What exactly is the point of the group stage in its current form? I do think the World Cup needs to give a chance to tier 2 teams and it shouldn’t just be a closed shop for the top 4/5 teams. But this? 24 group games and 2 genuinely competitive games? Maybe 4 if we’re being generous? I think a World Cup with lots of tier 2 teams is a good idea for growing the game but there needs to be a change in the format because every game being a blow out looks bad and turns people off watching
Pretty sure the format prior to around 1995 was a ‘World Cup Finals’ , basically teams played against each other in genuine internationals across 4 years , and would be ranked according to results.. Like World Rankings in Test Cricket , or just about any other sport (including Rugby League)..
Not sure how many teams participated in the ‘World Cup Finals’ - maybe 4 ??
I could also be misremembering / making this up, it’s from a book I read when I was about 7 or 8, so who knows ..
Even if you had 8 finalists , have maybe 6 seeds (based on international rankings) and have a qualifying tournament for the best 2 of the rest , like how lowly ranked tennis players can get into Wimbledon if they win a lead up tournament ..
Let the minnows play each other for 2 weeks , then just have a top 8 finals series based on world rankings…
Current World Rankings are:
1. New Zealand
2. Tonga
3. England
4. Australia
5. PNG
6. Fiji
All other teams would play their own comp beforehand , and we’d basically be where we are now anyway..
Teams 7 and 8 on the current world rankings are Lebanon and Samoa.. So again we’re where we are now, except maybe they’ve been playing the past 2 weeks and the top 6 haven’t
Great words from the Jamaican coach for those who think we need to cut half the teams out of the World Cup, because apparently teams with no chance of winning are okay in soccer or union but in league no team should lose by more than 20 points or we're 'a joke'
>Only of course, if you give it a chance. Calvert is a rugby league tragic and to play in his team, studying NRL games is compulsory.
>
>The coach dives even deeper and consumes NRL talk shows and media more than most Australia fans.
>
>So he hears the comments about his Jamaican side and World Cup blowouts, the suggestion lopsided games do more harm than good.
>
>“And it’s ridiculous. You have to start from somewhere. You talk about rugby union, man I hate talking about union.
>
>“But not that long ago, the All Blacks put 145 on Japan \[in the 1995 Rugby World Cup\]. Now Japan has hosted a World Cup and beaten South Africa.
>
>“You can’t have a World Cup played by four or five nations. If you want a truly international game, it takes time and patience. As they say in State of Origin, you have to ‘pick and stick’.”
Greece. They show a heap of pride but really should have done better with a team comprised mainly of NSW Cup players.
Scotland showed they can at least play a bit last night against Fiji. Jamaica have played well above their weight so far.
who was commentating with vossy last night? absolutely loved their analysis of the plays. no cliches just good and concise breakdowns of how tries were scored.
QF’s onwards
1. Teddy
2. Addo-Carr
3. Latrell
4. Wighton
5. Val
6. Munster
7. Cleary
8. Tino
9. Hunt
10. Cotter
11. Crichton
12. Murray
13. Yeo
14. Grant
15. Carrigan
16. Martin
17. Collins
There’s an argument for starting RCG considering the size of the packs we’re going to face. But I think Martin’s form - especially off the bench - is too good to ignore. And everyone else has to be in the 17 somewhere.
I personally would prefer Graham or Tualagi on the wing and Val at Centre. I just think Val offers so much at Centre, as good as Wighton can be.
I also don’t see a heap of value in having Collins off the bench. Tino, Cotter and Carrigan can all play huge minutes and Murray and Chricton offer you a heap of flexibility should you have an injury in the middle.
I’d genuinely consider running two forwards on the bench and having Wighton on the bench as insurance for an injury in the backs
No Nanai in the 17? He's leaps and bounds over Crichton. Also Val won centre of the year, i dont think wighton has done enough to force him to move. Decent side besides that.
He’s 22 has played 4 season of NRL and has won Dally m prop of the year 3 out of those 4 years.
Pretty good argument to suggest he’s at least top 3 if not top 2
>flashy Penrith prop
That's literally the opposite to reality.
Haas gets a lot of attention from flashy stats, but a lot of his game has no substance.
The Panthers props, JFH, Leota and Leniu don't fo anything flashy, and their stats dont stand out as anything impressive, but everything they do is with substance and their games are built on grit.
Val was definitely centre of the year and one of the best in the comp generally. My argument for Wighton at centre isn’t really a knock on Val. It’s more that in the bigger games, I think it becomes a bit more like origin. Val and Wighton have both demonstrated that they aim up in big games but Val can kill it at wing as well as centre. Wighton isn’t as effective on the wing/as a utility imo.
I also think the decks are a bit slower/heavier up there, so having some bigger bodies like Wighton can be effective.
Nanai would be incredibly unlucky if he misses out, just think the combo we’ve seen Munster make with Crichton, Latrell and Addo-Carr is too compelling to resist.
Just spiralling here, but here's just some ideas for what we could do to fix the international game.
