And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
- Excerpts of lyrics for Hero (by Mariah Carey), the theme song for RLWC08

Welcome to the discussion thread for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup
RLWC08 will be the 13th staging since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, but the first since the 2000 event in Great Britain. Scheduled to take place between October 25 and November 22, it will be the fourth time that the tournament has been held in Australia, the first being in 1957. The tournament will end a year of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the game in the southern hemisphere.
Five teams were granted automatic qualification, included reigning champions Australia, whilst another five qualified through various qualification tournaments, involving fourteen teams, which commenced in 2006. There are no World Cup debutants, with Scotland and Ireland having made their debut in 2000. Samoa are the lowest ranked team to compete, coming 12th in the World Rankings.
The thirteenth Cup was originally scheduled to be held in Australia in 2004, however the lack of international success by the Great Britain and New Zealand after the 2000 World Cup, and the rise of the Tri-Nations tournament, meant that it was delayed for a further four years.
The first match will take place in Townsville between England and Papua New Guinea on October 25, although the official opening ceremony of the competition will occur ahead of the Australia and New Zealand match the following day in Sydney. The final will take place at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on November 22.
Since the tournament was first held in France in 1954, Australia has won the trophy nine times (including 2000), displaying its continual dominance of rugby league internationally. Great Britain is the other nation to have claimed the cup, claiming it on three separate occasions.

Tournament Format
The tournament will feature the best ten teams across the globe who are split into one group of four, and two groups of three.
Group 1: Australia, New Zealand, England, Papua New Guinea
Group 2: France, Fiji, Scotland
Group 3: Tonga, Ireland, Samoa
A total of eighteen matches will take place in twelve different venues across NSW, ACT, QLD and VIC.
Each team will play the other teams in its group once. Teams will receive 2 points for a win, and 1 point for a draw. This means that unlike in the NRL, there will be no golden point rule enforced. In group stages, if two teams have the same number of points than position is determined on points difference, the amount of points scored minus the amount of points conceded.
The semi finals will be made up of the first three teams in the first group and the winner of a playoff between the winners of the Group 2 and Group 3. The winners of the semi-finals progress to the final.
The second placed teams of group 2 and group 3 will play another match, with the winner receiving 7th place. Similarly the third placed teams in Group 2 and Group 3 will play for 9th place.
The slogan for the tournament is Heroes Here 08. Natalie Bassingthwaighte has recorded an "Australian version" of the Mariah Carey song "Hero" which accompanied the "Heroes 08" promotional video and other World Cup advertising. The World Cup Opening Ceremony will feature a live performance of the song by Bassingthwaighte.
As part of the official opening of the World Cup on October 26, an exhibition game will be played between an Aboriginal selection and a New Zealand Maori side at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Channel Nine will broadcast all Group 1 matches and the Knockout Stage matches live across Australia. Fox Sports will broadcast all Group 2 and 3 matches plus Ranking Stage matches live. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports will broadcast all matches live.
Will the Australian Kangaroos continue to dominate or will Great Britain or New Zealand snatch the cup? Tune in and find out.

Official tournament website: www.rlwc08.com

PARRAMATTA'S Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki of Wests Tigers will have to wait until Monday morning to find out if they can play for Tonga in the rugby league World Cup.
Tonga took their case against the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) to Sydney's Supreme court, in a last ditch bid to play Moimoi and Tuiaki in the World Cup.
Justice Richard White will hand down his decision about the players fate at 9.30am Monday morning, hours before Tonga are due to play Ireland at Parramatta Stadium.
The pair have previously played for Tonga but are ineligible because players are only able to transfer teams once every two years and both did so to play for New Zealand in 2007.
At Sydney's Supreme court, Moimoi and Tuiaki's lawyer, Steven Stanton, said stopping the players from switching to Tonga would be an unfair restraint on their employment.
He said that because the pair will not be selected by Australia and New Zealand, the RLIF rules binding them were unfair.
"What we say is this: having been nominated by Tonga and no longer required by New Zealand ... we submit that there are no nations competing for these players," Stanton said.
"The reality is they were not selected by Australia or New Zealand."
RLIF's lawyer Alan Sullivan argued that the RLIF rules prohibiting players from switching teams are not restrictive and protect the integrity of the game.
"It would be a solemn farce if players were to (play) in New Zealand, then Tonga, then Australia," he said.
"Every other team in the competition has had to abide by (these rules)."
"What Tonga is seeking is to have a different playing field."
Sullivan argued there was no restraint of trade as both players were still being paid.
"On the evidence, Mr Moimoi has had significant gain and an increased salary," he said.
"What we say is on a practical level there is no restraint of trade.
"On the evidence before your honour ... the plaintiff has an extremely weak case."

