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Bully's Special Prize: Rugby League 2017

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    The only damage limitation here is if Australia ease off in the second half to save themselves for the semi final, but even then they can just wait for mistakes and pick off chances, Samoa are going to be knackered.

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      If you're watching games delayed LOOK AWAY NOW ...

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        edit - removed 'cos I can't find the spoilers tag and my comment wasn't valuable enough to be worth undermining one person's watching pleasure.
        Last edited by Janik; 18-11-2017, 08:33.

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          Omg

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            Anyone who hasn't seen the Tonga-NZ game, check it out. Not least for the crowd, which looked like the entire Tongan population of NZ.
            Good tip, thanks. Just seen some of the highlights on Youtube, and it's great.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8pNwEeqGm8

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              by the way, did anyone see that NZ=Fiji quarter-final? I didn't know scorelines like that ever happened in rugby league.

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                Originally posted by Evariste Euler Gauss View Post
                by the way, did anyone see that NZ=Fiji quarter-final? I didn't know scorelines like that ever happened in rugby league.
                That three run homer by Fiji really killed NZ.

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                  It was more the third goal that did it. NZ had pulled one back and were threatening and then BAM 3-1. Their belief evaporated at that point.

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                    England to play New Zealand in a three game series at home in 2018, details to be announced tomorrow.

                    Suspect this was lined up to be announced after our latest semi final heartbreak, and billed as a revenge rematch, but Tonga and Fiji complicated matters somewhat.

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                      In the Women's Rugby League World Cup, Cook Islands have beaten England 22-16. It took a last-minute try from The Moanas to break the deadlock, who had raced into a 16-0 lead at half time before England pulled level.

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                        Originally posted by Me Old Flower View Post
                        In the Women's Rugby League World Cup, Cook Islands have beaten England 22-16. It took a last-minute try from The Moanas to break the deadlock, who had raced into a 16-0 lead at half time before England pulled level.
                        England still progress on points difference, which is a shame for the Cook Islands.

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                          Originally posted by Walt Flanagans Dog View Post
                          England to play New Zealand in a three game series at home in 2018, details to be announced tomorrow.

                          Suspect this was lined up to be announced after our latest semi final heartbreak, and billed as a revenge rematch, but Tonga and Fiji complicated matters somewhat.
                          As long as I've been aware of it, RL has gone through cycles of ambition and inhibition, and now we're back on the latter. Test venues are Hull, Elland Road and Anfield, FFS. At least if they don't get a sponsor they can call it the M62 Trophy.

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                            This is really very meh. It'll only be three years since the last time we had a Baskerville Shield series at home, with the 4N and WC in between, and one of those was in the Olympic Stadium!

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                              Originally posted by Kevin S View Post
                              This is really very meh. It'll only be three years since the last time we had a Baskerville Shield series at home, with the 4N and WC in between, and one of those was in the Olympic Stadium!
                              Hull is a repeat venue from that 2015 series too, and to be fair it sold well, but not having a London game next year is a retreat. There was much excitement on the forums yesterday that Spurs' new stadium would host a game.

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                                Was it 2015 when they had a game at the Olympic Stadium and it got a pretty good crowd? RL's inability to stick to a plan regarding London is strange.

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                                  Originally posted by Flynnie View Post
                                  Was it 2015 when they had a game at the Olympic Stadium and it got a pretty good crowd? RL's inability to stick to a plan regarding London is strange.
                                  They got 44,000 for this fixture in 2015, and 35,000 against Australia in 2016. There was some fairly keen pricing and marketing going on for both games, but they still got crowds.

                                  This is RL in a nutshell, chronic attention span. They have a decent regular audience in London - reportedly 10-20,000 of the tickets for Challenge Cup finals are sold in the South East, and I was at both of those Olympic Stadium games (and the World Cup double header at Wembley in 2013), and anecdotally would say I heard as many Southern accents as Northern, so these games certainly aren't catering solely to Northerners having a day out in London.