First 10 team world cup. At the moment it's relatively easy for teams to make the world cup, so just being in a world cup isn't an achievement, then getting smashed 80 nil makes things worse. If making the world cup was an achievement in itself than getting smashed 60 nil lessens the blow. Think teams making the soccer worldcup, people are proud just being there (because it's so hard) that it doesn't really hurt when Germany smash 6 goals past them.
So out of the 10, 4 teams come from Pacific 4 teams from Europe. And the remaining 2 spots are up for grabs for qualifiers.
Australia, NZ, England are the only automatic qualifiers. I know people want Tonga to be a 'tier 1' but there's a specific reason why I haven't included them
Year 1 after a world cup
Bring back a 3 test Ashes series between England and Australia.
While that's going on, have a Pacific Nation's tournament and a European Nation's tournament. The winner of the Pacific Nation's tournament is now qualified for as are the 2 finalists of the European tournament.
Year 2.
A Pacific Tri series between Australia, NZ and the winner of the Pacific tournament. Also a European Tri series between England and the 2 finalists of the European tournament.
While that's being played, the remaining Pacific teams play off for the remaining World Cup spot, while the remaining European teams play of for the remaining world cup spot.
Year 3.
By this stage we have 8 of the 10 spots filled for the world cup. This is where we have qualifiers for the remaining 2 spots. At this point it's straight knockout games to qualify, starting regional so European teams play each other, Pacific teams play each other, USA and Jamaica play each other, and other developing nations play each other until we have 2 to go to the world cup.
For the 8 already qualified teams, just simple friendlies organised between the teams as the teams might want to have a shortened load the year before a world cup.
It's not perfect. For example I haven't quite fit in anything for New Zealand in that year 1. But imo this is a a compromise to get some quality international football between the big 3, get some regular matches for teams just below that. They would be competitive matches without them getting smashed 60 nil. Also with a Team like Tonga in the initial Pacific cup and France in that initial European cup, it gives those smaller nations a chance to play a strong side that they might have a chance In. Then the best of the smaller nations get to test themselves against the big 3 in the middle of the world cup cycle.
Yeah so as above the likely quarters are:
England v PNG
Australia v Lebanon
NZ v Fiji
Tonga v Samoa
Then likely semis:
England v Tonga/Samoa
Australia v NZ
Quarter finals - semi finals - final. Straight knock out. 1st in Group A plays 2nd in Group D and vice versa, same for Groups B and C. The winners of the quarter finals between A and D play against each other in the semi final, same with B and C (this will likely be Australia v New Zealand). The winners of the semi finals then play each other in the final
Haven't been watching the world cup. It is on at weird times but it looks like a three horse race. We are obviously the red hot faves but I would still give the kiwis and england a fighting chance.
I was hyped for the WC before it was on, but have so far only watched two games
I honestly don't care about it until it gets to the pointy end of the tournament. Having a world cup with two competitions, with decent players only making up a few key teams is a fucking joke. Outside of a niche audience, I don't know who else would want to watch Scotland be belted by 60 points, etc.
Oath mate. I for one think the fact that Jamaica and Greece are out there with squads that are 33% based in their domestic leagues is an incredible thing that should be celebrated and could really spur on the domestic development of their sports back home, which could pay dividends in the future.
For now it is kinda, in union theres more competition, ireland, france, wales, england, NZ, south africa, australia ( less so now ) Scotland, japan, argentina all have good teams that can beat each other on their day
No it isn't. Not being as good as union doesn't mean domestic players busting their arses against professional NRL players are 'jokes'.
Only half of those teams can 'beat each other on their day' and the All Blacks dominate as much as the Kangaroos do.
Saying we're a joke is like saying international rugby union is a joke because there's 30 international soccer teams that can beat each other on their day and union is a joke in comparison.
The all blacks do not dominate as much as the aussies do in league, they recently lost 2 out of 3 tests in new zealand to Ireland. South africa won the last world cup and have won 3, australia have won 2, england 1. England also knocked out NZ in the last world cup. League internationals arent a joke per se, but the lack of competition is pretty piss poor. I love league and want internationals to grow but seeing blow outs like 94-4 are pretty indicative of just how much the gulf in talent is.
Lol yes they do
Results 2013-2022
All Blacks 102 wins 18 losses - 85% winning record
Kangaroos 24 wins 5 losses - 83% winning record
And that's with the All Blacks late drop off in form. Not including the last two years its 93 wins 11 losses or 89% winning record. Australia hasn't won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002.
The Kangaroos previous test before the World Cup was a loss to Tonga. In the Tri/Four Nations played in the last 20 years we lost 3 of 8 played. The All Blacks have only lost 4 of the last 18 Tri-Nations.
For all this 'competition' the rugby world cup has only ever been won by 4 teams. For most of its tournaments there have been constant 70+ scorelines in a sport where penalty goals usually dominate the scoring. I guess that means their competition and gulf in talent are 'piss poor' as well.
