Amid some great positive vibes surrounding the Rugby League World Cup, there have also been people commenting that the tournament is a bit mickey mouse, the format is a joke, the scheduling is off, that it’s essentially just musical chairs for NRL players, and that Australia is going to romp it in.
You know what? That’s all true. All of it.
With no teams from Asia, Africa or South America, and two from Continental Europe, it’s hardly a World Cup.
The format is bizarre. In Pools A and B, you didn’t even need to win a game – Samoa’s single draw saw them in the finals, while poor old Ireland and Italy got the big screw over by being placed in a minnow pool.
Yep, it is musical chairs for the NRL players. You didn’t make the Australian team? No problem, see if you have any heritage with the other nations playing, give the coach a ring and walk into the team.
And yes, Australia are going to romp it in. At best they might get a bit of a Test from England or Tonga, but only a fool would bet against them.
But to view the World Cup through those cynical lenses is to miss the point. Rugby league has a World Cup for the same reason that every other sport, no matter how big or small, popular or irrelevant: it gives the players the opportunity to represent their country and people from smaller nations to test their mettle against the best in the game they love.
In that way, it’s no different from the Olympics.
Take the 100-metre sprint. No non-African descended person has won the gold since 1980 – and that was the boycotted Moscow games, when winner Allan Wells ran an embarrassingly slow 10.25. Frankly, I doubt I’ll be alive to see anyone not descended from West Africa win it again either. And I’m 30!
So why do others bother competing? Because athletes want the opportunity to play against the best. It’s why Australia got behind Matt Shirvington, Patrick Johnson, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and Craig Mottram anyway. We knew they weren’t going to win, but we’d celebrate if they made a final, if Mottram could finish in the top seven, or if Shirvington set a PB. They gave their best against the best.
And then, much like Tonga and Fiji beating New Zealand, every once in a while we’d get super lucky and see a Cathy Freeman or Sally Pearson win Olympic glory, reminding ourselves why we continue to support them.
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The reason we should support the Rugby League World Cup is the same reason why Australians watch the winter Olympics – we shouldn’t really be competing, as our first gold medal was won because literally everyone else fell over – twice!
The second was won in a sport that fortunately does not require any cultural connection or climatic advantage – merely for the participants to be certifiably insane. Another gold was won by a Canadian in disguise, who had Australian heritage, so we rightly treated as Australian as a meat pie – because that’s the Australian thing to do. This was a man whose face was printed on postage stamps, treated as equal – and yet we lambast Australian players for playing for their country of heritage in the World Cup instead of Australia? Double standards anyone?
I could rattle off a list of actors and singers gleefully claimed as being Australian when it’s convenient to do so. The media will claim anyone famous as an Australian if they transited through here, yet throw you under the bus if you want to represent your heritage. Again, double standards?
Finally, yes, the Pacific Island teams have a few NRL top ups, and the Lebanese team was essentially a team of the diaspora in Australia, but it didn’t make them any less Tongan, Fijian or Lebanese. The Lebanese team was the anomaly, not the norm. The other 13 teams were filled with a majority of players born and raised in said nation.
And really, did anyone care? These teams were also filled with lower ranked talent who got vital exposure to the very best rugby league has to offer and will be immeasurably better for it.
The bottom line is it really doesn’t matter for an athlete where they were born. They are all driven by the same desire: they want to play with and against the best, and to represent themselves and their country proud.
It doesn’t matter if the USA got flogged in all three of their games, 20 odd Americans of varying degrees of extraction had the opportunity to play in an international competition. The same can be said for the other 13 teams.
That’s what World Cups are about. That’s what sport is about. And that’s why rugby league deserves to have a World Cup as much as football does, or why athletics, swimming, shooting, and taekwondo deserve the Olympics.
So just enjoy it for what it is.
Maestro
Guest
I'm glad you can speak for your relations..
Maestro
Guest
In the US and Canada since Canada is a new entrant to RL, the general use of Rugby has been for Rugby Union eg when Hayne was at the 49ers commentators were saying there were 2 types of football in Australia, Rugby and League. Thanks for plagiarism
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Rugby league players use the word rugby too in the UK. It's a cultural thing. Thanks for playing.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
That's an interesting idea. But then you would have the same argument had the second place teams in the weaker groups not won a match and played off against a third place team that may have won a match.
