Rugby League World Cup 2017 Thread

Mildly surprised this thread doesn’t exist, especially with the Aus team announced today:

Kangaroos squad: Darius Boyd, Will Chambers, Boyd Cordner (vc), Cooper Cronk, Josh Dugan, Andrew Fifita, Tyson Frizell, Dane Gagai, Matt Gillett, Wade Graham, Valentine Holmes, Ben Hunt, Felise Kaufusi, David Klemmer, Josh McGuire, James Maloney, Jordan McLean, Michael Morgan, Cameron Munster, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith (c), Jake Trbojevic, Tom Trbojevic, Aaron Woods.

Surprising shift of loyalty to a more form-based selection for Mal, the two most critiqued selections of the ANZAC test are out in Thaiday & Merrin, though Woods remains, Vaughan would feel hard done by there.

I see the angry cockroaches want Boyd out for Tedesco as if it makes the slightest bit of sense to drop the starting winger for a back-up fullback, if the team needed a back-up for Billy then Teddy fits the bill, but the simple fact is that in just filling out the rest of the positions, there are no less than 6 players who could fill the position in a pinch, no reason to pick a second specialist fullback when you could use that spot for depth elsewhere.

Thaiday, rightly imo, had a good blow up at the selectors on social media. Didn't even get a call to tell him he wasn't going to be picked.

Not that his form warranted inclusion, but show some respect. Smith and GI are the only current players who have played more games for the country then he has - tied on games with Wally ffs. He deserved a phone call.

I'm an angry Tigers cockroach supporter and don't rate Boyd, but I'd still give the guernsey to Slater before Teddy.

McLean is the biggest surprise for me, followed by Vaughn's omission.

Pieday's cry because he is that dim witted he cant see the considerable nose on his face was a highlight.

Thaiday can have Friz spot, we could have him in our shirt then! Wonder if Tesesco has any Welsh relatives....

On a serious note is Tedesco now available for Italy? He played against us years ago and tore us a new one before he made it big with the Tigers, Vaughan also played that game can remember it well and won a few bets betting against ourselves

i think Vaughn's form towards the back end of the year was pretty meh, i don't think you get your test debut based on form from 3-4 months ago. his omission wasn't a shock nor a surprise to me


slater's return to being without a doubt the #1 fullback killed teddy's chances, if its boyd, boyd is probs the number 1 fullback but its close enough to take another specialist but Slater has been incredible and Boyd slots in nicely as a winger/back up fullback


my top 17 from that squad

slater
Boyd
Chambers
Gagai
Holmes
Morgan
Cronk
Woods
Smith
Klemmer
Cordner
gillett
Mcguire

Jake T
Fifita
Friz
Munster


i know morgan has played the utility tole before and munster's game 3 in origin was pretty great but morgan went to another level at the back end of the year imo, clearly the best halve in the game the last 2 or so months, deserves the start

Lolo playing for Tonga rather than NZ apparently.

Picking Teddy in a 24 man squad would have made no sense. Slater is clearly No 1, and Boyd is better as well (IMO), and clearly above him in the pecking order given his past service. I reckon Meninga will pick his best team every match given the short tournament so Teddy wouldn't get picked if he played.

Thaiday definitely deserved a phone call, but to be honest, given his form and being dropped for QLD, I'm pretty sure no-one considered that he was even in contention in a pretty strong position, so I can understand why Mal forgot.

I'd agree with LG's team. I expect Dugan to be there but would prefer the outside backs LG picked. At rep level I actually don't mind Dugan in the centres. I think Woods is a pillow, but he's actually been pretty good post origin, and there is enough destruction in the rest of the forwards that it doesn't hurt to have a high volume, low impact prop. If that side stays fit and anywhere near reasonable form, I can't see anyone getting within 20 of them.

Loving the Lolo switch to tonga. I hope this leads to a lot more guys with Tongan/Samoan/Fijian heritage choosing to play for those countries over the big few. it is the only realistic way to grow the international sport

Wonder if Hayne will pull on the boots for Fiji again too.

I am assuming Ted plays in the Italian team now, they actually had a semi decent squad. I can handle him being left out of the Australian fullback rotation but fark me, put him in the centres instead of Dugan. Or put Boyd in the centres like in SOO and Ted on the wing. He is in the top handful of players in the league and deserves to be in the team in some capacity. He is most certainly a better player than Gagai, Dugan and holmes.

