World Sevens - a missed opportunity

[paulmac]

Last year Rugby League was played in a about 24 nations yet the sevens which is our international showcase only features sides from 10 of these countries.I think whoever has organised this years event has made a hash of it.Firstly the decision to allow Widnes to enter insead of an Enland side.Secondly why have Australian sides been allowed to enter the Wild card tournament?It supposed to be "world" sevens.
I feel half the clubs dont take this tournament seriously anyway so i think that the clubs should play in a qualifying round on the Friday night with the 8 winners joining 16 international sides for the competition proper on saturday and sunday.8 groups of 3 with Cup,Bowl and Plate sections.

 

[In-goal]

The problem with alot of these other nations is that there standard is no better than club union at the moment, give them time before they are thrown into this cauldron.

As for the Widnes v England thing well i just don't know.

 

[mono_mal]

whilst it would be great to see more international teams involved you have to think of it realistically and consider finances.
last years tournament despite a crowd of 5 000 at the qualifiers and 50 000 at the sevens made a slight loss.
the club sides ensure that the fans come.
the international teams also cost a lot to bring over.
the rlif pays for each teams stay and its simply not affordable to have any more than the current number of international teams involved.
An extra team has already been added to this years event and another qualififying position available.
its dissapointing but the rlif needs to make a profit to in turn continue world wide development of our game.

 

[paulmac]

Mal I take your point re the RLIF not making a loss but what about the Wildcard event?Surely that should be kept for international sides only.Or what about the Cowboys and Broncos providing 5 players a piece for Queensland side rather than seperate entries.U cant tell me the Cowboys bring that many people thru the turnstiles in Sydney.U could probably do the same with the Raiders-Knights forming a NSW Country side.

 

[mono_mal]

i think their should be at least one spot at the qualifying tournament that should be for the international teams, though newtown, norths, nsw country and the aborigines deserve a chance.
i am totally against the positions given to wests and balmain though. i find it quite a laugh. they already have a spot via the 'wests tigers' and whilst some may argue they only support the pl team their clubs made the decision to merge.
i think you have to go with all the nrl clubs though. anything else would be unfair.
the country side should stay is it is as well. canberra and knights fans wouldnt support a 'country' team where as country people will actually support their team made out of their own players. this also gives the country players a chance to impress the scouts, a chance they find hard to get.

 

[paulmac]

Perhaps an Australian event running alongside an international copetition could be the answer.Limit the international event to national sides whilst also having a 32 team knockout featuring the 15 NRL sides plus teams from across the land.Say 12-16 nations competing in a true world sevens.

 

[In-goal]

i am totally against the positions given to wests and balmain though. i find it quite a laugh. they already have a spot via the 'wests tigers' and whilst some may argue they only support the pl team their clubs made the decision to merge.

no arguments here.

Until the RLIF and ARL have the ability to sell there own TV rights the international game will slowly develop due to small amounts of available funds.

 

[Jeffles]

Totally correct in goal.

 

[Glenn]

In a ideal world there would be a spot for the top international team from the qualifiers as well as the spots currently there now. It would be nice to see the likes of USA, Japan etc in action in the main draw

 

[hgfds]

All the qualifers a oz based so japan usa italy would not have enough time to bring their players over even if they won.Maybe the qualifer could be held in the uk and the top 2 esl clubs and nh international teams then could come to oz .The world 7s concept is looking shaky with nz residents and 2 ozzie qualifers.

 

[In-goal]

All the qualifers a oz based so japan usa italy would not have enough time to bring their players over even if they won.Maybe the qualifer could be held in the uk and the top 2 esl clubs and nh international teams then could come to oz .The world 7s concept is looking shaky with nz residents and 2 ozzie qualifers.

That is not correct last year the US were touring and the japs came out to qualify aswell. The tournament is still in it's infancy

 

[In-goal]

Well i'm just poping out now to buy my tickets i will return with the appropriate numbers.

 

[westie]

i think their should be at least one spot at the qualifying tournament that should be for the international teams, though newtown, norths, nsw country and the aborigines deserve a chance.
i am totally against the positions given to wests and balmain though. i find it quite a laugh. they already have a spot via the 'wests tigers' and whilst some may argue they only support the pl team their clubs made the decision to merge.
i think you have to go with all the nrl clubs though. anything else would be unfair.
the country side should stay is it is as well. canberra and knights fans wouldnt support a 'country' team where as country people will actually support their team made out of their own players. this also gives the country players a chance to impress the scouts, a chance they find hard to get.

Dude, Wests and Balmain are separate enities to the JV and have their own best interests at heart. They are not represented by Wests Tigers.

 

[hgfds]

There was an article in rlr how japan just managed to scrape together players from oz for the 7s.Last year usa toured after the 7s and had to find oz players for the 7s,apparently they have a deal with qantas that allows them to fly to oz mid-feb and it is too expensive for them to come earlier[same thing happened to me when i went to usa it was more expensive to go school holidays and i had to defer to off peak],this is the reason why usa want a later date for the 7s.I hope usa and japan qualify but if they where allowed automatic entry we would see them enter with a stronger team.No emerging nation in their right mind is going to fly to oz for a qualifer match there limited funds have to be spent on developement.

 

[MEE]

I didn't know Paul Mac lived in Tuggerah?

 

[mono_mal]

westie the point is that both Wests and Balmain decided it was in their best interest to merge to continue to be represented in top flight competition.
they are now represented by the Wests Tigers who will again represent both clubs in top flight competition in the World Sevens.
just think of what a joke it would be if balmain were to play the Tigers in the sevens.
unlike newtown and norths your clubs continue to live on in top flight competition. newtown and norths cant say the same and therefore deserve the chance to play with the best, if only for this event.
i know you can continue to argue about this but do you honestly believe that its better for rugby league for balmain to qualify for the sevens in front of a developing rugby league nation?