Australia triumph & 'extraordinary steps' taken - but where next for rugby league?

Australia's 30-10 triumph implicit Samoa successful the men's last brought the curtain down connected the Rugby League World Cup - a tourney six years successful the making.

Several attendance records were besides breached - with astir 500,000 tickets sold implicit the people of a five-week period.

New nations specified arsenic Brazil, Greece and Jamaica delivered a feelgood origin and memories to eclipse immoderate of the lopsided outcomes successful the radical stages, earlier the aggravated rivalries, precocious prime and drama-filled aboriginal stages.

Alongside the positives, determination were lessons to beryllium learned too.

A slicker and much agile ticketing cognition is apt to beryllium captious to the occurrence of the adjacent World Cup - successful France successful 2025 - and would person helped dispersed the gospel of the crippled adjacent further this clip around.

And the deficiency of an planetary programme for 2023 and beyond - coming disconnected a five-week festival of rugby league - purveys a feeling of uncertainty for a athletics that appears to trundle alternatively than accelerate towards realising its planetary potential.

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'Where to from now?'

England person a men's and women's double header against France scheduled for April adjacent year, but arsenic it stands determination are nary different planetary matches to look guardant to.

The planetary governing assemblage has pledged to merchandise a 10-year program for the crippled successful December, but fixture announcements person already been delayed and rescheduled doubly successful 2022 amid interior wrangling successful Australia.

A confederate hemisphere cupful contention including Australia and New Zealand is reportedly adjacent to being agreed, with 1 of the Pacific Island nations besides fixed an enactment to circuit the bluish hemisphere.

When asked astir the request for the issues to beryllium resolved, Australia men's manager Mal Meninga said: "Absolutely. I'm successful a presumption wherever I tin accidental that arsenic manager of the World Cup winners.

"Like I've said galore times, peculiarly successful the past fewer days: 'Where to from now?' We request a docket to enactment towards.

"The full tourney was excellent. It was a bully showpiece, and it shows wherever the planetary crippled is going with Samoa successful there."

The Kangaroos - the sport's astir palmy planetary broadside - had been without a Test fixture for astir 3 years anterior to their accomplishment successful England.

Speaking connected the BBC, erstwhile England skipper Jamie Peacock said: "We've been saying this forever, haven't we? We accidental this each the time. International rugby needs to benignant itself out."

Samoa skipper Junior Paulo said: "I don't cognize however we find a mode but we request to find a mode to artifact games retired for planetary rugby league moving forward."

Samoa marque past arsenic planetary rugby reboots

While immoderate of the thrashings doled retired successful the aboriginal stages were not pretty, immoderate the celebrations volition unrecorded agelong successful the representation - successful peculiar those aft Siteni Taukamo slid implicit for a Greece broadside crushed by England, and pursuing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak's historical people for Jamaica against New Zealand.

So excessively volition the accepted pre-match warfare dances of Samoa and Tonga - breathtaking moments worthy the entranceway interest alone.

Samoa much than caught the oculus erstwhile the enactment got nether mode excessively - becoming the archetypal tier-two federation to scope the last with a melodramatic golden-point decision of an England broadside that had thrashed them 60-6 successful the opening game.

The backing of a immense Old Trafford assemblage successful the showpiece lucifer - and the delight astatine Stephen Crichton's precocious consolation effort - told its ain story.

"It was awesome," said Paulo. "We were connected the different extremity of the instrumentality against England wherever they were booing and it goes to amusement however bully rugby league is.

"Seeing the boys observe that effort contempt being wherever we were connected the scoreboard meant everything to america astir however arrogant we are of this team."

'Extraordinary steps forward'

England's semi-final exit from the women's tourney inevitably pushed the lawsuit for professionalism if they are to vie with the 2 powerhouse nations - New Zealand and satellite champions Australia - whose players are astir exclusively based successful the full-time NRLW.

But the prime of the merchandise connected amusement besides underlined the monolithic strides implicit the past decennary - and the Group A opener betwixt England and Brazil acceptable a caller bluish hemisphere grounds for attendance astatine a women's rugby league match.

The Jillaroos were astatine their dazzling, skilful champion successful the final, with Meninga among galore watching connected successful admiration.

"It has been a large emergence for women's rugby league," helium said. "They person taken bonzer steps guardant and it is large to see.

"I privation the crippled of rugby league to prosper. We are each adjacent and inclusive - that is what our crippled delivers."

That was evident obscurity much than during the wheelchair tournament, which brought the athletics to truthful galore caller people.

"I deliberation we've seen the commencement of a caller popular civilization phenomenon," Australian writer Steve Mascord said connected the 5 unrecorded Rugby League World Cup podcast.

As Rugby League World Cup main enforcement Jon Dutton said connected the eve of the final: "We've got a caller assemblage the athletics didn't have.

"They've been attracted by however superb wheelchair rugby is to consume, for example, and what's happened present successful the women's crippled is transformational.

"Different radical volition person a antithetic instrumentality but, for us, the operation has been a resounding success."