Rugby League World Cup

[mikey07]

@nepia Yeah was thinking that would definitely draw the crowds.

[Bovidae]

All those other Sydney, I mean international teams, like Lebanon will probably withdraw too.

[Machpants]

Google didn't help me but I am sure I read that something like 75% of all the players at the RLWC are NRL players. So, yeah, bit of a non event then!

EDIT: Do the NRL players have to be released like rugby? Certain window (which with quarantine could totally mean they couldn't make it anyway)?

[Bones]

@mikethesnow "too dangerous for the players"

Like fuck.

[sparky]

Odd decision given NZ cricketers have been to the UK and back with no ill effects.

[Bones]

@bovidae said in 2021 Rugby League World Cup:

All those other Sydney, I mean international teams, like Lebanon will probably withdraw too.

It's our year!

[Godder]

@sparky said in 2021 Rugby League World Cup:

Odd decision given NZ cricketers have been to the UK and back with no ill effects.

Part of it is having to maintain bubbles in the domestic season as well, just too hard on the players.

[sparky]

How about replacing the official Aus and Kiwi teams with squads of UK-based expats who have been double vaccinated? Time for some of us to get our boots out?

[Bones]

@sparky said in 2021 Rugby League World Cup:

How about replacing the official Aus and Kiwi teams with squads of UK-based expats who have been double vaccinated? Time for some of us to get our boots out?

Sorry, Lebanon has already called.

[sparky]

The reaction of Clare Balding, President of the RFL.

[Bones]

@sparky I'm guessing $$$£££

[MiketheSnow]

@bones said in 2021 Rugby League World Cup:

@sparky I'm guessing $$$£££

I’m guessing the administrators said ‘fucked if I’m looking after these mongrels in iso’

[sparky]

RFL chairman Simon Johnson is not happy:

Watch Live Sports TV - News & Live Sports Channels on Sky

[sparky]

More from RFL boss Simon Johnson.

[Machpants]

@sparky said in 2021 Rugby League World Cup:

More from RFL boss Simon Johnson.

Same sort of fuckwit that is ok with old fashioned League tackles. Going from bubble to quarantine to bubble to quarantine to pretty much straight back into bubble for pre season is shit.

[sparky]

A spokesperson for Boris Johnson has said that he is surprised and disappointed with the decision of the Australia and New Zealand associations to pull out of the Rugby League World Cup.

[sparky]

One compromise being suggested is the Australia and New Zealand could play their group games in Scotland and Wales where Covid rates are already lower.

[sparky]

According to this piece, 75% of the players want to go the RL World Cup and have no concerns about Covid.

Jul 22, 2021

Landslide survey results show huge player support for Rugby League World Cup

The findings have emerged after Australia and New Zealand withdrew from the event.

[sparky]

Statement from the UK Minister for Tourism, Sport and the Commonwealth Ganes

[sparky]

Aussie and NZ League authorities have been accused from the Speaker's Chair of the House of Commons of lacking bottle. Looks like the competition is going ahead even if certain teams have decided to stay at home.

Don't really like League but here's my five cents anyway. Given Covid cases are already going down in the UK more than three months before the League World Cup starts (after a rapid vaccine rollout) and the coaches and players were keen to go, this is a poor decision by the Aussie and NZ League authorities. It looks really arrogant and shows contempt to the competition organisers. I'm afraid Australia and New Zealand as countries will lose a lot of friends and respect in the Rugby League heartlands in the North of England if the players are made to stay at home.

And I'm calling "bullshit" on the argument given of player safety. Seriously? Even at the height of the pandemic, young fit people were at more risk of death by road accidents in the UK than from Covid. Given the players have been offered double vaccination ahead of the Rugby League World Cup, their risks of serious injury on the coach out of Heathrow would be much, much higher than that from Covid.