A full year of rugby league ...

I lied. I said in my previous entry I was considering how to increase the Four Nations to six, but it sounded a bit gimmicky. 

My idea, borrowed from the 2008 World Cup, was to have 'elite' and 'associate' pools - the elite pool would be Australia, New Zealand and England and the Associate Pool would be Papua New Guinea, France and either a Pacific Islands team or the winner of a qualifying tournament between Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

The elite teams would play each other on a round-robin basis, as would the associate nations - the three elites would go into the semi-finals, with the top-ranked outfit to play the winner of the associate pool in the semi-finals.

Example 

Round                                     Elite Pool                                        Associate Pool

1                                              Australia v New Zealand                  Pacific v PNG 

2                                              New Zealand v England                   France v PNG

3                                              Australia v England                          Pacific v France

Semi-finals                             Elite 1 v Associate 1                        Elite 2 v Elite 3

Final                                        Semi-final winner v Semi-final winner

I'd love to see something like this get up to give emerging nations more of a taste of playing against the established nations, but whether it is workable is a different matter.

My past few posts have been about what I'd do about elite rugby league if I was in charge -  I’m not for abolishing international rugby league – far from it. 

I just believe it should be played in its out discreet window after the grand final – that way it has its own presence and you get players picked on form (most often out of grand final winning sides).

Midseason Tests are a waste of time and look ridiculous in front of State of Origin.

To whit, here is my proposed calendar. Not, no City v Country. Sorry. But if we have a full time Blues coach and Emerging Blues program, we don't need another pointless game. Sorry.


Go here and here to view my other posts on the matter. 

Weekend Dates Event

Jan 3-6
Jan 10-13
Jan 17-20
Jan 24-27
Jan 31-Feb 3

Feb 7-10

Feb 14-17

Feb 21-24 WCC Challenge

Feb 28-Mar 2 All Star Weekend
Mar 6-9
March 13-16 NRL Round 1
March 20-23 NRL Round 2
March 27-30 NRL Round 3
April 3-6 NRL Round 4
April 10-13 NRL Round 5
April 17-20 NRL Round 6
April 24-27 NRL Round 7
May 1-3 NRL Round 8
May 8-11 NRL Round 9
May 15-18 NRL Round 10
May 22-25 Cup Round I
WED, MAY 27 ORIGIN I
May 29-June 1 NRL Round 11
June 5-8 NRL Round 12
June 12-15 Cup Quarter-finals
WED, JUNE 17 ORIGIN II
June 19-22 NRL Round 13
June 26-29 NRL Round 14
July 3-6 Cup Semis
WED, JULY 8 ORIGIN III
July 10-13 NRL Round 15
July 17-20 NRL Round 16
July 24-27 NRL Round 17
July 31-Aug 3 NRL Round 18
Aug 7-10 NRL Round 19
Aug 14-17 NRL Round 20
Aug 21-24 NRL Round 21
Aug 28-31 NRL Round 22
Sept 4-6 Cup Final
Sept 11-13 Qualifying finals
Sept 19-20 Semi-finals
Sept 26-27 Preliminary finals
October 4 NRL Grand Final
Oct 9-12
Oct 16-19
Oct 23-26 Four Nations Round 1
Oct 30-Nov 2 Four Nations Round 2
Nov 6-9 Four Nations Round 3
Nov 13-16 Four Nations Final
Nov 20-23
Nov 27-30
Dec 4-7
Dec 11-14
Dec 18-21
Dec 25-28