I like that he has picked a more form based team. Thaiday should have been dropped from the Aus team years ago anyway. I wonder if Gallen and Parker got phone calls before they didnt get selected too.

Teddy called the Italian coach as soon as he found out and asked when they get started, Vaughan is also In The squad and they look like they have an ok side.

I can handle Teds omission, but most glad that Fergo got the chop. Was surprised he got a call from Mal but Thaiday didn't, but Thaiday is being a little precious with the Insta rant. A call might have been nice from Mal.

Hunt is the only selection I find odd, wonder if he will continue to get the same treatment when he is no longer a Bronco.

Slater
Boyd
Chambers
Dugan
Gagai
Morgan
Cronk
Woods
Smith
Klemmer
Boyd
Gillett
JTrbojevic

Munster
Fifita
Frizell
Maclean/McGuire/Graham/Kaufusi (mix these guys up through to see who stands up)

The Italians will have a decent pack that consists of:
Vaughan
Alvaro
Nathan Brown
Old Mark Mini,

Throw in Teddy at the back and Campo in the halves and they might win a game or two.

Ice wrote:The Italians will have a decent pack that consists of:
Vaughan
Alvaro
Nathan Brown
Old Mark Mini,

Throw in Teddy at the back and Campo in the halves and they might win a game or two.

Reithmuller still knocking about?

Guerra and Aloiai will be there as well

Ice wrote:Teddy called the Italian coach as soon as he found out and asked when they get started, Vaughan is also In The squad and they look like they have an ok side.

I can handle Teds omission, but most glad that Fergo got the chop. Was surprised he got a call from Mal but Thaiday didn't, but Thaiday is being a little precious with the Insta rant. A call might have been nice from Mal.

Hunt is the only selection I find odd, wonder if he will continue to get the same treatment when he is no longer a Bronco.

Very happy fergy didnt get a gig and hopefully this is the end of his rep career.
Duges next to go, dont care how good he is. Cant stand him and there are people around who can do just as good a job if not better.
As I said I can handle Teds omission from the fullback rotation but far out he could easy do the job of a Dugan, Gagai or holmes in the centres or wing and fullback cover if needed.

Surely hunt us just pure hooker cover for smith? Wont get a start unless he gets hurt. Current hooker stocks in the NRL are pretty piss poor at the moment.

Pieman wrote:Loving the Lolo switch to tonga. I hope this leads to a lot more guys with Tongan/Samoan/Fijian heritage choosing to play for those countries over the big few. it is the only realistic way to grow the international sport

Huge controversy here in NZ after the Lolo news and apparently a 'secret pact' between up to 10 players who are all posted to jump shit from the NZ side to play for Tonga. Included in those, names I've heard are Ma'u, Fusitua, Lolohea, Kata, Vatuvei, and a few more I can't recall.

On the one hand its great a team like Tonga will be stronger, but the bigger picture is that this is a complete disaster.

NZ Rugby league are in complete disarray. Absolutely no leadership in the organisation and coach which clearly has zero respect from a large number of the players.

Lolo not blameless either. IMO there was a much better process for him to follow and the dishonesty from him is disappointing too. Way too easy to just say he wants to help a developing nation, he should have come clean with the actual reasoning for jumping ship.

Anyway, all in all its pretty disappointing IMO. Players used to give everything for the Kiwi jersey, now look where its at.... Complete disrespect for those that have worn the jersey which such pride.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Huge controversy here in NZ after the Lolo news and apparently a 'secret pact' between up to 10 players who are all posted to jump shit from the NZ side to play for Tonga. Included in those, names I've heard are Ma'u, Fusitua, Lolohea, Kata, Vatuvei, and a few more I can't recall.

On the one hand its great a team like Tonga will be stronger, but the bigger picture is that this is a complete disaster.

NZ Rugby league are in complete disarray. Absolutely no leadership in the organisation and coach which clearly has zero respect from a large number of the players.

Lolo not blameless either. IMO there was a much better process for him to follow and the dishonesty from him is disappointing too. Way too easy to just say he wants to help a developing nation, he should have come clean with the actual reasoning for jumping ship.

