Am I the only one who feels that the Rugby League World Cup is a complete waste of time?
Australia, England and New Zealand are all in the same group along with Papua New Guinea.
Meanwhile, the other two groups have three teams, with the winners playing off against each other to join the big three in the semi-final.
All rather messy, and a bit like the first Football World Cup of 1930 when an odd-numbered 13 teams made up the tournament.
It's almost an acceptable situation when these things are just getting going, but Rugby League has had a World Cup since before I was born - and that was a very long time ago.
But then again, there hasn't been a World Cup since 2000. What's with that? Apparently, the 2004 event was cancelled due to a lack of comptitiveness. Hard to see that anything has changed in 2008.
I just refreshed my memory on the last event from 2000. Teams included Russia (who lost a thriller to Australia 4-110), Lebanon (who picked up a point in a draw against the Cook Islands), and a New Zealand Maori team who couldn't even beat Ireland. What a strange collection of teams.
So who has won the previous 12 events? Australia 9 times, Great Britain the other 3. Is there another 'World' Cup that is so dominated by one team? Baseball with Cuba winning 25 out of 36 is perhaps close, but at least more than one other team has tasted success.
2008 - Hard to see anything other than another Australia win. They are available at 1.15 on BETDAQ.
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Rugby League World Cup Excitement - Not
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4 comments:
Cassini, your views regarding this event from a betting perspective (and even tournament perspective) I cant fault. A sport simply at the mercy of a lack of competitive teams. I actually think Rugby League is a fantastic sport though. One to watch imo, then get involved betting wise. The Australians are simply awesome at this sport. Far more dominant then they're (or have) been in cricket in the last 20 years. At its best, its actually more exciting then Rugby Union but is hurt by the small number of competitive teams. One to enjoy & respect, not bet. - JPG
Yes, I didn't mean to imply that I don't enjoy Rugby League - I do - I was just commenting on the the lack of competitiveness. Usually, a World Cup can realistically be won by at least a handful of teams - but not this one! Thanks for the comment
Hope you did not back them Robert.
No, I left it alone - quite a stunning result, and maybe just what Rugby League needs. Sounds like quite a game!
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