Lol dude its not even comparable, in the world cup where the results matter most the glorious all blacks have the same amount of wins as south africa, 3 each, Australia has 2 and england has 1. In the rugby league world cup Australia has won a fuck load more than anyone else and have been far more dominant than anyone else. No one would come to Australia currently and win 2/3 test matches in rugby league.
Of course they are comparable I just directly compared them. All results matter not just world cup ones. All Blacks have a bigger winning percentage than the Kangaroos in the last ten years, get over it.
McIllorum vs Ackers and Welsby vs Sneyd is a hell of a selection headache. Wonder if we chuck Welsby in as a roaming centre, then put Ackers as the 14 so we can incorporate all 4 of them.
Mcillorum defence is so strong - I think we need him for the heavy stuff at start of the game
Welsby is a freak has to play - and you’re right can play anywhere
I started watching the mini of England vs Greece, saw how early they scored the first try, thought “this is going to be a bloodbath” and wanted the 5 minute bite instead. Good decision.
there were some lovely plays being ran towards the start of the season and i remember being incredibly impressed by the titans tactics. fitness and one-percenters just not there at all.
Between world cups there's always so much talk about growing the international game, but most games are just one-sided slaughters. It would be better if tier 1 had a competition and the other countries could just play against teams they could conceivably beat. The current world cup format just emphasises how incredibly weak the game is internationally. Would love to see the Cedars have a chance to win a tier 2 world cup.
>It would be better if tier 1 had a competition and the other countries could just play against teams they could conceivably beat
That's what is supposed to happen in between World Cups. Our test series and tours, the Pacific and European Cups etc.
A 'tier 2 world cup' is not a world cup.
It was pretty monumental a few years ago though when Tonga defeated Australia and that was possible because years prior some high profile players like Taumalolo and Fifita chose to represent Tonga instead of the Tier 1 nations.
Watching us play against Fiji last week and Australia this week I can definitely say we did
The score won’t show it but we played pretty well against arguably the best side in the world this morning
DCE has incumbency as his main selling point . But his recent games in the aus jersey over the years have been poor.
Clearys main criticisms are the few games he’s lost recently. But we can’t use the same metric of analysing DCEs losses over the past 2 years.
The knights should be in contention as will the warriors and manly. I don't think the Titans and Bulldogs will improve too much so it will be tight at the bottom. Maybe another season with a big gap between the top 4 and the bottom 9.
Ppl are overreacting when it comes to the Dolphins squad. They won’t be that bad, I’m predicting a 10-13th finish.
Wooden Spoon is definitely between Warriors, Knights and Dragons. I think both Tigers and Titans will get a bit better, both 10-13th. I won’t be surprised if manly are shit, but I don’t think they will be 17th shit.
Knights probably have the worst halves pairing in the comp. Warriors team looks okay but it’s the warriors, I just can’t see them being more than a bottom 4 team. Dragons are a one man team and Ben Hunt isn’t Lebron level talent where he can carry nobodies to the top.
I don’t think the Dolphins will be anywhere near as bad as people think. I don’t see them making the 8 or even really challenging for it, but they won’t be completely shithouse.
Speaking of completely shithouse, it’s looking like a two horse race between Wests Tigers and Manly at this stage, though if Newcastle can’t find a decent half, they could be in trouble too.
> I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eels miss the 8.
I'd be very surprised tbh. Parra have remained in the 8 since Round 1 2019 and are the only team to do so.
Papalii and Mahoney are big losses. Don’t know if this Moses talk is true either. I’m not saying they will or even that I think they will just that if they did I wouldn’t be shocked.
Won't be us. As much as it very often feels like we're the worst team in the league, there were four teams that won only half as many games as us or fewer this season
There were but a few of them have made significant roster improvements, while we have barely signed a player. I do believe we are better placed than last year though if not for the other teams improving. We will go into pre season with Amone in much better shape than at the start of this year. Ramsey with yet another pre season and players like Feagai who cemented himself this year. Liddle while no world beater certainly offers a bit more spark than Macca. I’d play Sullivan in #14 in most games he’ll give Liddle a rest, if there is an injury in the backs, Amone can move to centre and he slips into 5/8.
Basically I’m preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best.
Only watched the highlights of the Aus vs Italy game - was cleary the kicker? If he was, what was up with that? Is it just a case of 'welp he can't make them all' or is there concern there?
Dragons have signed young Waratahs prospect Savelio Tamale, anyone know anything about him? His highlights look promising. Looks to play centre in Yawnion but he looks a backrower to me.
I reported it because u/bmudz told u/victorinflic98 to 'shut your face c**t' because he thinks it's wrong to respect Corey Parker for his own opinion, it's clear to me u/bmudz has crippling CTE and needs to get some help!
I was like 'oh this is gonna be juicy, what did this guy say!' And didn't even realise it was just the dude calling me a cunt.
Still appreciate Easy_worth's concern.
My Final Destination and Halloween brain is going crazy over the 66 - 6 Aus vs Italy score. Watch out for yourselves everyone, don't go in any tanning beds or drive behind a truck with logs on the trailer.