Anyway, all in all its pretty disappointing IMO. Players used to give everything for the Kiwi jersey, now look where its at.... Complete disrespect for those that have worn the jersey which such pride.

the drop off by NZ is crazy, they've gone from being beating australia to being long odds to make the final this year (i can't see how they beat the poms personally and some of the tier 2 nations could push them)


kidwell did seem lost in the mid year test but you couldn't think its all on him

i'm torn on the story myself, i absolutely love the idea of the minnows pushing NZ/England but i personally rather Australia have more competition and it might only be the poms who give us any resemblance of a scare his year

Fifita has apparently told Mal this morning he’s pulling out of the Aussie side to join Tonga as well

Edit: RCG is being reported as his replacement

surmo13 wrote:Fifita has apparently told Mal this morning he’s pulling out of the Aussie side to join Tonga as well

Edit: RCG is being reported as his replacement

Tonga gonna have a solid team! I think they are just about to name their squad!

Tongan team to name their team an hour or so before the Kiwis (1pm NZ time).

NZ are a mess at the moment. I wonder if they can benefit from say Reuben Wiki as national coach in a Mal Meninga man manager style rather than a true "coach" in the traditional sense. Bring in blokes like Stacey Jones, who does have coaching experience, and someone technical in the background (doesn't even have to be a kiwi).

I certainly don't want a world cup where 3 teams vie to be the top ranked semi finalist, so they can beat the team that comes 4th by 60 while the other two play each other in the other semi. Although the reasons behind it aren't ideal, it would be great if some better good comes of it. If all these guys commit to the 2nd tier nations long term, and they can have an international schedule that accomodates that (and pays the player appropriately), then there could be some good come out of it. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that when the next 4 Nations comes around, or the Mid Year test, a lot of those players playing for 2nd tier teams will be back playing for Australia or NZ.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Huge controversy here in NZ after the Lolo news and apparently a 'secret pact' between up to 10 players who are all posted to jump shit from the NZ side to play for Tonga. Included in those, names I've heard are Ma'u, Fusitua, Lolohea, Kata, Vatuvei, and a few more I can't recall.

On the one hand its great a team like Tonga will be stronger, but the bigger picture is that this is a complete disaster.

NZ Rugby league are in complete disarray. Absolutely no leadership in the organisation and coach which clearly has zero respect from a large number of the players.

Lolo not blameless either. IMO there was a much better process for him to follow and the dishonesty from him is disappointing too. Way too easy to just say he wants to help a developing nation, he should have come clean with the actual reasoning for jumping ship.

Anyway, all in all its pretty disappointing IMO. Players used to give everything for the Kiwi jersey, now look where its at.... Complete disrespect for those that have worn the jersey which such pride.

Yeah I tend to side with Pieman and others here on this one (maybe because it is the Kiwi's and not the Roo's....) but I really don't have an issue with this.

My only issue is that he played for the Kiwi's in the first place but hopefully this is part of the international game strengthening and we won't have as many of these instances in the future.

Benji blowing up that this shows disrespect to the Kiwi jersey but quite frankly, the disrespect and cheapening of the jersey was selecting Lolo in the first instance. Australia has done the same too on many occasions, so this isn't just Kiwi bashing - I personally am not in favour of it.

I also think the calls that he should have 'come clean' earlier are a bit rich as the bloke had a GF that he was focused on and may not have completely finalised his decision until that had been and gone.

Im loving it. Really happy to strengthen the international game with these players representing countries of their heritage. I hope it happens more and more.

RCG is the logical replacement but who knows, mal may recall Pieaday after his whinge

Oz Sport Mad wrote:

I also think the calls that he should have 'come clean' earlier are a bit rich as the bloke had a GF that he was focused on and may not have completely finalised his decision until that had been and gone.

Really?

I don't agree. I think he should have made time to make a decision on this, or at least communicated with NZ League about it well before a day out from team naming. Frankly I find it ridiculous.

But Im not surprised, if there is a complete lack of respect there, a certain type of person would do what Lolo has done and basically give them the middle finger. My hope is that people would be bigger than that, at the very least to show some respect to their country, their fans, and those that have put on the jersey previously (if there is no respect for those running the show now).

Despite the ill feelings between the groups I think Lolo could have/should have done the right thing and communicated this a long time ago so NZ Rugby league didn't have to scramble at the last second to get a squad together. It makes a mockery of the Kiwi team.

Like I said though, for me the bigger issue sits within NZ Rugby League - they are clearly out of their depth. I just not think Lolo is blameless here as well!