It's about time the RLIF were pro active and announce the format of the competition and likely venues.

Best format for me would be

16 teams
4 groups of 4

Top two qualify for quarters, then semis and a final

Bottom two in each group, play for the World plate which could be played at smaller grounds and would keep income coming into the smaller clubs

Keep it simple rather than the so-called super pool which made the game look amateurish.

It's a seeded group format. There's nothing ridiculous or unprofessional about it. It wasn't the best seeded group format IMHO, but it did its job (no blow-outs for the lesser established nations). The only thing I didn't like about it was PNG were lambs to the slaughter.

In an ideal world, we'd have an even group stage. But there's no point if the quality of teams is so vast that the games would be a forgone conclusion. Nearly every game in the last WC could have been won by either team.


I'm not really a fan of groups with three teams in (or odd numbers altogether) as it means teams will have different rest periods (a complaint about the last WC apparently as well). 14 teams will probably mean this will again be the case, though. Unless of course the do cross-group games?

Top Tier consists of the three teams that are basically permanent members of the 4 Nations.

France qualified for and subsequently played in the 4 Nations.
PNG have done the same (beating the mighty...Cook Islands) and will play in the 4 Nations this year.
Wales won the 2009 European Cup, essentially meaning they are one of the Top 3 NH nations. They also have a team in the Top Level competition in their area, akin to France and New Zealand, unlike PNG.

I don't see why Wales shouldn't be considered one of the leading nations for RL? Especially by 2013 if the Crusaders keep improving.

Personally I would be pushing for a 5 Nations to replace the 4 Nations after the World Cup. Keep rotating between Northern Hemisphere and Southern, having the number of teams biased 3-2 to where it is hosted.

eg. In the Northern Hemisphere have England, France, Wales, Australia and New Zealand; and the Southern Hemisphere have Australia, New Zealand, PNG, England and France.

The bottom team of the three locals has to play in the EC/PC to qualify when the 5N comes back to their hemisphere. Would give France/Wales/PNG/others a fair crack at the Top 3 every so often and a go at someone their own level at the same time, to see how far they are progressing.

It needs at least some matches on terrestrial television imo. I would personally keep the Super Group and have something like this;



Every team would have to play 6 games to reach the final but it does require an extra round because of uneven group numbers and more matches overall than other formats.

Damn you and your fancy pictures!

Although I wasn't keen on the format at the time, I think we should keep the 'super group' as it is more attractive to TV viewers and crowds.

we don't want to see ridiculous games like Australia thrashing Russia 100-0 again.

as for venues, I would largely stick to the heartlands...although I would like to see Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France play games at 'home' particularly in Wrexham and Perpignan, where SL has obviously taken off.

I would also like to see the flagship England-Australia game taken to a big ground, maybe even Wembley (close the upper tiers and sell the bottom tier first) with cheap tickets on offer. We need to make our biggest international fixture a big event and stop holding it at medium sized grounds like Hull, Hudds or Wigan.

what the game really needs is the fixtures and venues announced well in advance, and not the usual RFL trick of announcing it all a month beforehand...and then wondering why the press and public aren't bothered.