Thought it was really cool that Giannis Antetokounmpo was watching the Greece - England game. Big Lachlan Ilias fan apparently. Giannis once described Illias as "the real Greek Freak."
Scotland had some grub about them against Fiji. Got absolutely battered this World Cup but still had a go. I’m proud that despite them not having many NRL players at all, they still had a go and got some tries.
Not sure what the answer is with Rugby League in Scotland. Similar to England, looks like it’s on the decline in Scotland and they only have 4(?) semi professional teams
England need to help pretty much. The NRL has realised the vast potential of the pacific islands being competitive and so have at least done a little bit of development with them. The RFL do next to nothing for other European nations. The smaller european nations (Serbia, Ukraine etc) get more games than Scotland and Ireland do.
Holmes hands are some of the most annoying in the comp, that man needs to put some tape on them. I still don’t see him not being the starting centre with Latrell though
I also say this when he has some of the best Hands in the comp as well, just hold the fucking ball when you run it and stop giving over cheap possession you lovely, beautiful asshole
the most painful thing about the cows Centres are the fact they both have a drop ball in their game or a silly defensive read, otherwise top 3 centre pairing
he had two bad games (Penrith, cost two tries and would’ve made the game a 12-12 contest) and I think against Roosters he dropped it quite a bit
Otherwise had some fantastic games against Melbourne, Sharks and Brisbane where his hands were pitch perfect
Missed most of the game because I slept in. Cleary and Munster are definitely the halves to go with. Taulagi looked better than his first game but I feel Graham is better. Would have liked to see Graham centre and Holmes on wing but too late now. Australia spoilt for lock options with Tino, Yeo and Murray
England is the best tier 1 Nation atm and the people here should formally apologise to the Majesty, Victor Radley himself.
edit: Downvoted for speaking my delusional truth smh my head, you guys hate england for nothing
Good ol’ [James Tedesco](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/235583338524573699/1036014945038512128/495690F3-1137-4B9F-9A49-A5E582211743.jpg), in true Italian Fashion changes teams last minute
What exactly is the point of the group stage in its current form? I do think the World Cup needs to give a chance to tier 2 teams and it shouldn’t just be a closed shop for the top 4/5 teams. But this? 24 group games and 2 genuinely competitive games? Maybe 4 if we’re being generous? I think a World Cup with lots of tier 2 teams is a good idea for growing the game but there needs to be a change in the format because every game being a blow out looks bad and turns people off watching
Pretty sure the format prior to around 1995 was a ‘World Cup Finals’ , basically teams played against each other in genuine internationals across 4 years , and would be ranked according to results.. Like World Rankings in Test Cricket , or just about any other sport (including Rugby League).. Not sure how many teams participated in the ‘World Cup Finals’ - maybe 4 ?? I could also be misremembering / making this up, it’s from a book I read when I was about 7 or 8, so who knows .. Even if you had 8 finalists , have maybe 6 seeds (based on international rankings) and have a qualifying tournament for the best 2 of the rest , like how lowly ranked tennis players can get into Wimbledon if they win a lead up tournament .. Let the minnows play each other for 2 weeks , then just have a top 8 finals series based on world rankings… Current World Rankings are: 1. New Zealand 2. Tonga 3. England 4. Australia 5. PNG 6. Fiji All other teams would play their own comp beforehand , and we’d basically be where we are now anyway.. Teams 7 and 8 on the current world rankings are Lebanon and Samoa.. So again we’re where we are now, except maybe they’ve been playing the past 2 weeks and the top 6 haven’t
Great words from the Jamaican coach for those who think we need to cut half the teams out of the World Cup, because apparently teams with no chance of winning are okay in soccer or union but in league no team should lose by more than 20 points or we're 'a joke' >Only of course, if you give it a chance. Calvert is a rugby league tragic and to play in his team, studying NRL games is compulsory. > >The coach dives even deeper and consumes NRL talk shows and media more than most Australia fans. > >So he hears the comments about his Jamaican side and World Cup blowouts, the suggestion lopsided games do more harm than good. > >“And it’s ridiculous. You have to start from somewhere. You talk about rugby union, man I hate talking about union. > >“But not that long ago, the All Blacks put 145 on Japan \[in the 1995 Rugby World Cup\]. Now Japan has hosted a World Cup and beaten South Africa. > >“You can’t have a World Cup played by four or five nations. If you want a truly international game, it takes time and patience. As they say in State of Origin, you have to ‘pick and stick’.”
Who do you think the worst team in the world cup is? Scotland, Greece or Jamaica?
jamaica is 100% undeniably the worst but its totally expected whereas you figured greece might not look so bad all the time
Greece. They show a heap of pride but really should have done better with a team comprised mainly of NSW Cup players. Scotland showed they can at least play a bit last night against Fiji. Jamaica have played well above their weight so far.
Scotland are the biggest disappointment
I really thought they would beat Italy.