Result of tonight's match:
ENGLAND 32 (Lee Smith 3, Ade Gardner 2, Martin Gleeson tries; Kevin Sinfield 4 goals) defeated PAPUA NEW GUINEA 22 (Rod Griffin, Jason Chan, George Keppa, Paul Aiton tries; John Wilshire 3 goals) at Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville. Referee: S Hayne. Crowd: 10,780.

Four uncapped players have been named in the Australian team to play New Zealand in Sunday's Rugby League World Cup blockbuster at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Canberra's Joel Monaghan, Gold Coast's Anthony Laffranchi and Manly forwards Glenn Stewart and Josh Perry will all make their international debuts in the opening match of the Kangaroos' title defence.
Stewart and Laffranchi will form an uncapped backrow, Monaghan will play on the wing rather than his customary position at centre and Perry will start on the bench.
Manly's premiership-winning pair Anthony Watmough and David Williams were among the Australian squad members to miss selection.
Meanwhile Melbourne Storm forward Sika Manu has won a starting spot in the New Zealand side for the clash. After making his Test debut off the bench against Tonga last Saturday, the in-form newcomer was elevated to the run-on side to partner Simon Mannering in the second row.
Coach Stephen Kearney reshuffled several positions from the 56-8 win over Tonga, with captain and prop Nathan Cayless (knee), wing Manu Vatuvei and fullback Lance Hohaia (both hamstring) all passed fit to play after being rested at the weekend as a precaution.
Prop Adam Blair also forced his way into the starting line-up ahead of Sam Rapira who is on the bench, while Sam Perrett edged out Parramatta's Krisnan Inu for a spot on the wing after an impressive display as Hohaia's stand-in on Saturday.
Experienced hooker Dene Halatau edged out South Sydney's Issac Luke for a spot on the bench behind starting No.9 Nathan Fien, while Rapira, Greg Eastwood and Setaimata Sa make up the interchange bench. Those to miss the squad altogether included Inu, Luke and Kiwis regular David Fa'alogo.

Australian Team:
Billy Slater, Joel Monaghan, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Brent Tate, Darren Lockyer (capt), Jonathan Thurston, Petero Civoniceva, Cameron Smith, Steve Price, Glenn Stewart, Anthony Laffranchi, Paul Gallen. Interchange: Brent Kite, Josh Perry, Anthony Tupou, Kurt Gidley.

New Zealand team:
Lance Hohaia, Sam Perrett, Steve Matai, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Benji Marshall, Thomas Leuluai, Nathan Cayless (capt), Nathan Fien, Adam Blair, Simon Mannering, Sika Manu, Jeremy Smith. Interchange: Dene Halatau, Greg Eastwood, Setaimata Sa, Sam Rapira.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Today: Scotland v France, Canberra Stadium (5.25pm); Australia v New Zealand, Sydney Football Stadium (7.55pm).
Tomorrow: Tonga v Ireland, Parramatta Stadium (6.55pm).
Friday: Samoa v Tonga, CUA Stadium, Penrith (6.55pm).
Saturday: Fiji v France, WIN Stadium, Wollongong (5.25pm), New Zealand v Papua New Guinea, Skilled Park, Gold Coast (6.55pm).

Australian players will wear black armbands in Sunday's game after the sudden death of halfback Johnathan Thurston's uncle, Richard Saunders, in Brisbane on Friday night. Thurston has not withdrawn from the team, but Scott Prince has been called in as a reserve just in case.
The match will be broadcast around Australia on ABC Radio at 7.30pm AEST and on Channel Nine and regional stations tonight (check local guides).

