rlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/21520756rl

sinfield talks it up in this thread says he thinks 3 teams from each country could be a good idea.

got me thinking that this could in some way make some sense of our system at the minute - eg our 3 teams to take part could be the grand final winners and the next 2 highest placed teams from the regular league season. thereby gives teams incentive for the weekly rounds knowing that even if they dont make the gf they can still have the excitment of a shot at the wcc.

what do people think?

Whilst it looks like a good idea on paper I think there are issues around it which would need to be addressed.

Would it be a round robin or a straight knock out type competition and where would it fit into the current schedule,when to play the games ? It is currently the Aussie pre-season so I would not be surprised if they were keen to have three teams play the games at this time of year. A one-off game is much more easily accommodated as at present.

There is also the cost implications for the travel, prize money etc - without a sponsor willing to fund it I doubt clubs would be willing to pay all the costs themselves.

Sadly I suspect it will not get beyond a dream - I do like the idea especially as it could give some more incentive to the top three teams - or perhaps it could feature the two grand final teams and the CC winner? Either way I do not expect to see it anytime soon

RL Chatback talked of a three game "test series". Just three games over a weekend.

you miss the point, the GF winners would be the only ones to play to become World Club Champions, the other 2 teams from NRL and SL would be basically playing a friendly for a bit of cash...end of......

I read Lenagan going on about 1st vs 1st, 2nd vs 2nd and 3rd vs 3rd which is a concept I just don't understand. Pie Warrior is correct that we'd then basically just have 1 WCC game and 2 friendlies and I don't see why we would even bother trying to get that format off the ground.

It surely has to be a comp based around 6 teams like the play offs used to be or nothing at all. The turnaround between games would probably have to be 3 or 4 days but that part of the challenge.

If that was to be the format then I would say don't bother as it wouldn't be a proper expansion of the WCC. It would just be the same as the daft tournament that some Championship teams were involved in last year with french teams (which IIRC Batley declined to bother with).

If the WCC was ever to include 6 teams then either 1) a knockout (with the SL and NRL GF winners getting a first round bye) or 2) a competition split into two pools where the two pool winners go to the final would have to be the formats. Like the playoffs every qualifying team has to have a chance of lifting the trophy at the end otherwise there is no point.

Do they mean like what we had a few years back when the shortlived Hunter Mariners played over here ?

in theory its a good idea but wasnt it tried and tested in the late 90's..?

id love to go to Australia watching Wigan

one of my best memories, going to Brisbane with Skerret and Platt missing and beating the broncos on their own turf.

how popular would the grand fina seriesl be if the teams in first and 2nd played in the final and those 3rd to 8th played each other for nothing......it would be 1 well attended match and 3 that 1 man and his dog would be at.....

I'm willing for you to shoot me down, your tone thus far suggests you might, but i for one would be more than keen to watch Wigan play any antipodean team from their top 3.

I would love to watch Wigan play an Antipodean team in a match that meant something and that both teams were busting a gut to win.....

Some of the friendlies that I watched this early year were exactly that, a run out with sod all at stake

I suspect there would be buggerall friendly about it..

It should be restricted to two teams from each league. The GF winners and the LLS winners (minor premiers in Oz). If they are one and the same then the team finishing 2nd in the league.

The format should be 1 v 2 from each league (GB GF winners v Oz Minor prems and Oz GF winners v GB LLS) and winners into the WCC final.

If this or other genuine knock out formats are out of favour because they only want teams to play one game then expanding the "WCC" would be completely pointless as others have said.

As some have decided that any view other than theirs is ridiculous i will finish on these points

A 4 team knockout has the danger of resulting in a AusvAus final. If you use more teams in either a round robin or knockout comp, the time needed would just make our seasons too long with our leagues in their current format. Much as i would love to watch either of these scenarios, time and money will make them a no-go.

Imo