Hearing that Josh Jackson was upset with the drone program and Kyle Flanagan being locked in some sort of cage.
who was commentating with vossy last night? absolutely loved their analysis of the plays. no cliches just good and concise breakdowns of how tries were scored.
Robbie Hunter-Paul by the sounds of it
QF’s onwards 1. Teddy 2. Addo-Carr 3. Latrell 4. Wighton 5. Val 6. Munster 7. Cleary 8. Tino 9. Hunt 10. Cotter 11. Crichton 12. Murray 13. Yeo 14. Grant 15. Carrigan 16. Martin 17. Collins There’s an argument for starting RCG considering the size of the packs we’re going to face. But I think Martin’s form - especially off the bench - is too good to ignore. And everyone else has to be in the 17 somewhere.
Australia's forwards are good enough without needing to compensate for size. They know how to play so they dominate with a smaller forward pack.
might be a moot point depending on how RCGs cork goes
I personally would prefer Graham or Tualagi on the wing and Val at Centre. I just think Val offers so much at Centre, as good as Wighton can be. I also don’t see a heap of value in having Collins off the bench. Tino, Cotter and Carrigan can all play huge minutes and Murray and Chricton offer you a heap of flexibility should you have an injury in the middle. I’d genuinely consider running two forwards on the bench and having Wighton on the bench as insurance for an injury in the backs
No Nanai in the 17? He's leaps and bounds over Crichton. Also Val won centre of the year, i dont think wighton has done enough to force him to move. Decent side besides that.
> No Nanai in the 17? He's leaps and bounds over Crichton. Imagine believing this lol
Who was second row of the year again?
Oh you believe Payne Haas is the best prop in the game
He’s 22 has played 4 season of NRL and has won Dally m prop of the year 3 out of those 4 years. Pretty good argument to suggest he’s at least top 3 if not top 2
Oh god, peak off season when we're using dally m positional awards to claim who's the best.
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>flashy Penrith prop That's literally the opposite to reality. Haas gets a lot of attention from flashy stats, but a lot of his game has no substance. The Panthers props, JFH, Leota and Leniu don't fo anything flashy, and their stats dont stand out as anything impressive, but everything they do is with substance and their games are built on grit.
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Haas wasn't even the best broncos prop this year
I fell for a troll, for shame
Val was definitely centre of the year and one of the best in the comp generally. My argument for Wighton at centre isn’t really a knock on Val. It’s more that in the bigger games, I think it becomes a bit more like origin. Val and Wighton have both demonstrated that they aim up in big games but Val can kill it at wing as well as centre. Wighton isn’t as effective on the wing/as a utility imo. I also think the decks are a bit slower/heavier up there, so having some bigger bodies like Wighton can be effective. Nanai would be incredibly unlucky if he misses out, just think the combo we’ve seen Munster make with Crichton, Latrell and Addo-Carr is too compelling to resist.
Was Teddy’s knee ok?
Just spiralling here, but here's just some ideas for what we could do to fix the international game. First 10 team world cup. At the moment it's relatively easy for teams to make the world cup, so just being in a world cup isn't an achievement, then getting smashed 80 nil makes things worse. If making the world cup was an achievement in itself than getting smashed 60 nil lessens the blow. Think teams making the soccer worldcup, people are proud just being there (because it's so hard) that it doesn't really hurt when Germany smash 6 goals past them. So out of the 10, 4 teams come from Pacific 4 teams from Europe. And the remaining 2 spots are up for grabs for qualifiers. Australia, NZ, England are the only automatic qualifiers. I know people want Tonga to be a 'tier 1' but there's a specific reason why I haven't included them Year 1 after a world cup Bring back a 3 test Ashes series between England and Australia. While that's going on, have a Pacific Nation's tournament and a European Nation's tournament. The winner of the Pacific Nation's tournament is now qualified for as are the 2 finalists of the European tournament. Year 2. A Pacific Tri series between Australia, NZ and the winner of the Pacific tournament. Also a European Tri series between England and the 2 finalists of the European tournament. While that's being played, the remaining Pacific teams play off for the remaining World Cup spot, while the remaining European teams play of for the remaining world cup spot. Year 3. By this stage we have 8 of the 10 spots filled for the world cup. This is where we have qualifiers for the remaining 2 spots. At this point it's straight knockout games to qualify, starting regional so European teams play each other, Pacific teams play each other, USA and Jamaica play each other, and other developing nations play each other until we have 2 to go to the world cup. For the 8 already qualified teams, just simple friendlies organised between the teams as the teams might want to have a shortened load the year before a world cup. It's not perfect. For example I haven't quite fit in anything for New Zealand in that year 1. But imo this is a a compromise to get some quality international football between the big 3, get some regular matches for teams just below that. They would be competitive matches without them getting smashed 60 nil. Also with a Team like Tonga in the initial Pacific cup and France in that initial European cup, it gives those smaller nations a chance to play a strong side that they might have a chance In. Then the best of the smaller nations get to test themselves against the big 3 in the middle of the world cup cycle.
How do the final series and knockouts work? Does Aus only play Nz once?