                                  There was also a big thing made of how many tickets were sold in London for that World Cup event, and how the RFL would be using this to build a regular audience for RL events in London, so pulling the plug after a couple of attempts is weak.

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                                    I've just realised that in the Women's tournament, England played a different schedule to the Cook Islands, and their better points difference is due to playing PNG rather than NZ. That is quite startlingly unfair. I understand why the format might be as it is, but if you do that then head to head surely has to be the first tiebreaker.

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                                      This is Rugby League. Have a look at the men's version. It makes no bloody sense at all.

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                                        No, I think the men's version makes a lot of sense. It's easy for football where there aren't likely to have many mismatches to have a simple system, but nearly every other sport has to be creative to ensure plenty of meaningful matches.

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                                          It'll be 16 for men for the first time when they come to England in four years' time. The eight quarter finalists from this World Cup qualify automatically (though England were already there as hosts) with the allocation of confederation places like this:

                                          • 7 from Europe (So far, only England have done this)
                                          • 6 from Asia Pacific (This has already been settled - Aus, NZ, PNG, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa)
                                          • 2 from the Americas (none yet)
                                          • 1 from a play-off series hosted in Middle East/Africa

                                          Then the one of the three caveats that is now relevant:
                                          • Should 6 teams pre-qualify via the Quarter-Finals from Asia Pacific, and Lebanon also pre-qualify via the Quarter Finals in 2017, a play-off will be held hosted by Middle East/Africa between:
                                          - the highest placed team in Middle/East Africa excluding Lebanon (South Africa I should think)
                                          - the 3rd placed team in the Americas (likely to be one of US, Canada and Jamaica though interest in Latin America is growing)
                                          - the 7th placed team in Asia-Pacific (Which will probably be Cook Islands)

                                          I think this also means Europe loses a place.

                                          As the RLIF said, this format provides every nation with a qualification opportunity whilst rewarding the eight successful teams who reach the Quarter-Finals of the 2017 World Cup.

                                          So I should imagine that there will be two of these quarter finalists in each group next time, but we'll have to wait and see. The cross-group games, as you say, actually work quite well in giving balanced matches.
                                          Last edited by Kevin S; 23-11-2017, 10:05.

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                                            Incidentally if a Latin American team is to challenge Canada or Jamaica for one of the places, Chile looks to be the best bet.

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                                              Originally posted by Kevin S View Post
                                              The cross-group games, as you say, actually work quite well in giving balanced matches.
                                              They do work well, and are there for a reason - the problem is they make little sense to the casual fan, who shouldn't have to put the effort in to understand why, for example, Ireland won two games and got knocked out and Samoa drew one and got through. As you say it'll be clearer next time, once we get to the tournament itself.

                                              The previous Super League play off system used to annoy people too, cos it wasn't a straight knockout, though really most people I hear comment about the Super League play offs are football fans who don't see the point of play offs and think the only way to determine champions is by way of a league table.

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                                                Valentine Holmes goes one better than last week with six tries against Fiji.

                                                Those crowds for Australia's games in full:

                                                23,000 for England in Melbourne
                                                12,000 for France in Canberra
                                                21,000 for Lebanon in Sydney
                                                13,000 for Samoa in Darwin (albeit a sellout)
                                                22,000 for Fiji in Brisbane.

                                                Should do better.

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                                                  I've got up early to watch the semi final before I go to Parkrun. It's like Hoth out there, and Parkrun will probably be cancelled so I could have had another couple of hours in bed. Never mind, it's like the old days, getting up early to watch GB games. Like that one in Auckland, in 1988, hmm.

                                                  Anyway I'm not going to reveal any scores but just came on to say the pre match atmosphere and Tongan equivalent of the haka were proper goosebumps material.

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                                                    I propose a spoilers curfew of 18:00 GMT, after which it's fair game.

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