Druzik:
Lebanon do deserve to be there, they have a domestic comp going, They have their full squad that allows them to call on players that CHOOSE to play for Lebanon... the rules are there and used by all mate. Fiji, Tonga and Samoa do the same. Lebanon did have more than 6 domestic players in their squad and have the Liban Espoir squad that is developing their domestic players for the international stage. Lebanon since 2000 have worked their buts off to get to where they are, its a credit to them and the whole organisation and I suspect domestically, though not as many teams, are very advanced with championships sponsorships, Mid east development and overseas tours.
Its insulting that you are saying this.
How many of the Lebanon, Fiji or other qualifiers did you go out too and see? How many of the lower tier nations have you gone out to support in the last 2-3 years, to show them that fans out there do care and encourage the local development?
perhaps i may have sounded a little harsh. they do meet all the requirements set down by the rlif, and have made progress since the 2000 wc. i just dont want to give the media any reason to put down our event, lebanon seems to be a favourite in the papers when putting down international rugby league. it probably isnt helped by actual rugby league supporters putting them down as well. i do appreciate the effort they are making to spread international rugby league, and that this couldnt happen without their aussie players. but as we stand, fiji are a genuine international test team, their domestic scene is going great. they will have a heap of products from their domestic comp in their team. i really dont want to see them miss out, it would be a massive kick in the guts. plus the fact that they made it through the qualifiers, and lebanon missed out.
lebanon did not have more than 6 domestic players in their squad, they had the bare minimum, and used the players very sparingly off the bench. they are doing a good effort (not yet great) to promote the game in the actual country of lebanon (which is far more important than aus raised lebanese kids playing rugby league), and they did well securing world cup tv rights and the bank of beirut as a major sponsor. their domestic league needs to try and build up a bit more of a profile, and maybe move away from having mostly western university based clubs. im sure this will happen.
i have seen all the qualifiers on dvd, and i personally know some players who played for lebanon and for tonga, and one of my best mates plays for png and recently toured france. i have also been to other "international" games where i have had friends play for "italy" and "malta". i definately support the lower tier nations, but i know the difference between these teams, and true national teams like fiji. fiji are genuinely trying to promote the game in their own country, and not completely relying on aus raised players. other countries, such as lebanon are also trying to do this, but not at the same level, which is understandbly due to the difficulties. the credibility of this world cup relies on countries such as fiji. future world cups will rely on spreading the game into countries such as lebanon.
your last question is a little bit ironic though. you ask for fans to support local development, yet these teams are supposed to be international test rugby league teams vying for a spot in our world cup, not locally developed players playing for their families heritage. i guess what i am trying to say is that although it is inevitable that a fair portion of players will be australian raised, i hope that countries such as lebanon and especially samoa, dont just sit back and rely on aus/nz raised players and forget about building their own domestic league. i would hate to see 8 teams full of players from aus/nz with the the minimum 6 players chosen from a small rugby league tournament in the union off season (for eg. samoa).
but in saying all of this, i think we are mostly heading in the right direction. i think the 6 domestic players should be in the 17, not squad of 25, and most importantly, a one country for life rule be introduced, or at least a 5 year stand down rule so players dont choose to play for a country only because they missed out on another.