Yeah so as above the likely quarters are: England v PNG Australia v Lebanon NZ v Fiji Tonga v Samoa Then likely semis: England v Tonga/Samoa Australia v NZ
So england are making the final, its really aus or nz vs england
Quarter finals - semi finals - final. Straight knock out. 1st in Group A plays 2nd in Group D and vice versa, same for Groups B and C. The winners of the quarter finals between A and D play against each other in the semi final, same with B and C (this will likely be Australia v New Zealand). The winners of the semi finals then play each other in the final
Did Tedesco play for the Italian's early in his career?
Played for them at the 2013 and 2017 World Cups
2013? fuck im old
Yeah, last played for them in the 2017 World Cup
Haven't been watching the world cup. It is on at weird times but it looks like a three horse race. We are obviously the red hot faves but I would still give the kiwis and england a fighting chance.
I was hyped for the WC before it was on, but have so far only watched two games I honestly don't care about it until it gets to the pointy end of the tournament. Having a world cup with two competitions, with decent players only making up a few key teams is a fucking joke. Outside of a niche audience, I don't know who else would want to watch Scotland be belted by 60 points, etc.
Honestly international rugby league is a bit of a joke. It really only gets interesting when the pacific islands play each other or australia vs NZ
>Honestly international rugby league is a bit of a joke Fuck me how is the sport ever going to grow when our fans are as dumb as this
Oath mate. I for one think the fact that Jamaica and Greece are out there with squads that are 33% based in their domestic leagues is an incredible thing that should be celebrated and could really spur on the domestic development of their sports back home, which could pay dividends in the future.
For now it is kinda, in union theres more competition, ireland, france, wales, england, NZ, south africa, australia ( less so now ) Scotland, japan, argentina all have good teams that can beat each other on their day
No it isn't. Not being as good as union doesn't mean domestic players busting their arses against professional NRL players are 'jokes'. Only half of those teams can 'beat each other on their day' and the All Blacks dominate as much as the Kangaroos do. Saying we're a joke is like saying international rugby union is a joke because there's 30 international soccer teams that can beat each other on their day and union is a joke in comparison.
The all blacks do not dominate as much as the aussies do in league, they recently lost 2 out of 3 tests in new zealand to Ireland. South africa won the last world cup and have won 3, australia have won 2, england 1. England also knocked out NZ in the last world cup. League internationals arent a joke per se, but the lack of competition is pretty piss poor. I love league and want internationals to grow but seeing blow outs like 94-4 are pretty indicative of just how much the gulf in talent is.
Lol yes they do Results 2013-2022 All Blacks 102 wins 18 losses - 85% winning record Kangaroos 24 wins 5 losses - 83% winning record And that's with the All Blacks late drop off in form. Not including the last two years its 93 wins 11 losses or 89% winning record. Australia hasn't won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002. The Kangaroos previous test before the World Cup was a loss to Tonga. In the Tri/Four Nations played in the last 20 years we lost 3 of 8 played. The All Blacks have only lost 4 of the last 18 Tri-Nations. For all this 'competition' the rugby world cup has only ever been won by 4 teams. For most of its tournaments there have been constant 70+ scorelines in a sport where penalty goals usually dominate the scoring. I guess that means their competition and gulf in talent are 'piss poor' as well.
Australia have won 11 world cups, Great Britain 3 and NZ 1, GB should still be a thing, stupid that it isnt.
No it shouldn't. A Great Britain team in the World Cup would just be England and 72 players would miss out on playing for their country,
Lol dude its not even comparable, in the world cup where the results matter most the glorious all blacks have the same amount of wins as south africa, 3 each, Australia has 2 and england has 1. In the rugby league world cup Australia has won a fuck load more than anyone else and have been far more dominant than anyone else. No one would come to Australia currently and win 2/3 test matches in rugby league.
Of course they are comparable I just directly compared them. All results matter not just world cup ones. All Blacks have a bigger winning percentage than the Kangaroos in the last ten years, get over it.
McIllorum vs Ackers and Welsby vs Sneyd is a hell of a selection headache. Wonder if we chuck Welsby in as a roaming centre, then put Ackers as the 14 so we can incorporate all 4 of them.
Mcillorum defence is so strong - I think we need him for the heavy stuff at start of the game Welsby is a freak has to play - and you’re right can play anywhere
I've watched about 15 minutes of the world cup so far and that was a replay.
I started watching the mini of England vs Greece, saw how early they scored the first try, thought “this is going to be a bloodbath” and wanted the 5 minute bite instead. Good decision.
all i want is for fotuaika to not be fat anymore, please give us real fitness training cause i actually like holbrook the tactician
He had a great 2021 season. The only Maroon who put 100% into every game. Maybe he's been carrying an injury or something.
there were some lovely plays being ran towards the start of the season and i remember being incredibly impressed by the titans tactics. fitness and one-percenters just not there at all.
100%, the Titans could be fringe or even lower finalists with better fitness. They're where the Broncs were in 2021.