France has defeated Scotland 36-18 in today's twilight game at Canberra Stadium.

Result from tonight's match:
Tonga 22 (Michael Jennings, Cooper Vuna, Etuate Uaisele, Esikeli Tonga tries; Tony Williams, Joel Taufa'ao goals; Joel Taufa'ao penalty goal) defeated Ireland 20 (Damien Blanch 3, Michael Platt tries; Pat Richards 2 goals) at Parramatta Stadium.

New Zealand centre Steve Matai has accepted a one match ban after being charged with a careless high tackle in last night's rugby league World Cup loss to Australia.
Matai was charged after being put on report for his 13th minute hit on Kangaroos lock Paul Gallen and will now miss Saturday night's must-win game against Papua New Guinea on the Gold Coast.
The rules governing World Cup charges differ slightly from those used in the NRL with no points grading given and the match review committee recommending the length of ban instead.
The committee, comprising commissioner Greg McCallum, Ron Massey and former Wests Tigers forward Mark O'Neill, recommended a one match ban.
Matai suffered thumb and shoulder injuries in last night's 30-6 loss to Australia but it is believed he would have been fit to play the Kumuls had he not been suspended.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/one-m...4955930138.html

The NSW Supreme Court today refused to grant Tonga an interim injunction allowing them to play NRL stars Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki in their rugby league World Cup match against Ireland tonight.
However Justice Richard White says the pair may be entitled to play in the finals or semi-finals of the tournament, if Tonga reaches that point.
Parramatta forward Moimoi and West Tigers winger Tuiaki have previously played for Tonga but were deemed ineligible by Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) to represent them in the World Cup as they played for New Zealand last year.
The RLIF rules that players can only transfer teams once every two years.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/supre...4955905679.html

AUSTRALIA'S rugby league World Cup campaign has been dealt a major blow, with a knee injury ruling star utility back Kurt Gidley out for the remainder of the tournament.
Gidley was injured in Sunday night's 30-6 win over New Zealand and scans confirmed he had knocked a small piece of cartilage off the joint surface of the patella in his left knee.
He will return to Newcastle next week for surgery.
Gidley's injury left the 26-year-old devastated, and is a major setback for the Kangaroos, who also have star halfback Johnathan Thurston in doubt to play England at Telstra Dome on Sunday night.
"It's a bitterly disappointing way to end the season, especially off the back of our strong performance against the Kiwis (last) Sunday night," Gidley said.
"The squad has gelled really well and I'm just devastated I won’t be able to take any further part in the tournament."
Australia are unable to replace Gidley in their World Cup squad, with Gold Coast star Scott Prince likely to take his spot on the bench for the clash with England.
Thurston starred against New Zealand despite the death of his uncle the day before, but injured his shoulder during the match.
Thurston was cleared of major shoulder damage following scans taken.
The scans revealed soft tissue damage to his left shoulder, with team medical staff to monitor his progress throughout the week.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,2...6-23214,00.html

Samoa took a big step towards the rugby league World Cup semi-finals with a dogged 20-12 win over arch rival Tonga in their island derby at Penrith on Friday night.
Samoa will clinch their pool if they beat Ireland in the last pool match at Parramatta next Wednesday.
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/articl...world-cup-semis

Fiji has thrashed France 42-6 in today's early match in Wollongong.

New Zealand has broken its World Cup duck with a 48-6 win over Papua New Guinea in Gold Coast tonight. The Kiwis scored nine tries to one.

tomorrow's the exciting one: england VS aus!!! watch the space!!!!

