The complete demolition of a sorry Scottish outfit by the National Rugby League-experienced Kangaroos side raises questions as to how the development of rugby league globally has affected the competitiveness of countries competing in the 2022 Rugby League World Cup.
Unlike rugby union, where countries like Argentina and Japan had the competitiveness to pull off miraculous upsets over the All Blacks and South Africa respectively in recent years, rugby league does not seem to have the same depth.
Something is lacking in rugby league to make it a competitive sport globally. That is, the concentration of specialised and skilled players that only play in the National Rugby League.
Although it is also a professional league, Super League is a step down from the NRL.
After witnessing the sad thrashing of Scotland, many have already concluded that the world cup will most definitely be won by Australia as hot favourites.
However, that would be determined by the efforts of the two other first tier nations New Zealand and England. Dark horses Samoa and Aussie slayers Tonga may have a limited opportunity as well to stake their final claims.
It is saddening that the rugby league cannot create a reform similar to the one Super rugby created, one that allows for a competition to be run in the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere respectively.
If such were to take place, we would see an improvement in the skill set and exposure of players in Test rugby league.
Australia won the last two world cups because they run the most competitive rugby league competition in the world.
Australia could win the world cup with its fifth option.
One option would be a competition that included Pacific Island countries such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Cook Island, Samoa, and even Solomon Islands.
There would be tougher competition as exposed players would now be rubbing shoulders with the best in the NRL and learn to develop their skillsets around a broader competitive environment.
Scotland may have lost that game hopelessly, but they are not to blame for a well-equipped Australian unit. That boasts some of the best players in their generation.
Paulie
Guest
And another league bigot in Reality Bites...
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
"How can we improve the standard of international rugby league?" - allow NRL players to represent every country wether they have familial ties or not. To even the playing field mayby the "stars" names can be put in a barrel & the names randomly pulled out of the barrel when naming sides so there's no guarantee the gun players will represent the Kangaroos / Kiwis etc
catcat
Roar Rookie
Really need regular 4 nations or 6 nations tournaments- the minnows are amateur teams and cannot compete. Maybe they can have there own playoffs to keep the games going. Even the top teams in this tournament are a bit rusty due to lack of international footy. The quality of the players in the Australian team are outstanding and would be great to see what they could do on a footy field with more time together and some competition.
Pete
Guest
Reality Bites maybe you should take off you league sunnies and see how many black players play for The Springboks i would guess around 3/4 of the players in the team they love the game and for your only 8% of South Africans that play and enjoy rugby you are poorly misjudged get your facts correct before you judge ole boy.
criag
Roar Rookie
Robert Craddick mentioned the cricket system on The Back Page which is slightly similar to the one you suggest. Cricket apparently (I don’t watch cricket) has a qualifying tournament for the tier 2 nations, with the top two teams joining the tier one nations for the world cup. That way, the tier 2 teams play in a more competitive environment to get the chance to test themselves against the higher ranked nations. Rugby league could do something along those lines.
Eric
Guest
From 80 years ago? And French Rugby League was at its strongest 50 years ago.. yea keep making excuses as to why RL can't grow anywhere
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
I just thought of 2 more you beaut potential rugby league nations. a) a Greek national side from Melbourne. Only proviso is if there's enough Greek's in Melbourne who follow NRL to feild a squad. b) a Vietnamese national team from Cabramatta. The lack of size issue could be handled by a well planned steriod program. And the NRL's lack of serious drug testing is perfect for it :thumbup:
Eric
Guest
Three quarters of the South African Rugby team are black though.. keep up with this Victim mentality. It's why Rugby League goes nowhere time after time
Eric
Guest
Why? They're all Australians. Why can't they be picked for Australia? Remember you're the one that wants everyone to take this "World" Cup seriously. It's just a bit of fun after a long NRL season. Nobody takes it seriously otherwise people from outside the heartlands of 3 countries would know it is being played
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
The alleged rugby league world cup has always been a running joke and "Italy" doesn't have a rugby league competition in Italy. The "Italy" team in this world cup should rightly be re-named "the boys from Leichhardt" and the classic match would be them playing "the boys from Bankstown" ie Lebanon hehehe. Rugby League never ceases to deliver the jokes :) Only question remaining is ......can the Kangroos exceed 100-0 in this clash of the titans - Australia v "the boys from Leichhardt" :) Re: the article. My proposal is that the RL World Cup Committe has only so far farmed a few Sydney suburbs for international teams to produce Lebanon, Italy, Tonga et al. But there's plenty more potential in other Sydney suburbs. And what of Brissy - totally untapped territory so far ???
Reality Bites
Guest
Rob9 the banjo operative from Reds country.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Oooo yea keep throwing out those barbs from behind the keyboard in mum’s basement. Hey it’s about that time for you… ‘Maaaaaa… meatloaf’!
Reality Bites
Guest
They also seem to be gutless too.
Reality Bites
Guest
They haven't been thrown out yet you twit. Shame you've been exposed as a closet union fan masquerading as a rugby league supporter. Who is also a gutless turd. Or do those things just go hand in hand?
Rob9
Roar Guru
The rich irony of those remarks being thrown out from behind a screen. Seek help
Reality Bites
Guest
So gutless too, Rob9? A bigot and gutless. And with no arguments. Go hard sunshine.
Rob9
Roar Guru
Yea I’ve never hit the report button here but before I do I just wanted to let you know why your cowardly remarks will soon be removed. People like you are a stain on this otherwise good site (which I supposedly work for…). All because someone didn’t agree with you (which there’s been more than just me here) and challenged your flawed logic.
Reality Bites
Guest
Union bigots stand out like the lepers they are in Australia. We found another one here in Rob9.
Rob9
Roar Guru
The fact that you believe this exchange qualifies you to make those sorts of assessments speaks volumes. You have no idea what you’re talking about; on rugby league, rugby union and me. And wait- now I work for the Roar too!? What planet are you on?
Reality Bites
Guest
Rob9 - you are just a gutless union type pretending to "like" rugby league. And you work for the Roar which is even funnier.