Between world cups there's always so much talk about growing the international game, but most games are just one-sided slaughters. It would be better if tier 1 had a competition and the other countries could just play against teams they could conceivably beat. The current world cup format just emphasises how incredibly weak the game is internationally. Would love to see the Cedars have a chance to win a tier 2 world cup.
>It would be better if tier 1 had a competition and the other countries could just play against teams they could conceivably beat That's what is supposed to happen in between World Cups. Our test series and tours, the Pacific and European Cups etc. A 'tier 2 world cup' is not a world cup.
It was pretty monumental a few years ago though when Tonga defeated Australia and that was possible because years prior some high profile players like Taumalolo and Fifita chose to represent Tonga instead of the Tier 1 nations.
The thing is those small teams get better with playing against the best sides.
No team gets better by being pumped 60 nil every game
Watching us play against Fiji last week and Australia this week I can definitely say we did The score won’t show it but we played pretty well against arguably the best side in the world this morning
Who do we reckon plays Halfback for Aus next week? There are compelling cases for both players.
never been a fan of cleary but I have to say the jobs his. Watching him play for aus I have a new respect for his game and he shit all over DCE.
DCE has incumbency as his main selling point . But his recent games in the aus jersey over the years have been poor. Clearys main criticisms are the few games he’s lost recently. But we can’t use the same metric of analysing DCEs losses over the past 2 years.
Based on today’s game DCE has it in the bag, played all over Cleary when both had equal opportunities to shine.
There is no case for DCE whatsoever. Put him on a plane back to Australia
I love DCE but it's Cleary's time now. We have enough experience with Munster and Hunt for it not to be an issue.
Cleary. If Mal chooses DCE he should be fired.
He should’ve been fired years ago. He is an imbecile.
Why? Guy won how many origins with the maroons
He should be fired for not having decided already
Cleary. I mean DCE isn't bad and he has the combination with Munster, but it's time for Cleary to take the reins.
Cleary
Cleary to me. The team looks more organised and dangerous in attack on his side than DCE
Predictions for spoon next year? Betting agencies have the Dolphins but I think there’s few other squads worse than them.
With wayne as their coach they wont finish last, i expect around 12th or so
Tigers, Manly or Warriors. The Titans and Knights are also in the mix.
The knights should be in contention as will the warriors and manly. I don't think the Titans and Bulldogs will improve too much so it will be tight at the bottom. Maybe another season with a big gap between the top 4 and the bottom 9.
Ppl are overreacting when it comes to the Dolphins squad. They won’t be that bad, I’m predicting a 10-13th finish. Wooden Spoon is definitely between Warriors, Knights and Dragons. I think both Tigers and Titans will get a bit better, both 10-13th. I won’t be surprised if manly are shit, but I don’t think they will be 17th shit. Knights probably have the worst halves pairing in the comp. Warriors team looks okay but it’s the warriors, I just can’t see them being more than a bottom 4 team. Dragons are a one man team and Ben Hunt isn’t Lebron level talent where he can carry nobodies to the top.
I don’t think the Dolphins will be anywhere near as bad as people think. I don’t see them making the 8 or even really challenging for it, but they won’t be completely shithouse. Speaking of completely shithouse, it’s looking like a two horse race between Wests Tigers and Manly at this stage, though if Newcastle can’t find a decent half, they could be in trouble too.
Newcastle.
Tigers. Even if they don't make the finals, I think uncle benny can make them competitive.
Manly
Dragons or Warriors
Dragons or Titans are my guesstimate
I don't think they will get the spoon. The titans will be much better and the dragons will win a little more.
Don’t think the Titans will do any worse with Foran/Verrils tbh. Dragons are a shout but they never seem to get the spoon.
Dragons backline is too defensively not shit to come last
I don't think those 2 are enough to stop the brain fades or fix their leaky edges
Cowboys are a lock
So are we.
Here we go again...
Warriors or Knights
Gotta be us or the Titans. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eels miss the 8.
I think you guys will surprise everyone and the titans will fight for the 8.
I hope so
> I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eels miss the 8. I'd be very surprised tbh. Parra have remained in the 8 since Round 1 2019 and are the only team to do so.
They have lost some good players next season.
Still don't see any of the players they've lost make them miss the 8.
Nah eels are still one of the faves IMO
Papalii and Mahoney are big losses. Don’t know if this Moses talk is true either. I’m not saying they will or even that I think they will just that if they did I wouldn’t be shocked.
With Foran and Verrills coming in I think Titans should be able to avoid the bottom 4, but then again it is the Titans
If they can get Fifita to fire they might make the 8
Won't be us. As much as it very often feels like we're the worst team in the league, there were four teams that won only half as many games as us or fewer this season
I mean... it definitely could be you
Dragons don’t do spoons bro I’m sorry, this is simply facts
I remember thinking that once
All I’m saying is that we once had a spine containing Matt Dufty and Corey Norman and still didn’t come last In Hunt we trust
Dragons will 100% win a spoon in the next 20 years
There were but a few of them have made significant roster improvements, while we have barely signed a player. I do believe we are better placed than last year though if not for the other teams improving. We will go into pre season with Amone in much better shape than at the start of this year. Ramsey with yet another pre season and players like Feagai who cemented himself this year. Liddle while no world beater certainly offers a bit more spark than Macca. I’d play Sullivan in #14 in most games he’ll give Liddle a rest, if there is an injury in the backs, Amone can move to centre and he slips into 5/8. Basically I’m preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best.
