at Stade Vélodrome.

That place has a capacity over 60k capacity, and a lot of fans from the comparatively tiny town of Perpignan (120k pop) would have travelled for it and you'd to think they'd get more than the odd curious observer from the local population of over 1.5 million people in Marseilles. In fact the more I think about it, it seems like a lost opportunity. Sure play one in Perpignan, but put one in a larger possible development market! That should have been a no brainer.

Jeez.. Is Perpignan is that bloody tiny? Wonder why they didn't try maximize the ticket sales by moving a game to Marseilles then? Or does that stadium not get used for League or something?

Either way, if they sold out so quick this time, maybe they'll do it next time around?

 

[roughyedspud]

Mate, I've been talking footy the whole time. It was your decision to carry on like a total c#nt and hurl abuse. That seems to be all your good for from what I can tell, so I don't really give a shit what you say.

haha screw you then c*** flap....lol

 

[roughyedspud]

Jeez.. Is Perpignan is that bloody tiny? Wonder why they didn't try maximize the ticket sales by moving a game to Marseilles then? Or does that stadium not get used for League or something?

Either way, if they sold out so quick this time, maybe they'll do it next time around?

the stadium in marseille is being redeveloped clever arse

 

[RoosTah]

haha screw you then c*** flap....lol

c#nt flap? Wow, I'm surprised you fagball lovers know anything about that anatomy.

Oh, and f**kstick - I didn't bring up Marseilles, but a quick google reveals that the place was hosting games at the end of last year.

Maybe you ought to use whatever limited capacity is left in that fagball brain of yours before calling someone an idiot on something you're wrong about.

I'll ask this, why should any of those other cities get these games when they don't worry about the local game played there now?

Avignon eventually want to have a team in the ESL, they have shown over the last couple of years that they will turn up. They got rewarded for their efforts earlier and came through with flying colours in the RLWC.

If France gets to host the WC or a whole group, yeah take some games to these other places, when you have limited games, play them where they are wanted and where the fans are.

I can see what you mean, but I reckon that a world cup is a good opportunity to test the waters in a bigger part of the country. By all means, give the heartland more games (don't know they played one in Hull), but put one in a new market to showcase the sport.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

Bs, France and PNG and possibly Fiji would offer RL as much if not more than Argentina when looking at thw whole game in each country. As far as I remember reading, all of the Argy players play in other comps around the world esp France because the game is amateur back home. You compare them to France RL alone and France RL is way ahead.

They just don't get the proper opportunities to improve by playing enough, the 4 Nations is about doing something to bridge the gap.

He also ignores the fact that by nature rugby union is a mediocre game that's dominated by penalties. It's far easier in rugby union for two teams not even close to each other in class to have a close game on the scoreboards.

Like Samoa in league, Argentina in union are a second tier nation.

 

[strong_latte]

The Stadium in Marseilles is definitely still in use despite the redevelopment.

I know what you guys mean about rewarding the core, but I just think that the national team is a great way to introduce the sport to new markets - particularly if they're close to the heartlands like Marseilles is.

Ultimately League needs to get into Paris in the longer term and a strategy needs to be devised to make that happen. The heartlands need to be given plenty of attention, but those massive markets are pefect for expansion - it's the reason we went to Melbourne before we put a team in Cairns.

 

[RoosTah]

He also ignores the fact that by nature rugby union is a mediocre game that's dominated by penalties. It's far easier in rugby union for two teams not even close to each other in class to have a close game on the scoreboards.

Like Samoa in league, Argentina in union are a second tier nation.

Shit, shame nobody the Wallabies and the All Blacks that last week...

 

[Storm13]

If France qualify for the 4nations they should apply to host the tournament with England playing their matches at home.

France vs England at Avignon
Australia vs NZ at Perpignan
France vs Aus/Nz at Lens
France vs Nz/Aus at Paris/Toulouse?

Final at Paris/Toulouse?

 

[strong_latte]

If France qualify for the 4nations they should apply to host the tournament with England playing their matches at home.

France vs England at Avignon
Australia vs NZ at Perpignan
France vs Aus/Nz at Lens
France vs Nz/Aus at Paris/Toulouse?

Final at Paris/Toulouse?

That would be brilliant if it happened. Whilst Wales and Ireland have a lot of potential too, I feel like the French have more history and are just better placed to develop League.

 

[deal.with.it]

France and samoa are tier 2 nations. How do u get them to tier 1? Grassroots decelopment, professional pathways and test matches against tier 1 nations. Hence the 4 nations setup, which has provided france, wales, png and samoa with such a platform.

The exact same thing as Argentina in the union sanzar comp, and italy in the northern hem comp.

 

[Masoe_eats_babies]

Shit, shame nobody the Wallabies and the All Blacks that last week...

Generally speaking, union is a game in which inferior teams can stay close to superior teams because of the nature of the code - refereeing incompetence, penalty kicks, etc. Token examples of AB dominance won't change that.

Hence Argentina can lose to Scotland (a tier 3 team) and then a couple months later go close to South Africa (a tier 1 team). Are Scotland up there with South Africa? :lol: That's just rugby union for you mate, inferior teams are always coming close or fluking wins over superior countries. Rugby league is a far more unforgiving code that isn't conductive of such bullshit.

Only a rugby union stan would try to pull the wool over peoples eyes and suggest otherwise. Sorry mate, watched enough union over the years to see through your propaganda.

Argentina could give the All Blacks - the worlds most dominant rugby union team - no more a contest than Samoa could give the Kangaroos or Kiwis. The gulf in class between them is that big, regardless of whether Argentina can kick their way to a closer scoreline and benefit from yawnion refereeing clusterf**kery.

Get mad playboi.

 

[RoosTah]

Meh, I don't really care for the code zealot arguments like that from guys who clearly have played only one of the games. I hear similar sort of BS from some of the old Union boys I played with who never played league (usually the private school boys - one of the games biggest problems here).

As for your comment on development deal.with.it, I agree the grass roots has to be where you start, and in countries like France perhaps what they ought to do is look at some of the more soccer dominated areas in the north. That would enable them to offer a serious point of difference.

 

[strong_latte]

France and samoa are tier 2 nations. How do u get them to tier 1? Grassroots decelopment, professional pathways and test matches against tier 1 nations. Hence the 4 nations setup, which has provided france, wales, png and samoa with such a platform.

The exact same thing as Argentina in the union sanzar comp, and italy in the northern hem comp.

It's not quite the same really. What the League is doing is a promotion/relegation system based on which hemisphere the tournament is based in, so it's funnily enough more like a pommy league system, but with a final thrown on the end of it. In Union it's more static and from what I understand, in the case of sanzar in particular it took a hell of a lot of convincing for them to consider adding the Argentinians due to the fear of diluting the competition.

I think having an expanded competition is a good idea for League, but it's clearly a developmental move and if it has the desired effect I can see it killing itself off to a degree.

For instance, if France can become seriously competitive again and start beating England, they'll draw in the crowds (nothing like having the France-England rivalry from a marketing perspective) and it could become a serious event on the League calendar. If that happens, I reckon you'd see the poms and France start playing 3 test series and maybe the whole 4N thing will become more rare because of the length of the club seasons.

I don't think that'd be a bad thing either - having a seriously competitive England-France series would do wonders for the game in England and France and it would make games against NZ and Aus more rare and special.