Maestro
Guest
BTW the Canadian RL site speaks of of come and play Rugby which shows why they shouldn't be allowed to use the name - everywhere in the world Rugby is Rugby Union
Felix
Guest
Today I am Andrew or Aussiein exile whatever - if I can play for 2 countries in one year maybe I could have 2 ids - I will try as many as I can until JK or Cathar answers a question - JK wont answer the qn because he thinks I'm Andrew which I am not which is a primary school deflection technique - I think ur Crosscoder but then again at least he answered qns - so long as it wasn't Vichy - BTW I discovered today that the QRL played games in Qld in the 20's to resurrect RU in that state which shows a more openly friendly outlook than these pages though they may have been trying to get access to the private schools old boy teams and unis which they did for a while before they changed back.....
Jimmy
Guest
Kinda makes no sense to have that criteria in the first place then? I’m mean, what purpose does it actually serve then if it’s not to show where a country is at in terms of showcasing how developed a League nation it actually is on a world stage by playing domestic players? Ie true representation of country Does the current Samoan squad truly represent the state of the game in Samoa? What about Fiji and Tonga? Do there squads truly represent the state of the game and where they are at developing the game in there countries? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the tournament thus far and can’t wait for the final but let’s not kid ourselves into believing this is an actual World Cup where countries are truly being represented.
ads2600
Guest
Have you ever wondered why that is? It is because many of us don’t even have a choice. Your Government is happy for us to pay taxes, but also happy to deny us citizenship. I have spent my entire adult life in Australia (by choice), and yet can never become Australian. I and many other greatful kiwis would love to show our allegiance and respect to our adopted country, for the opportunity to better our, & our children’s lives...but cannot.
Maestro
Guest
The RLWC just keeps on giving - I was wondering how the womens RLWC had a Canadian team and now I discover its full of RU players who were asked to trial. Its OK that teams such as Fiji and Tonga aren't ready yet (though Mascord called it a shambles) but there was no real RL womens structure in Canada before this and they needed a sixth team to make up numbers and they made the semis - wow I guess at least they are locals if not accredited RL players who haven't played before......Is this all about a free trip to a sunny climate in their autumn.
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Felix is that you LOL?
Pete
Guest
Plain and simple its a joke really countries all stacked with NRL players what a yawn
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
How can we 'conveniently forget this' when its there right in front of us. Again, you assume we run the game.We are just fans who debate the good & the bad & offer opinions/observations without an agenda of hating on a sport. Have you tried to hate on things you love?
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Gee with you Felix one can't win. The US team under the auspices of the USARL when they took control not long after 2013 made a promise the next US team would have more domestic players in it & they did! Whether they could find heritage players or not is not relevant based on their promises 4 years ago!
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
They've got a good number of Fijian born & most if not all have Fijian parentage not grandparentage, so no, I would not have an issue. The Tongan King who rarely leaves the Kingdom is attending Tonga's match so if that's not an endorsement of their heritage team I don't know what is. Seems in the Pacific atleast, you are the only one or few with any issue!
Justin Kearney
Guest
Dont use multiple ids and i wont rant felix. Simples. Loved it when you got caught. Now that was funny. Admit it felix. It was funny!
Mycall
Guest
I think you will find that Qatar are doing just that. Already in place for the Handball WC, they recruited young up and comers paid them a fortune to play in Qatar so that they will qualify for the national team. Wrong? Yes. Legal? Yes. Anything like what happened for the RLWC ? No! The residency rule is a lot more open to rort than the heritage rule.
rebel
Guest
So was i, Samoa.
Felix
Guest
Ccechin and Sutto - the great orchestraters of the Tonga and Fiji games are the semi-final refs - what a surprise - shame about the absence of neutral ref in one case...They will do the right thing...
Justin Kearney also
Guest
Any idea of the RLWC refs - the website again fails to list them in the match preview
Felix
Guest
The RL avoided this by compromising the draw to 14 so the big guys didn't play the little guys - how confected can you get but of course in short term amnesia RL they conveniently forget this...