Australia thrashed England 52-4 in Melbourne last night in front of a crowd of 36,500, higher than the opening game between the Kangaroos and New Zealand. However, TV ratings was poor, the game attracted just 158,000 viewers in Melbourne and 900,000 viewers nationally, beaten by Dancing with the Stars and Rove.
This causes Nine to push the telecast of this Sunday's game between Australia and Papua New Guinea this Sunday from 8:30pm to 10:30pm in Victoria and Tasmania. In SA and WA it is already shown at 10.30pm.
The first semi final on Saturday November 15 is pushed out to midnight in Melbourne while the second semi final will also air at 10:30pm on November 16.
Source: tvtonight.com.au

Inspired by a record-breaking performance from winger Pat Richards, Ireland caused a major boilover at the rugby league World Cup with a 34-16 win over Samoa to advance to a semi-final qualifier.
Needing to win by five points to finish top of the pool, underdogs Ireland unbelievably bolted to a 14-0 lead at Parramatta Stadium, despite taking a defensive pummeling in the first 10 minutes.
Samoa got back to within two points late in the first half before Ireland scored the next 16 points to blow the Pacific island side out of the water.
Richards haul of 22 points from three tries and five goals was the most in a World Cup match for Ireland, eclipsing Steve Prescott's bag of 14 against Samoa eight years ago.

http://news.theage.com.au/sport/ireland-ou...81105-5igd.html

Scotland pulled off an incredible 18-16 late victory over highly-fancied Fiji at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford to claim their country's first ever rugby league World Cup win in five attempts.
Despite the narrow defeat Fiji still finish top of Pool 2 and will face Ireland in a playoff for the semi-finals at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast on Monday with the winner to face Australia.
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/articl...iracle-win-fiji

New Zealand have come from behind to beat England 36-24 at Newcastle's EnergyAustralia Stadium. England led 24-8 early in the first half and 24-14 at half time, but was kept scoreless in the second half. Manu Vatuvai scored 4 tries for the Kiwis, a Rugby League World Cup record. The two teams will meet again in next Saturday night's first semi final in Brisbane.

SAMOAN second-rower Ben Te'o made a blistering World Cup debut with two tries as his side thrashed France 42-10 at CUA Stadium in Penrith today.
The result secured Samoa ninth place and handed France the unlucky wooden spoon in the 10-team tournament.
It was a highly disappointing end to the French campaign and followed their 42-6 belting from Fiji last week.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,2...5016947,00.html

Fiji has beaten Ireland 30-14 in tonight's qualifying final on the Gold Coast and will meet Australia in next Sunday's semi-final.

They finally stood up to the haka but England still fell 32-22 to New Zealand in their Rugby League World Cup semi-final at Brisbane on Saturday night.
The Kiwis made it clear they would not tolerate a repeat of last weekend's "snub" when England opted to form a huddle during the haka before their last pool match.
The English duly stood side by side and looked New Zealand in the eye during the passionate pre-match ritual - but they quickly blinked.
The Englishmen played more like schoolboys with an error riddled performance - yet somehow still fought back from 16-0 down in the first half to cut the deficit to 28-22 in the final 10 minutes.
In the end, the Kiwis ran out six tries to four winners with centre Jerome Ropati bagging a double in front of a 26,659-strong Suncorp Stadium crowd.
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/articl...haka-fall-kiwis

Australia to play Kiwis in RLWC final
AAP - November 16, 2008, 10:06 pm

Australia did what was expected - and for much of the time as they pleased - in trouncing Fiji 52-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday night to advance to a World Cup final against New Zealand.

Despite some willing and at times fiery second half defence from the unheralded Bati, the Kangaroos rarely got out of first gear as they ran in ten unanswered tries in one of the most anti-climactic semi-finals in the history of professional rugby league.

Rarely has a side playing for a berth in a final been given less chance of victory before a ball had even been kicked than Fiji, their mix of NRL fringe players and park footballers no match for the world champions who flexed their muscles early before coasting home over the closing hour.

Billy Slater continued his sensational tournament with a hattrick of tries to move to a tournament best of seven while Brent Tate also scored a first half double before leaving the field with a hip flexor injury that has him in doubt for next week's clash with the Kiwis.

Johnathan Thurston bagged a hattrick which, along with his six conversions, completed a personal tally of 24 points.

Another Greg Inglis magic act and a Paul Gallen try after just 63 seconds completed the scoring for the home side.

The Bati needed just about everything to go their way if they were to even stay close to the Kangaroos, but a knock-on from just the second tackle of the match gave an early indication that a miracle wasn't on the cards.

It was ten minutes later until Fiji got to touch the ball again, by which stage the score was 16-0 with Tate's second in the 16th minute sending statisticians scurrying for the record books.

