Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:25 pm  

Seems like there isn't much love for the new format here?

Is that sour grapes or people just think it's a marketing gimmick?

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:25 pm  

Playing South sydney to be champions of the world at a packed out Headingley would be absolutely brilliant. Playing an Australian team in a mid season friendly would be absolutely pointless. Wigan and Warrington are playing meaningless friendlies that will hardly boost the coffers due to the Aussie clubs financial demands. I'll watch all the games hoping to see them knock pony out of one another.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:29 pm  

I see why people don't like it but personally I think we need to get behind as I see it as a first step toward an extended competition.

If we don't get behind this it'll just give the Aussies the excuse to ignore it as much as possible.

It would be brilliant if we could win all 3 games in front of packed houses. Give the Aussies nowhere to hide. If you're really as far ahead of us as you say you are then prove it.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:13 pm  

Fallon wrote:

Seems like there isn't much love for the new format here?

Is that sour grapes or people just think it's a marketing gimmick?

I mean we just came from a period where people complained about playing "meaningless" games throughout the year and now we've just introduced some meaningless games to the WCC.

Reality is, it won't tell us or show us that an extended WCC is possible because that would require freeing up more space in the calendar which logistically isn't possible apart from a straight forward 4 team event (2SL, 2 NRL) with the winners of the two semis playing the very next weekend.......and the attendance figure if staged over here if the 2 NRL teams reach the final with only a week to sell tickets?

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 9:18 pm  

Him wrote:

I see why people don't like it but personally I think we need to get behind as I see it as a first step toward an extended competition.

If we don't get behind this it'll just give the Aussies the excuse to ignore it as much as possible.

It would be brilliant if we could win all 3 games in front of packed houses. Give the Aussies nowhere to hide. If you're really as far ahead of us as you say you are then prove it.

I'm struggling to see it as an extended competition. For the simple reason that the two additional games are not a competition. They're just friendlies, and I still don't get it.

As Gotcha alludes to, I would have rather be in the games as it would mean we'd done better last season, and there's a slight sense that there's a party that we're not invited to. But to me the only one that matters is Saints v Souths. That is for the right to call yourself World Champions (whether that is the same as being the best in the world, or whether the Aussies take it seriously - which is their problem not mine). I have no interest in the other two games.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 9:45 pm  

El Diablo wrote:

I'm struggling to see it as an extended competition. For the simple reason that the two additional games are not a competition. They're just friendlies, and I still don't get it.

As Gotcha alludes to, I would have rather be in the games as it would mean we'd done better last season, and there's a slight sense that there's a party that we're not invited to. But to me the only one that matters is Saints v Souths. That is for the right to call yourself World Champions (whether that is the same as being the best in the world, or whether the Aussies take it seriously - which is their problem not mine). I have no interest in the other two games.

I kind of agree, im really disappointed we can't get a proper extended WCC going. We are going to fanny about for another few years, see RU commit to it and make a go of it, and then wonder why we are behind the 8 ball again. Top 4 in a proper month long comp after the GF's could be huge for the game.

So these additional games are a bit of glorified friendly, and not really what we need so they don't hold a lot of excitement to me as part of the comp.

But saying all that I don't think Id ever not be interested in games like Wigan v Brisbane. I just wish we were making it what it could be, not settling for what it is.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:19 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

I kind of agree, im really disappointed we can't get a proper extended WCC going. We are going to fanny about for another few years, see RU commit to it and make a go of it, and then wonder why we are behind the 8 ball again. Top 4 in a proper month long comp after the GF's could be huge for the game.

Yes but RU don't have England's best teams go face Australia/NZ's best team with only a few weeks notice of who'll be playing.

That's the problem. Look at football, they have Europe's best play in the Champions League. That's fine to jump on a plane for an hour or two and only arrive the day before and be back in time for a weekend fixture......but we're taking about the other side of the world, you can't just role up at the drop of a hat.

Even with plenty of months notice, WCC tickets only usually sell out (or close to) just before the match.....what crowds will you get on a couple of weeks notice? And say it's in England.....what if all English teams go out the first week? How well will an all NRL match sell on just 7 days notice and where do they play it?

Anything taking up around a month requires reducing league fixtures. Doesn't help those who aren't involved financially getting less games to host.....and again if the English clubs go out first week then doesn't do too much for them.

If the top two leagues in the world were in England and in France then yes, it'd be great and logistically simple to do......but the distance and the one game a week nature of our sport means it's just not realistically do-able. I've not even mentioned the pie-in-the-sky idea that the NRL would be happy to go along with a competition that would take up that amount of time.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:36 pm  

I'm all for an extended series if there is something on the line for all involved. As others have said, just don't see what the other 2 games are really going to achieve apart from us opening ourselves up for more ridicule from down under if Brisbane and St George win the games after there lower than halfway NRL finish last year and them clearly seeing the games as 'get away' warmups. For the record i expect both Wigan and Wire to win with a bit to spare, as they should.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:47 pm  

El Diablo wrote:

I'm struggling to see it as an extended competition.

I agree at the moment it's not, I think it's Hetherington's way of trying to persuade the Aussies into thinking about the WCC more and so eventually become an extended competition.

Sadly, the underfunding of the RFL and the lack of a proper international governing body means things like this are never done like they should be.

Re: Anyone else gutted : Wed Feb 18, 2015 11:19 pm  

ThePrinter wrote:

Yes but RU don't have England's best teams go face Australia/NZ's best team with only a few weeks notice of who'll be playing.

That's the problem. Look at football, they have Europe's best play in the Champions League. That's fine to jump on a plane for an hour or two and only arrive the day before and be back in time for a weekend fixture......but we're taking about the other side of the world, you can't just role up at the drop of a hat.

Even with plenty of months notice, WCC tickets only usually sell out (or close to) just before the match.....what crowds will you get on a couple of weeks notice? And say it's in England.....what if all English teams go out the first week? How well will an all NRL match sell on just 7 days notice and where do they play it?

Anything taking up around a month requires reducing league fixtures. Doesn't help those who aren't involved financially getting less games to host.....and again if the English clubs go out first week then doesn't do too much for them.

If the top two leagues in the world were in England and in France then yes, it'd be great and logistically simple to do......but the distance and the one game a week nature of our sport means it's just not realistically do-able. I've not even mentioned the pie-in-the-sky idea that the NRL would be happy to go along with a competition that would take up that amount of time.

RU will. They have already dipped their toes. Its the next logical step.

I think the world is smaller than that now. It doesn't take weeks to get to Sydney (or vice versa) and you wont only have 7 days notice. You would have at least 2 weeks (as the top 4 for both comps would be known, if not their order), but that doesn't stop us booking stadiums and selling tickets waaaaay before that. We do it for the GF and CC.

As for the length of time, well it wouldn't require any games to be dropped. If we played it after the GF but before the internationals we would be playing at a tie when the best players were keeping fit but not playing games. There is usually 3 weeks between the GF and the first international, we would only need to extend that by 2 weeks to fit in an 8 team comp with final, and if we played it in the country where the internationals were held ( a nice little build up for them) then we would be using players who would largely be in that country anyway, in a natural space in the season, as an end of season comp.