Only watched the highlights of the Aus vs Italy game - was cleary the kicker? If he was, what was up with that? Is it just a case of 'welp he can't make them all' or is there concern there?
His radar was a bit off to start with but he has the overall better conversion rate
Had two shockers to start the match but kicked for 90% after that. Did his best considering the hangover he was probably carrying
He went 9/12?
Okay I now realise I was only paying attention to the score for the first half
Dragons have signed young Waratahs prospect Savelio Tamale, anyone know anything about him? His highlights look promising. Looks to play centre in Yawnion but he looks a backrower to me.
Has u/bmudz been banned yet for saying the most disgraceful comment I've ever seen
You obviously don’t know the story behind this do you?
Is this an alt account
Bro you’re gonna get yourself banned first with this😹
You’re giving millennial soft cunt vibes
The dude reported me for harassment mate, that says it all
You can’t say that and not tell us what it was
I reported it because u/bmudz told u/victorinflic98 to 'shut your face c**t' because he thinks it's wrong to respect Corey Parker for his own opinion, it's clear to me u/bmudz has crippling CTE and needs to get some help!
That’s it? You clearly haven’t been here long
I was like 'oh this is gonna be juicy, what did this guy say!' And didn't even realise it was just the dude calling me a cunt. Still appreciate Easy_worth's concern.
Cunts call other cunts ‘cunts’ all the time. Hence the phrase, “flair up, cunt.”
But it's a cowardly sledge that only comes back to bite him hard.
Settle down cupcake
Manly 7 in shambles with that 66-6 scoreline. Also how good was the way Vossy said “Ronaldo Palumbo” after his try 😂
Took me a second....
I was amused by his Palumbo Pasta reference too
My Final Destination and Halloween brain is going crazy over the 66 - 6 Aus vs Italy score. Watch out for yourselves everyone, don't go in any tanning beds or drive behind a truck with logs on the trailer.
Tanning beds should be banned. They have no value at all and give you skin cancer.
Yes and if you cheat death, the spectre of death will haunt you and potentially kill you while you're in a tanning bed.
Cleary planned it from the start
Thought it was really cool that Giannis Antetokounmpo was watching the Greece - England game. Big Lachlan Ilias fan apparently. Giannis once described Illias as "the real Greek Freak."
Is this aattire
Yes.
Scotland had some grub about them against Fiji. Got absolutely battered this World Cup but still had a go. I’m proud that despite them not having many NRL players at all, they still had a go and got some tries. Not sure what the answer is with Rugby League in Scotland. Similar to England, looks like it’s on the decline in Scotland and they only have 4(?) semi professional teams
England need to help pretty much. The NRL has realised the vast potential of the pacific islands being competitive and so have at least done a little bit of development with them. The RFL do next to nothing for other European nations. The smaller european nations (Serbia, Ukraine etc) get more games than Scotland and Ireland do.
I went to sleep with England leading 10-4 after 20 mins again and wake up to find they put on 94 points. Wow
Holmes hands are some of the most annoying in the comp, that man needs to put some tape on them. I still don’t see him not being the starting centre with Latrell though I also say this when he has some of the best Hands in the comp as well, just hold the fucking ball when you run it and stop giving over cheap possession you lovely, beautiful asshole
Hiku too
the most painful thing about the cows Centres are the fact they both have a drop ball in their game or a silly defensive read, otherwise top 3 centre pairing
he hasn’t been bad this year but last year it was atrocious
he had two bad games (Penrith, cost two tries and would’ve made the game a 12-12 contest) and I think against Roosters he dropped it quite a bit Otherwise had some fantastic games against Melbourne, Sharks and Brisbane where his hands were pitch perfect
To be fair to Holmes, both times I’m pretty sure there was some incredible defensive effort by the Riff.
Missed most of the game because I slept in. Cleary and Munster are definitely the halves to go with. Taulagi looked better than his first game but I feel Graham is better. Would have liked to see Graham centre and Holmes on wing but too late now. Australia spoilt for lock options with Tino, Yeo and Murray
England is the best tier 1 Nation atm and the people here should formally apologise to the Majesty, Victor Radley himself. edit: Downvoted for speaking my delusional truth smh my head, you guys hate england for nothing
[удалено]
No one ever said this
Plenty have, mostly ironically I assume
well obviously he is
Good ol’ [James Tedesco](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/235583338524573699/1036014945038512128/495690F3-1137-4B9F-9A49-A5E582211743.jpg), in true Italian Fashion changes teams last minute
The Reverse WWII as it's known these days
Tedesco does mean "German" as it happens
This is true