But Fiji, who had done remarkably well just to make it the final four ahead of more fancied sides such as Samoa and Tonga, ensured the match did not turn into an embarrassment as they added some discipline with the ball to some sting in defence.

The result was only one try, a Slater four-pointer in the corner, over the ensuing half hour, the Melbourne flyer completing his hattrick nine minutes after the restart to instigate another points spree over the closing stages of the contest.

Thurston took over with his three tries coming in the space of just ten minutes, Fiji denied a late try due to a questionable forward pass ruling, much to the disappointment of the enthusiastic Bati followers.


taken from
http://au.sports.yahoo.com/nrl/news/articl...iwis-rlwc-final

so much for Fiji's postering.

New Zealand could cause an upset at this Saturday's final.

no they won't, the Aussies are too good but I am a little worried about the game.

Coach Ricky Stuart has named injury concerns Brent Tate and Paul Gallen in an unchanged Australian team for Saturday's Rugby League World Cup final against New Zealand in Brisbane.
Tate suffered a hip flexor injury and Gallen a corked thigh in last Sunday's 52-0 semi-final demolition of Fiji at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Neither player trained yesterday, although Gallen is considered less of a concern than Tate.
Manly's David Williams is the most likely replacement for Tate if needed while Anthony Watmough and Josh Perry would come into calculations should Gallen not recover in time.
Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney has also named an unchanged side, with halfback Nathan Fien and hooker Thomas Leuluai both retaining their spots.

Australia: Billy Slater, Joel Monaghan, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Brent Tate, Darren Lockyer (captain), Johnathan Thurston, Petero Civoniceva, Cameron Smith, Steve Price, Glenn Stewart, Anthony Laffranchi, Paul Gallen. Interchange: Karmichael Hunt, Craig Fitzgibbon, Anthony Tupou, Brent Kite.
New Zealand: Lance Hohaia, Sam Perrett, Simon Mannering, Jerome Ropati, Manu Vatuvei, Benji Marshall, Nathan Fien, Nathan Cayless (captain), Thomas Leuluai, Adam Blair, Bronson Harrison, David Fa’alogo, Jeremy Smith. Interchange: Issac Luke, Greg Eastwood, Sika Manu, Sam Rapira.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/kanga...6770503290.html

Saturday's World Cup final may not go ahead given Brisbane was hit by three storms in a week (Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday). The Queensland Government, which owns Suncorp Stadium which will host the final, will makes the final decision in the morning.
Manly premiership rookie David Williams, who has only played 20 first grade games, was called up to replace an unlucky Brent Tate for Australia's clash with New Zealand.
Tate was ruled out of the final after failing to recover from a hip flexor tear suffered in last week's semi-final win over Fiji. It will be his first missed game of the season.

Celebrations of 100 years of rugby league in Australia has ended in a sour note, with New Zealand snatching the World Cup from Australia, in one of the biggest upsets in the sport's history. In front of a near capacity crowd of 50,599 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, the Kiwis (which had former Australian coach Wayne Bennett as assistant coach) scored six tries to four to beat Australia 34-20 and ended the Kangaroos' 30-year stranglehold on the trophy. It was the Kiwis' first World Cup win, and also their 3rd win over the Kangaroos in their last 16 tests.
The next Rugby League World Cup will be held in 2013.

how the F did we lose it? It's as if Aus sports are in SLUMP. first the Rugby Union, then Cricket, then League... We had Tennis (sorry, but leyton doesn't cut it), then netball, then this..... next we know we will be told we are not good at swimming?!

maybe just new bloods need to wear in... the older dudes are getting old and close to retiring...

Yeah, I feel Australia is on a slump on most types of sport. And what THAT pass from Billy Slater? I wish it had gone to touch instead.
Consolation for Australia was Darren Lockyer named man of the match and Billy Slater named player of the tournament.

Pardon, what was that?

Go do the Haka

Did anyone realise that November 22, the day of the Rugby League World Cup final, was also the 5th anniversary of the Rugby Union World Cup final in Sydney, when a Johny Wilkinson drop goal gave England a famous win over Australia?