With the regrettable news that the 2021 World Cup is to be postponed until 2022 because of the ARLC and NRL's entirely undesirable attitude to international rugby league, many may feel the matter is at an end for 2021. That is unlikely to be the case.
If the World Cup organisers hope to have any chance of having a successful tournament next year, they should require the ARLC, NZRL and NRL to sign participation agreements now - not at the end of next year.
Some may say: “What use is that?” given the NZRL signed a participation agreement for the tournament this year, and still withdrew from the tournament, in conjunction with Australia, at the eleventh hour.
The importance of signing such a commitment document now is because both Australia and New Zealand’s stocks are at such a low ebb internationally as a result of the lack of commitment to the World Cup this year.
The alleged player welfare and safety concerns proffered by the ARLC and NRL have been treated with amazed disbelief in the northern hemisphere as they have watched the powers that be in the southern hemisphere actively undermine the World Cup.
The Australian Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) comments about the paucity of the safety argument and the lack of player consultation were widely quoted outside Australia and New Zealand. The NZRL’s meek acquiescence of their Australian big brother’s position was seen as unsurprising, but regrettable from an independent rugby league country of well over 100 years’ standing.
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The overwhelming majority of Australian media (90% of which is controlled by the NRL’s media partners) seem to have accepted the withdrawals from the World Cup without critical examination, which has been quite shocking to behold.
News Corporation and Nine/Fairfax have failed to adequately cover the Australian and New Zealand withdrawal since it was announced on 22 July 2021. The NRL viewpoint has been consistently pushed in these sections of the media almost without rebuttal or, it appears, even cursory analysis.
Members of the independent rugby league press have looked on with horror at some of the misinformation that has been actively distributed. Some advocates for the offical NRL position seem to have just woken up as if they have only learned about international rugby league in the last year.
They seem surprised that an organising body exists to promote rugby league worldwide, which is not (at least) constitutionally under the thumb of the NRL. Other NRL “analysts” seemed surprised when they found out that about half the form players in the NRL at present were due to play for countries other than Australia at the next World Cup. This is all very disquieting when viewed objectively.
In short, Australia and New Zealand owe the rest of the international rugby league community a show of good faith now.
It would not be a surprise for Australia and New Zealand to now schedule international matches in place of the World Cup this year, which will enable them to directly pocket the financial proceedings. (The lack of direct financial control seems to have clearly been a sticking point for the ARLC and NRL in relation to the World Cup.)
One show of good faith would be for any revenue derived from any such substitute international games to be partly shared with the IRL and redirected to the organisation of the World Cup.
Another would be for Australia and New Zealand to actually rest their players in line with their declared desires and not organise any such substitute tournament in the southern hemisphere after this NRL season.
There is a further way in which the NRL needs to show the international rugby league community some integrity and good faith. The NRL season is going to need to be tailored to fit around the World Cup in 2022 in all future NRL planning from this point forward. It will be clear from the announcement of the NRL draw how much significance is placed on the World Cup to now be played in 2022.
If the NRL season draw does not allow the World Cup to be played prior to the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar (commencing 21 November 2022), it will be a strong indicator of the disrespect the NRL appears to hold for rugby league’s own World Cup and the international rugby league community at large.
The postponement of the World Cup makes it imperative that the 2022 NRL season is now structured in such a way that the World Cup can be played in clear air between the end of the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the start of the FIFA World Cup.
The postponement of the tournament this year has risked many things - not the least of which were the amazing media opportunities the 2021 World Cup was to have been afforded in England (all 81 games of the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Rugby League World Cups were to have been on free-to-air BBC television) and the clear air the World Cup would have been played in during October/November of this year.
Accordingly, publication of the NRL draw has even greater significance for the world game than is usual in 2022.
It would be foolish to wait until this time next year to thrash out some of these issues. The NRL needs to show some good faith now, or their statement they are “confident” their players will attend the World Cup in 2022 will be seen as nothing more than a hollow claim from a disinterested party.
