Recent content by Wilson

Would love to see Scott Sio do us a favour and lead Samoa to an upset over Japan, I think they'd be even less risk then Japan in that round of 16 game (assuming we're second in our pool).

I actually think the SA match up in Australia might be slightly better for us, but probably not by much.

England in the quarter will be tough, but get through it and that's a much easier semi.

It's not too bad given the tournament structure, and I think it means we likely won't see them in the knock outs until the end (if we both make it). More important to avoid a 3rd string that could pull off an upset.

NZ, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong Probably the hardest 1 seed, but easiest (close to) 3 and (definitely) 4 seed we could get.

Georgia v Romania is going to be a great pool game Italy and South Africa joining them, that's going to be scrum heavy pool

Probably makes Perth a very good bet, particularly with nothing scheduled there yet.

Must be finding salaries for players (it's specifically designed to combat player drain due to PNG NRL), but the wage bill for each of these teams would only be a few million each (less for Fiji if it's run by the Drua) so there will be lots more. I'm guessing also flights and accom for...

That's a huge boost for the comp! A single round robin with 3 more teams will double the amount of matches both sides play and it starts to look like a proper 3rd tier capable of helping these guys make the step up to the next level. Familiarity with travel through the Pacific will probably help...

I love Canterbury's work, but I'd much prefer RA take it to market and get the best possible deal, while also ensuring it's a great jersey. Just defaulting to a traditional supplier is going to leave a hell of a lot of money on the table, and that's not something they can afford to do.

It is a bit ridiculous, but between that and selling their home tests to foreign stadia they should come away with a lot more money coming in for the year than they usually do.

Sure, there's always an avenue there, but given they made it part of the terms of his release I can't see it being a particularly workable option for him/another NRL team from a financial perspective. I'm not certain on the terms, but if it's a straight non-compete, than the Eels will likely...

They're a fairly new (started in 2015) UK company and started in soccer I think, but they've got a pretty solid line up of teams across multiple sports now (Roosters have just swapped to Adidas though): The retro cotton jerseys they've done for the prem clubs are really solid, no nonsense...

Looks like ITV are set to win the broadcast rights for the Nations Championship in the UK off the back of a big (£80m+) bid. With all broadcast revenue shared amongst the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams (Japan and Fiji get a participation fee) that's good news for us...

A full trailer for the tournament has been released ahead of the draw: https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2027/en/news/1019326/australia-ready-to-go-all-out-with-blockbuster-global-campaign-for-mens-rugby-world-cup-2027