Longing to leave legacy
After months of controversies, the 15th edition of the Rugby League World Cup finally gets begins tonight when Australia take on England in Melbourne.
In a sport where traditionally the international game has always played second fiddle to club footy, there’s a chance to turn that all on its head over the next five weeks.
The Rugby League World Cup was first held in France in 1954 but it was only in 2008, when the Kiwis defeated the Kangaroos in the final, that the tournament showed its true potential.
At the last one in Europe in 2013, the tournament took another step forward in terms of profile and commercialism and this year it could be the most competitive. Well, apart from the final that is.
Australia have won the World Cup 10 times, Great Britain three times and New Zealand once and it’s likely that the Kangaroos will be crowned world champions again on December 2.
While this current Kangaroos side isn’t as good as the one that smashed New Zealand 34-12 in the final four years ago, it should still be far stronger than anyone else and in coach Mal Meninga they’ve got someone who’s restored some pride in their jersey.
But while it’s fairly easy to pick who’ll win it, the rest is up in the air.
Can Wayne Bennett lift England? Will David Kidwell manage without so many key players? Are Tonga now serious contenders? Can Samoa or Fiji push the big three?
That will all be revealed over 28 games scattered across New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
And they really are scattered, with more games in Cairns than there are in either Sydney or Auckland.
Darwin gets one of the quarterfinals, there are two games in Perth, while there’s just one in Wellington.
Given that Australia and New Zealand put in a joint bid to host this tournament, there’s no prizes for guessing which country got the raw deal when it came to game allocation.
However, it should still be a great event and one in which the Kiwis will be under a lot of pressure.
They’re expected to win their pool, beat France in the quarterfinals and England in the semis. But if they were to slip up against Samoa or Tonga in a pool game, they’d be on collision course to face Australia in Brisbane in the semifinals.
If that’s the path they go down, then Kidwell’s tenure as coach could be a brief one.
Because of either injury, suspension or defection the Kiwis are without Jason Taumalolo, Tohu Harris, Jesse Bromwich, Kevin Proctor, Solomone Kata, Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Manu Ma’u, Alex Glenn, Ben Matulino, David Fusitu’a, Jordan Kahu and Kieran Foran.
Kidwell has looked to replace that experience and talent with an improved team culture and by all accounts their few days at the Tu¯ rangawaewae marae last week did wonders for that.
But when it comes down to how they’ll play, they’re going to rely heavily on the likes of Adam Blair, Simon Mannering, Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Thomas Leuluai.
When they play Samoa tomorrow night at Mt Smart Stadium we should be able to get a gauge on how well they might go.
As the players and Kidwell have said this week, this World Cup is a chance to get everyone talking about the Kiwis again, to leave a legacy and have kids aspiring to be a Kiwi, rather than an All Black.
It’s an opportunity to close the gap to the other code and it could be the turning point for the sport in this country.
No pressure then.