We all know the farce that the 2000 Rugby League World Cup turned into an no one wants to see a repeat of that. The sad fact however is that 2008 is shaping up to be more of the same.
A rule allowing Australian players to play for teams other than Australia an it have no effect on their chances of playing State Of Origin or even for the Australian Test side in the future is a rule that shows how short sighted and gutless the games administrators are.
Already Wales and Ireland have openly been scouting NRL player lists for players that qualify through the ridiculous “grand parent” rule that along with the residency rule means anyone can just about player for any country they chose to play for.
For the record, under the current ridiculous rules, I would qualify to play for four international teams, two of which I have never been too!
There are rules in place for the World Cup that state that each squad must have 6 “home grown” players in their squad, but the chances of these players getting a run in games is remote.
We have the likes of Ireland, Scotland and Wales lamenting the lack of players they have available to them and that being the reason they need to look towards Australia. But the fact is Rugby League is played in all three nations and they have more than enough players needed to make a World Cup squad.
Its greed once again that see’s these teams turn their back of true home grown talent as they make approaches to Aussies who couldn’t care less about these nations are see them as a chance to say they played in a World Cup while having an all expenses paid footy trip around Australia.
If the 2008 World Cup is going to turn into a joke….I would rather we just not have a World Cup at all.
If it happens and the media rips into the competition, as it did in 2000, don’t get angry as the media. Join the voices of disapproval, because quite frankly the media will be right to ridicule the World Cup if it turns into a farce.
