This post has been very hard for me to write, given that I am a massive fan of the RLIF. However, I felt that this post needs to be written regarding the lack of action taken by the RLIF since the end of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. I will discuss the decision to give Samoa a chance to compete in the 2014 Four Nations Tournament. I will also talk about how to fix the representative weekend schedule.
Since the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, we have heard from the RLIF four times and only via press releases. The first time was on December 2nd 2013, to update the RLIF World Rankings. The second time the RLIF released a press release was on February 19, to announce that Australia and New Zealand would jointly host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. A day later, the RLIF announced that Rugby League would hold a Rugby League Nines competition leading up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The final time was April 10th to announce the 2014 Four Nations Tournament draw. We have yet to hear from the RLIF regarding qualification for the 2017 World Cup or how many teams will compete in the World Cup. Several countries would like to begin preparations for the World Cup this year by staging tests in the lead-up to qualification; unfortunately, they can’t as they are unaware of how the qualification process works. At the announcement on February 19, when the RLIF announced the winning bid for hosting the World Cup, the RLIF should have also revealed how many teams would compete in the tournament, how many spots were filled automatically and how a country qualifies for the tournament.
After the 2013 Rugby League, World Cup tournament review was undertaken, the RLIF should have come out within a week and finalized its four-year test cycle, so the RLEF and the APRLC could implement its test schedule for 2014-2017. At the moment, all that is known for sure is the Four Nations will take place in 2014, Great Britain will tour Australia and the Pacific in 2015, and the winner of the 2014 European Championship will participate in the 2016 Four Nations staged somewhere in Europe. At the same time, the RLIF should have also announced how it is distributing the profits from the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, which would then allow the RLEF, to release its fixture for the 2014 European Championship. It would also enable several countries to implement programs to grow Rugby League in their respective countries. On February 19, when the RLIF announced that Australia and New Zealand had won the bid to jointly host the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, it should have also announced the venues and dates of the 2014 Four Nations tournament, which would allow English fans who want to travel to the tournament, over seven months to prepare an itinerary.
In 2013, when the RLIF met before the 2013 mid-season test between Australia and New Zealand, it announced in 2014, the Four Nations would be played in Australia and New Zealand between Australia, New Zealand, England and the highest finishing Pacific team at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. In the lead-up to the quarter-final between Samoa and Fiji, both sides stated that the game had extra incentive as the winner would participate in the 2014 Four Nations tournament. After Fiji beat Samoa, it was widely assumed that Fiji would participate in the Four Nations. Somehow this has changed, and now Fiji must beat Samoa for the second time in less than six months to earn a place that rightfully belonged to them in the first place. Samoa should be playing Tonga for the second consecutive year, and Fiji should be playing a warm-up match against Papua New Guinea. The PNG Hunters have the bye in the Intrust Super Cup, which would allow an almost full-strength Papua New Guinea side to compete in the representative weekend.
A lot has been said about scheduling the NRL representative weekend and what can be done to fix it. Starting with the selection of the New Zealand side. If New Zealand chooses a “weaker” side, then that is for the NZRL and the media of New Zealand to deal with and should concern no one from Australia. As for the number of players withdrawing from City v Country, the solution is simple, every player is selected (including those who were ruled out the weekend before), and they can only be ruled out by an independent doctor. If the player is outside of Sydney, then the doctor can have a video chat with the player and/or the club medical staff. If a player withdraws after being selected by the respective selectors, the club should be fined by the commission.
Not only should the NRL not be played this weekend, but no Rugby League should also be played at either the 2nd tier or 3rd tier level. This weekend, for example, Wentworthville host Newcastle in the NSW Cup. At the moment, Newcastle sits in first, and Wentworthville sits in second. Newcastle will be without a couple of players who they have lost to Fiji, so due to no fault of their own, they could lose a game and two points, which could have implications on Newcastle’s finishing position at the end of the season. Having no second or third-tier Rugby League would allow several other internationals to be played. If Super League also has a representative weekend on the same weekend, several Pacific Islanders would be able to travel from Europe to play in Australia, and several European players in Australia and New Zealand could travel to Europe to participate in international matches in Europe. State of Origin should also be played on stand-alone weekends.
The NRL could play a Challenge Cup/Amco Cup-style knockout competition on the representative weekends. The NRL teams would enter the thirty-two round, played on the representative weekend. The round of sixteen, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals would occur during State of Origin, and the competition final would be played during representative weekend five. Given the recent problems with the RFL Challenge Cup, they could also play the Challenge Cup on those representative weekends, whilst England plays either the Exiles or France. If the NRL teams enter in the fourth round on representative weekend one, with several players out due to representative weekend, a higher chance of an upset exists.
If the NRL were to implement this, they would need to shorten the season by four rounds, from a twenty-six-round competition to a twenty-two-round competition. A twenty-two-round competition with five representative games would still be a twenty-seven-week season. Playing a twenty-two-week season would also mean higher-quality matches across the season. With a knockout round staged on the same weekend as the representative weekends, fans can support their team, and the TV broadcasters can broadcast several games across the weekend.
And Another Thing: I am glad the Newcastle Knights and the NRL are giving Alex McKinnon all the support and help he will need. I hope the NRL does the same to Simon Dwyer and any other player suffering from a career-ending injury or will suffer from one in the future.
Quote of the week: Ironman Craig Alexander, after the final race of his career, “I wanted to pull off some magic today and go out on top but I couldn’t. My body is like a rental car that has done a few too many miles. I’m driving around with the handbrake on.”
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Till next time,
Cheese