So the NRL clubs have now come out openly and said that they do not any of their players to participate in RLWC21. So that effectively rules out the Indigenous Nations and the Maoris and means that any player deciding to participate by representing say, Tonga or Samoa will do so against the will of their employer and without their employer’s support. I can’t see too many players wanting to run that risk. So I am now guessing that RLWC21 is a dead duck!

Yes it's game over now I think. Only question looks to be whether it's a postponement or cancellation.

Yes! Neither is a good option for us in the UK. Postponement to next year would mean competing with the football world cup for TV and other media time in the UK and would only benefit the Southern hemisphere nations as it would get top line media attention there. It’s no wonder the Australians want to push it back as they will probably win it anyway. I was a strong advocate of going ahead without the so called big two on the basis that we could get good representation for Samoa, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. But now I think the only sensible thing to do is to cancel.

Why would we be competing with the soccerball WC?. Theirs will be June/July, ours October/November.

It's played in Qatar this time round so will be start in mid November.

One thing I'd be saying to the NRL/ARL if I was the RLWC board - if you're so committed to the international game as you and the 'gospel' Phil Gould like to claim - play it in June/July 2022. No football world cup, PL season finished, football grounds available, easier for broadcasters.

That’s not a bad suggestion but there is no way the NRL (or the Superleague bosses) would allow that to happen in the middle of their season but, ironically, that is exactly what the richest soccer clubs are having to do next year in order to accommodate the soccer world cup.

The difference is, of course, that FIFA, is much bigger than any one league or nation whereas, in rugby league, the IRL plays second fiddle to the NRL.

Wendyball WC only starts the week of our final (were they to knock it back exactly a year)
There’s an easy solution...just bring it forward a week next year.
People will be pratting about with flags anyway, market it to ‘get them up early’
Sell it as back to back world cups....watch England in England etc.
If done correctly you’d get a huge amount of football and general sports fans interested piggybacking on football hysteria in the media!

We are talking about a FIFA World Cup, probably the biggest sporting event in the world and one taking place less than 18 months after England made it to the final of the Euros and will be considered one of the teams likely to win it. The build up in the press and media will likely begin as soon as the 2021/22 Premier League season ends and carry on through the first stages of the following football season. If we held our WC in 2022 we could win the thing and still struggle to make the back pages/main stories as nothing but the FIFA tournament will matter to the press and other media or to the public at large at that stage. It has to be this year for our WC or it won't happen at all.

Cant help but feel it won't go ahead this years notice on the bcc site the NRL clubs support the stance of postponement and even Dutton now seems to be wavering on it going ahead, i just hope the end comes quickly and it isn't dragged on its time for a yes or no.

It is absolutely what I would be doing. If this is about Covid as they like to claim and it obviously is (I’m taking the mick), I would say let’s play this thing in mid season in July, when we’ll be in our summer and the chances are that our Covid rates will be at their lowest and we can get this comp on with player safety right at the forefront of our minds. We don’t need to extend the seasons then and they can still get a good off season rest in at the end of 2022.

It’s a no brainer for the NRL top brass, well it is if we take them at face value regards their current concerns.

I wouldn't pay too much heed to that article as if it is them backing the ARLC. Obviously they agree with the decision as it was their idea to do it. With some of the stuff coming out of the NRL, ARLC and NZRL in the last few days if one of them told me I was on fire I'd seek a second opinion. The NRL are overtly pressuring players to do what the NRL want and turn down their nations if selected. I think Jon Dutton is preparing us for the possibility of the Aussie hierarchy's misinformation and implied threats to players outdoing the IRL's efforts to secure the players' participation in the RLWC.

This is nothing at all to do with Covid, it is the NRL attempting to throw their weight around and to gain control of international RL.

I wondered if I was missing something in this taking us closer to the edge but isn’t this the NRL clubs backing the decision the NRL clubs made last week? Basically the ARL and NZRL took their instruction from the NRL big wigs, let us stew for a week and as we threaten going over the top of them to invite Maori and Aboriginal teams in to the comp, they come back with a statement from all the clubs.

That July World Cup should solve it all anyway.

I just can't see anything happening, and that is a very depressing thought.

NRL games postponed this weekend, which will give them even more justification. They will probably try to extend their season to fit in the 3 (three) postponed games this weekend.

Reading that the England Cricket team are having serious thoughts about the Ashes over there. That would cause an absolute meltdown in their press

only due to the aussies not letting their families go with them like they always have done