why on earth have you included Wales in a 'middle tier' when they are ranked 12th in the World rankings and included Fiji (ranked 4th) in a lower tier?



You might want to see how England fare against PNG in the 4 nations as well before having them as lesser team than England!

you mean like playing in London?

I'm sure he meant the likes of Hemel, Guiseley, Whinmoor, and Wigan St Pats. I'm sure he wasn't hoping to use the WC as some kind of subsidy to the championship mid-tier leagues

14 is a ridiculous number for a finals. It should be 12 or 16 and given the lack of competition I'd suggest 12. Then 4 groups of 3 with the top placed side in each group qualifying for the semi finals, losers of this play in a 3rd v 4th match, and the winners through to the final. Simple.



Does anyone know why we've got 14 teams qualified for the finals? If it wasn't for the fact it's an RFL decision, it would be unbelievable.



Given it's 14, we're almost certainly going to go down the route of a "super group" again which was very unprofessional.

That was two years ago. Wales won the European Cup last year. Fiji came 3rd in the Pacific Cup, knocked out by a team ranked 14th in the RLIF rankings. The RLIF rankings mean very little two years on.





I think England will be fine. They got to the final last year, didn't they?



Mind you...



Steve McNamara?

are you saying that's a mistake or a good idea?

i think its a good idea, but thats not what i was saying



i was asking whether you thought it was a good idea, considering what you had written previously regarding copying 95

I dont know how well PNG will have prepared for the 4 nations.



The fact England are playing them in NZ and not Queensland should help



I'm genuinely interested to see how that game shapes up.



There will be more pressure on PNG in my opinion... people will expect them to do well and they will want to impress as they are trying for a team in the NRL.



No one apart from the most parochial English supporters will rate Englands chances... but if they can get off to a good start against the Kumuls its a possibility.

What's unprofessional about it?



And unless you want 4 groups of 3, the format would still be a bit strange.

maybe you would like to bet on it then bazza,



PNG win i will give £100 to a charity of your choice

England win you give £100 to a charity of my choice

the biggest problem is making sure the lesser nations get enough games to make it worth their while, while the bigger nations arent having to play a huge amount more games to win it.



14 is a difficult number to do that without the structure becoming too convoluted, 16 would have made it much easier,

I'm guessing your talking about England's chances in the 4N as a whole rather than England's chances of beating PNG?

Considering we haven't beaten the Aussies in a "must win" game in over 30 years, I'll have to agree with you. And in their own back yard as well. I'd be happy if we got to the final!



If you're talking about England's chances against PNG, then you're talking rubbish.