[uPool A[/u:

[iAustralia
England
Fiji
Ireland[/i


[uPool B[/u:

[iNew Zealand
France
Samoa
Scotland[/i


[uPool C[/u:

[iItaly
Tonga
USA
Wales[/i

[uPool D[/u:

[iPNG
Cook Islands
Canada
Lebanon[/i


Top 3 from Pools A and B, plus top one from each of pools C and D, progress to the quarter finals. This would be the same system as we have at present, except I would give PNG a better chance to qualify for the Quarter Finals by putting it into Pool D.

Having two teams from North America and one from the Middle East should make for a more lucrative TV contract if it is done properly this time (i.e TV contracts for USA, Canada, Italy, and Middle East).



For 2021 the RLIF should be working to have a tournament hosted by England and France, with 20 or 24 teams.

The additional teams to be considered for inclusion, after competitive qualifiers, then would be:

Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Serbia, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Latvia, South Africa, Malta, Greece, Jamaica, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia.

But the RLIF and RLEF would need to devote resources to developing the games in these countries starting in 2014.

It will certainly help France's stature and French public interest in the World Cup if Toulouse is part of Super League in 2015, with a third French club (probably Avignon) in 2018. Moreover plans should be made to prepare for an Italian Super League club, and perhaps one from another European country, by 2021 at the latest. This will help create more powerful and authentic European teams (not just heritage teams) and make the media and the public in Britain and Europe take the Rugby League World Cup more seriously.

DO you not have a life for god sake this world cup is not over yet your

Lebanon lol...

Yes Lebanon, do you not know? They drew 19-19 against Italy in the qualification stage for this WC.

Unbeaten in qualifying for the last two World Cups, yet managed to miss out on both tournaments.

Waw. They should be there this year, along with Canada or Jamaica.

If you have 4 groups of 4, then seeds

1-5-9-13 = Group A
2-6-10-14 = B
3-7-11-15 = C
4-8-12-16 = D

QF1. Winner A v Second D
QF2.Winner B v Second C
QF3.Winner C v Second B
QF4.Winner D v Second A

Winners QF1 v QF4
Winners GF2 v QF3

Current rankings would be....
Australia, Wales, Ireland, Italy
NZ, PNG, Tonga, Russia
England, Fiji, Scotland, Serbia
France, Samoa, USA, Canada.

Australia v USA
NZ v Fiji
England v Tonga
Samoa v Italy

Australia v Samoa
England v NZ

No need for a super group or lopsided qualifiers from groups.

BTW...fully aware the seedings/rankings will change before then, but just using them as they are now.

I think that system is pretty unfair.

I would seed into 4 categories and then draw them out. I don't think it's fair to just to just go off rankings. For example, why should top ranked team play a 'stronger' team in their group than the team ranked second?

Or maybe switch it around:

1 - 8 - 12 - 16
2 - 7 - 11 - 15
3 - 6 - 10 - 14
4 - 5 - 9 - 13

Actually I've seen what you have done with the QFs. Nevermind...

lol, yeh seeing Canada or Jamaica get belted 110-0 will be great for the RLWC! Check out the Italy squad that played Lebanon compared to the one playing in this RLWC, might explain why they were equal in 2011 and not comparable in 2013. www.rugbyleagueproject.org/match ... banon.html

lol, yeh seeing Canada or Jamaica get belted 110-0 will be great for the RLWC! Check out the Italy squad that played Lebanon compared to the one playing in this RLWC, might explain why they were equal in 2011 and not comparable in 2013. www.rugbyleagueproject.org/match ... banon.html

Lebanon probably has the strongest domestic scene outside Aus, NZ, UK, France and PNG.
They have a two comps - one of them a university based competition that has many players who went to school in the Rugby League heartlands of western Sydney. They have also spread into the high schools of Lebanon, and now, after over 10 years of development, have many, many domestic players who play at a high standard.
One of the odd happenings in recent years is that one of the clubs in America was started by Lebanese Uni students who moved from Lebanon to do post graduate studies in the US.
Lebanon is one of the few countries producing players from their domestic comp who could compete in the world cup, but they also have access to large numbers of players from league heartlands. Increasing numbers of Lebanese kids have taken up the game in Western Sydney over the last 10 or 15 years because of the success of players like Hasim el Masri and Robbie Farah. They have nearly as many 'heritage' players as Italy and many of the PI teams to call on if needed, but they have much stronger domestic players than all those countries.

I'd go as far as saying that if we were handing out world cup places on a merit based system where we took all factors into account, Lebanon would be picked well ahead of Italy, Samoa, Tonga and Cook Islands, and probably slightly ahead of USA.

BEST WORLD CUP WE'VE EVER HAD AND PEOPLE WANT TO CHANGE IT!! TYPICAL OF RL FANS! STICK TO WHAT WE'VE JUST DONE! 14 TEAMS AND SAME FORMAT!

Sorry about caps lock.