The England Cricket team has ringers, as do most of the home nations Union teams. Irelands soccer team in the 80's/90's was crammed full of plastic paddies and there are even a couple of islanders in the All Blacks squad......none of which is relevant in a discussion regarding the make up of the 14 RLWC squads...where over 60% of the players will have been born in one of 3 countries and 80% of them will ply their trade in one of 2 competitions.

I am as Italian as Craig Gower....he's run out for both codes but in the case of Union he was one of 4 in a 35 man training squad...in League he is one of 19 of 31.

The current Italian Union squad of 37 players has 34 Italian born players, A saffa, a Fijian and a chain rattler.

The "growth" of League as an international sport will not be assisted by having a competition that allows teams to be filled with players in such a fashion.

Better to have a Tri-nations comp with a lower tier RLWC including b teams from the big 3 and actual national teams from the lower nations.....it won't happen overnight, but the standard of the lower nations will rise a lot quicker if the guys who train hard all season aren't replaced by NRL stars who once ate a bowl of pasta.

So you want RL to inexplicably adopt different eligibility rules to every other international sport?No, the only people that would be 'better' for are RU fans who are worried about a superior sport getting mainstream exposure.

No...I want international League to grow in exposure an popularity....1,000,000 PEOPLE + listening to Craig Gower being interviewed on the BBC after the Wales v Italy game in Cardiff will simply underline the perception that it's a sport played by northerners and Aussies.


These WORRIED RU fans you speak of exist only in your head. I played first grade Union in the 1980's.....before I started following the London Broncos I had never given Rugby League a second thought.....the BBC challenge cup games was the only exposure I had to the game and you can be damned sure, London pubs were not showing SL on SKY. (ask any London fan about the search for a regular PUB venue to watch SL).
Rugby Union fans don't fear any other sport...they are to ignorant and arrogant to be wary of another code. Why would they? They have no problem filling Twickenham for internationals...even meaningless end of season games sell out pretty sharpish. Their Governing body, whilst sluggish at times, has overseen the transformation from shamateur to Professional and is reaping the rewards of the 2003 RWC win and the exposure it gave them. The BBC claims a 4.5 million AVERAGE in viewers over the 15 x 6 Nations games, the B&I lions got a soccer size SKY audience recently in the Morning.

...oh, hang on a minute.......am I supposed to be one of these worried "union fans"

I watch international Union...specifically when Ireland are playing. Other than that, the only time I see union is when I am in a pub over here....given it's their national game, it's hard to avoid. You, along with a few other very insecure defenders of the RL faith mistakenly brand me a Union fan because I dare to criticise Rugby League and it's off field mismanagement. I have never criticised the game itself......only its administration. A balanced argument would involve debating the topic...you and a few like you would rather brand me a troll and embarrassingly change the subject.

I say that the level of "foreign" involvement in international RL teams is not conducive to the growth of the game. If it requires rule changes, then so be it.

I started this thread to talk positively about how closely matched the teams in the world cup were, Gutterfax if you want to start your own eligibility thread go right ahead.

I assume there is the same criticisms of the Brazilian football team where the best players play in Europe? Or most African nations where the vast majority play in Europe. Or the French 1998 FIFA World Cup winning squad which had players from Guadalupe, Ghana, New Caledonia and Senegal, and players of Portugese, Algerian, and Martinque heritage, where 12 of the 22 man squad played in countries other than France.

Or there 2002 squad which contained 2 players from Guadaloupe, 2 from Ghana, 1 from Zaire, and only 5 from French clubs. In fact, French clubs were less well represented in that 2002 squad that Arsenal and Chelsea. There were more French players playing in England than France.

The fact is, people move, the world is getting smaller, and when you have 14 teams in a WC, 4 of them are the home nations, and 8 of them are Australia/New Zealand and island nations, you are going to get a hell of a lot of crossover for historical and cultural reasons. It SHOULD be something we celebrate, the RLWC is supposed to be a celebration of the game and its impact.

Absolutely spot on! And I for one can't wait for it!

CBA reading all the posts, so im just going to wade in.

It should matter not one jot who comes from where and who plays for who, if this RLWC is a shambles it may never get held in this country again and we would miss out on seeing some of the superstars of the NRL on these shores.

Many of the players who are going to represent the island nations are doing so as the respective teams from Aus and NZ are so strong and so fixed with their personnel they wouldn't get a look in so why shouldn't they be able to represent the nation of the Grandparents if it allows them to experience the World Cup, gives us more teams or we would just have several, and it allows the fans to see the BEST players on the planet of the greatest game in the world.

I would care if a foreign born player with no english heritage was taking the position of a english player for instance, but if i came from Samoa and we had several players for instance, i would welcome those who where born over seas but have descendants born in my country to play for my home nation.

Well said.

Back on topic, I eventually went for Samoa, though it's seriously close. Group B is going to be so exciting!

