That was two years ago. Wales won the European Cup last year. Fiji came 3rd in the Pacific Cup, knocked out by a team ranked 14th in the RLIF rankings. The RLIF rankings mean very little two years on.


I think England will be fine. They got to the final last year, didn't they?

Mind you...

Steve McNamara?

are you saying that's a mistake or a good idea?

i think its a good idea, but thats not what i was saying

i was asking whether you thought it was a good idea, considering what you had written previously regarding copying 95

I dont know how well PNG will have prepared for the 4 nations.

The fact England are playing them in NZ and not Queensland should help

I'm genuinely interested to see how that game shapes up.

There will be more pressure on PNG in my opinion... people will expect them to do well and they will want to impress as they are trying for a team in the NRL.

No one apart from the most parochial English supporters will rate Englands chances... but if they can get off to a good start against the Kumuls its a possibility.

What's unprofessional about it?

And unless you want 4 groups of 3, the format would still be a bit strange.

maybe you would like to bet on it then bazza,

PNG win i will give £100 to a charity of your choice
England win you give £100 to a charity of my choice

the biggest problem is making sure the lesser nations get enough games to make it worth their while, while the bigger nations arent having to play a huge amount more games to win it.

14 is a difficult number to do that without the structure becoming too convoluted, 16 would have made it much easier,

I'm guessing your talking about England's chances in the 4N as a whole rather than England's chances of beating PNG?
Considering we haven't beaten the Aussies in a "must win" game in over 30 years, I'll have to agree with you. And in their own back yard as well. I'd be happy if we got to the final!

If you're talking about England's chances against PNG, then you're talking rubbish.

I think Eng v Aus and opening ceremony at Wembley is a good idea

I do actually mean Englands chances against PNG.

Why do you think England will win?

They only just scraped through last time.

You now have a worse coach... and the squad isnt considerably different.

The only thing in Englands favour as far as I can see is the game is being played in NZ and not Townsville like in 2008.

I think whoever can score a couple of quick tries in the first 15-20 mins will go on to win that one.

And if its PNG.... look out!!!

You're judging it on one of the worst England performances in the last 10 years? And a game that England still won? And think that the team that has winning in the first 15-20 mins will go on to win it, despite England losing at half time in that game they played awful in and then still went on to win?!

You really don't watch much rugby league, do you?!

Same format as last WC. As a marketing ploy, we should offer schools in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales tickets to the games as a school trip out. I went to GB v Australia in 1994 at Wembley and it was amazing. Also allocate teams to areas like they did in the Football WC in South Korea. Say Cas, Wakey and Fev have a few Tongans playing in the WC. Say to their fans that they get in half price with their season tickets and play all the Tonga games nearby. Same in say Wigan, Leigh and Salford, Warrington, Widnes and St.Helens.