BristolDevonCharlie

From his latest newsletter yesterday it seems Steve Mascord disagrees with the sentiments above: "FULLY expect the NRL to be the host of the 2026 World Cup, with most matches to be played in Australia. The International Rugby League meeting in Singapore concluded last Thursday and nothing at all has yet been announced from it. Given that the NRL holds the whip hand on everything, this could be because the timing of announcing decisions straight away simply does not suit them. But the ARLC’s World Cup bid is he only one anyone seems to be taking seriously. It was interesting to hear from colleague Phil Caplan that the whole issue is complicated by Samoa owing the World Cup organising committee - which is now legally the RFL - money and the the RFL owing the IRL money. It (England) had, as things sat before the IRL meeting, not paid (the IRL) its full licence fee for hosting the event. Now the NRL is being relied upon to sweep in and pay for this mess. Phil also said there may be only two Tests against Samoa with England having to find another opponent for the autumn."

Hints are that IRL will announce the RLWC 2026 location this week. The thinking seems to be that at their IRL board meeting last week they decided (unsurprisingly) that it'll be in NZ. https://twitter.com/NoHelmetsReq/status/1782326102603468851 https://twitter.com/HeCanPlayFor/status/1782473728992960885 Will be interesting to see the level of Pacific island nation involvement in hosting.

Maybe on here but not in the wider world. This is fully open season for RFL bashing for most. It is a shame as it all taints the fact that we have an international in the calendar and if (and that is a big if) France are at full strength at home, it should at least be competitive like in 2021.

A full strength squad of French Super League players could look like this (assuming Catalans don't do what they did last year, and no injuries). Possibly missed someone. (In brackets - how many SL & CC games played this season, out of 9; team if not Catalans) Mourgue (7 of 9) Miloudi (7; London) Romano (7) Laguerre (5) Yaha (3) Rouge (5) Fages (8) Navarrete (9) Da Costa (6) Bousquet (8) Goudemand (7; Leeds) Seguier (8) Garcia (8) Tison (1; now on loan at London) Sangare (7; Leeds) Maria (2) Dezaria (7) T. Chan (2; Wigan) Salabio (5; Huddersfield) (Additional players from Elite 1 could include Benjamin Jullien, Bastien Scimone, Tanguy Zenon, Morgan Escare, etc) Interesting to see how many of the above make the squad!?!

Why would Kear need a Visa mate!?!

Pretty sure they don't have quota space. Seems the only Super League sides with spots left on overseas quota are Warrington & London. Warrington don't really need him, so unless a side gets rid of a player for him , surely London are the front running. Especially given that they are, reportedly, £700k under the salary cap currently.

You've only made that joke 185 times before!!

And until after the RLWC 2021 I would have said that was true, but a few things have changed. Firstly, the NRL's PVL and Abdo are on the IRL board now, and so have been leading the new direction they are taking. Two, they have convinced the Aussie government to fund the Pacific Championships (https://www.pm.gov.au/media/pacific-rugby-league-championships) and so is cost neutral from their perspective. Plus, with new calendar, they have setup the IRL with an annual revenue generation exercise (WC's in 2026, 2028, 2029 & 2030, and World Series in 2025, 2027 & 2029) and can now sell broadcast rights and sponsorship (they have taken these functions back in house for these tournaments) for these which will start to make them a self-sustaining organisation. Of course, like everything in RL through a British lense, we are sceptical. But now the NRL have realised International Footy helps them, I think we will see more consistency.

Does that matter? If the Australian government are funding the Pacific tests, then it gives things a chance to grow. Even if they play most Tests in the Pacific, PNG and NZ for the next few years.

NRL now appreciate international footy, so I am sure it will. It is also the Aussie government's vehicle of influence in the Pacific.

Reduced 2026 and 2030 men's to five weeks, 18 games, 10 teams to make it cheaper and more manageable. Basically, done in just over a month. Shame, but means it is more likely to happen as it is far more affordable for nations (without Northern Powerhouse money etc).

Apparently, according to Brad Walter, WC26 to be discuss at IRL meeting in Singapore next week.

It will. NRL want it to, so it will.

Ahh maybe April then. Around this time though right? 31st March was the deadline for Full Member submissions, so makes sense.

And last I saw, qualifiers and other 2024 internationals were due to be announced after the IRL's end of March board meeting (which I think was/is in Singapore). I assume no news yet then? (Pleasingly nothing came out on 1st April!)