That's a great point. And the Island nations almost hero worship players in the NRL who have Island heritage. For instance, Sonny Bill Williams is adored in Somoa, despite never having represented Somoa in an international game of either Rugby League or Rugby Union - but he does have Samoan heritage, and in Samoa, that's all that matters. If SBW decided to represent Somoa instead of New Zealand, do you think the Samoans wouldn't want him? Of course not, they'd welcome him with open arms, they aren't bothered that he's previously represented New Zealand - they're proud of how far 'one of their own' has made it.

The culture of many of these Island nations is that regardless of where you now live, if you've got family ties/hertiage to that nation, then you are one of them.... The fact that you or your family before you have moved to another country for a better life is seen as a good thing, and something that should be celebrated.

Quote: gutterfax "you and a few like you would rather brand me a troll and embarrassingly change the subject.'" I haven't 'branded' you as anything, the fact that you felt the need to write a three paragraph rant about how you're not a troll is pretty damning though. Quote: gutterfax "I say that the level of "foreign" involvement in international RL teams is not conducive to the growth of the game. If it requires rule changes, then so be it.'" If you want to see 'growth of the game', then go here: www.rlef.eu.com No 'foreign involvement' in sight. This is the World Cup, the pinnacle of the sport, it features the best players in the world and we play by the same rules as all other major international sports. This isn't about 'developing minor nations', it's a high-profile showcase and celebration of the sport designed to generate revenue and maximize interest. I'm guessing you aren't aware of the number of new nations that took up RL after the last World Cup nor the new nations scrambling to have domestic structures in place so that they can meet the criteria to enter the qualification tournament next time, but you seem to be missing the point of the whole thing. The fact that you feel the need to question why a World Cup should take place and repeatedly state what everyone else is aware of, that there are only two full-time leagues in the world, is what's embarrassing. The fact that you felt the need to derail a thread with negative propaganda is what's embarrassing, if you don't like the World Cup and don't think it should be played then don't watch it and don't make any further comment.

Quote: gutterfax "you and a few like you would rather brand me a troll and embarrassingly change the subject.'" I haven't 'branded' you as anything, the fact that you felt the need to write a three paragraph rant about how you're not a troll is pretty damning though. Quote: gutterfax "I say that the level of "foreign" involvement in international RL teams is not conducive to the growth of the game. If it requires rule changes, then so be it.'" If you want to see 'growth of the game', then go here: www.rlef.eu.com No 'foreign involvement' in sight. This is the World Cup, the pinnacle of the sport, it features the best players in the world and we play by the same rules as all other major international sports. This isn't about 'developing minor nations', it's a high-profile showcase and celebration of the sport designed to generate revenue and maximize interest. I'm guessing you aren't aware of the number of new nations that took up RL after the last World Cup nor the new nations scrambling to have domestic structures in place so that they can meet the criteria to enter the qualification tournament next time, but you seem to be missing the point of the whole thing. The fact that you feel the need to question why a World Cup should take place and repeatedly state what everyone else is aware of, that there are only two full-time leagues in the world, is what's embarrassing. The fact that you felt the need to derail a thread with negative propaganda is what's embarrassing, if you don't like the World Cup and don't think it should be played then don't watch it and don't make any further comment.

I never said I didn't like the world cup......but this thread, which makes the assumption that 3 of the last 4 are bolted on, does point to a massive problem for the game in general.
More so when you consider that whilst England and New Zealand will meet to decide who gets to play Australia in the final, the Aussies will be hammering said 4th team in the other semi-final....the same way it was in 2008 when Fiji were dotted to 52.

I've picked Fiji to be the 4th team this year based on the number and Quality of their Australians......but Samoa, Tonga, Italy etc will all be in the mix...the group games featuring these teams will be well worth watching, but will do little for the promotion of the game in their countries.

I will be subscribing to Premier TV if there is no announcement on Kiwi TV rights soon...I will watch every game and I am really looking forward to it.

Great, then I'm not sure why you felt the need to repeatedly post something that we all already know, that the sport is only played professionally in five countries. It is played in a hell of a lot more, all the nations involved in the WC have a strong domestic base, we have legit 14 nations capable of putting on a great spectacle under internationally accepted rules so I'm not sure what your issue is. Things certainly aren't going to improve by not hosting a World Cup because of some bizarre arbitrary selection criteria that you have made up.

But then what would he have to be critical of RL about? He claims not to be a union troll but try and find one post in any of the threads where he is complimentary of any aspect of RL.

16000 anti RL posts?
You're 2 cans short of a 6 pack buddy.......just because I don't agree with way the game is run doesn't make me a troll. Reasoned debate is one of the aspects of Internet forums........all you bring is blind dvotion and name calling

Why is it a massive problem in RL in general? But not a problem in any other sport?

Look at the yawnion WC, some absolute pastings in it from memory (I cant be bothered looking)

But look at our fixtures, seriously look at them, there are only 4, maybe 5 games in all of the group games where you can be pretty sure of the winner.

I'm glad you said you're actually looking forward to it though. Think a lot of RL fans are starting to get giddy over here too, I can't bloody wait.