the 12 automatics are



australia

england

NZ

france

wales

png

tonga

samoa

scotland

ireland

fiji

cook island



plus 2 qualifiers



= 14

This is how I see it being set out;



Pool A

Australia

England

Scotland

Fiji



Pool B

Wales

NZ

Ireland

Cook Islands



Pool C

France

Tonga

Qualifier (Southern Hemishpere)



Pool D

PNG

Samoa

Qualifier (Northern Hemishpere)



(P/O1) Winner Pool C vs Runner up Pool D, (P/O2) Winner Pool D vs Runner Pool C



(P/O3) Winner P/O1 vs Runner up Pool A, (P/O4) Winner P/O2 vs Runner up Pool B



Winner Pool A vs Winner P/O4, Winner Pool B vs Winner P/O3



Final

its not southern hemisphere & northern hemisphere as such



theres basically going to be a 'atlantic cup' with USA,Jamaica,south africa,hopefully canada,maybe japan with the winner becoming the 13th qualifier



and a euro cup with the likes of Lebanon,serbia,russia etc and the winner become the 14th qualifier..





basically it's set upto ensure the usa & lebanon qualify

i went to ten of the games in the 2008 world cup

a lot of the games were not sell outs and the seats in the expensive parts of the ground were available

the key is to go where the most fans are willing to go, established rugby league stadia!

look at the semi final involving australia vs the semi involving england, look at the samoa v tonga game



there are too many teams in the 2013 world cup, the qualification is based on who the rlif want to be there rather than the best teams

In much the same way the current European Cup is set up to get the French into the 2011 4 Nations then?

not really cos theres a chance that wales...or scotland and ireland could upset the french......none of the teams lebanon or USA have to face are gonna beat them

Granted it wasnt a full strength side and there is 3 years to go but Italy beat Lebannon t'other week along with Wales last week

Maybe, if there was a level playing field in terms of home advantage.

was'nt he average age of the welsh bench against italy 18 or 19?

And, that's including Alfie!

One thing I really hope they do properly next time is to have the qualification tournament on a level playing field, with the matches all played across two legs in each participating country



Last time the final qualifier has Lebanon and Samoa (I think it was Samoa) at Featherstone of all places. So it was watched by three men and a dog - and that was a match to determine a team that would be in the World Cup Finals!! That sort of thing holds us up to ridicule. Teams that can't stage a match in their own country shouldn't really be in the competition IMO

Yes, I very much agree. If the sport is to take off in these countries and if we're to get the best out of these teams they need the best competive international matches available to them played in their respective nations. But, I imagine its the cost implications that is the deciding factor. Its difficult to expect minnow nations to be able to afford the travel and accomodation costs, but I would say that the RLIF needs to foot the bills and play the matches in the right place.



I would imagine the Atlantic qualification will be played in Jacksonville, which is a bonus, and Jacksonville has proved that it can get the fans in. A certain star of Hollywood is also known to turn up there every now and then.



My suggestion for international development would be that we continue the 4N's in between the WC, but have that as the 'Cup' comp and have a 'Trophy' comp underneath, played at the same time. So, when it's held down under Oz, NZ, Eng and PNG play the 'Cup' while Ireland, Scots, France and, say, the Lebanon go as well to play Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands etc in the 'Trophy'. Eng would play warm games against Tonga/Samoa, Oz/NZ/PNG play France/Scots etc. The next season the 'Cup' and 'Trophy' are played in Europe, best performing European team in 'Trophy' plays in 'Cup', PNG play in 'Trophy' and have to perform best to be in 'Cup' when it returns down under.



This way the home nation can play in their country (Tonga-Scots might not pull the crowds, but the shortfall can be offset by and attention can be drawn from Tonga-England), matches are kept realistic and competitive and it could see players sticking with certain national teams, rather than swapping, because it means competitive matches, the glamour and excitement of travel, and a chance to take on the big guns on an annual basis.