The Heritage World Cup
Have you ever thought about what it would be like if a country other than Australia, New Zealand or England were a legitimate chance to win the Rugby League World Cup?
You might not have, but I have, and thus I present to you perhaps the most pointless yet enjoyable thought experiment I’ve ever spent time on in my life:
The Heritage Rugby League World Cup.
Because of the somewhat insulated nature of rugby league and it’s relatively limited global reach compared to all other major sports, the Rugby League World Cup, to me, is a celebration of heritage and culture more so than any other sport.
For a lot of these nations, the spectre of expectation doesn’t hang over them, rather these tournaments are a chance to represent their cultures, their homelands and their families on a world stage.
When you expand it out and think about it, there are maybe 50 spots available in the two best teams in rugby league, in Australia and New Zealand’s squads, and close to 100 players more than capable of filling them out. Therefore, there’s an overflow of international level talent not seen at, for example, the FIBA World Cup, where you will be hard-pressed to find a nation that hasn’t filled out its squad with naturalised imports.
So what’s the point of this experiment you ask? Well, in a nutshell, there is no point, because there’s never a point in anything, but at the risk of getting too existential, this is all just a bit of fun. My main goal was to try and create as even a World Cup as possible, to flatten out the odds of contention and manufacture some doubt over who actually would win, rather than the pre-determined acceptance of the winner being one of Australia or New Zealand.
So who is partaking in this fictional World Cup? Let’s start with the teams.
THE TEAMS
There are 16 teams who qualify for the World Cup. Take out Australia, New Zealand and England and that leaves you 13. Those remaining 13 teams are as follows:
Jamaica
Cook Islands
Fiji
Tonga
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
France
Wales
Scotland
Ireland
Greece
Italy
Lebanon
But you can’t just have a 13 team tournament. That makes no sense. We need to fill these spots out, but how?
Well, firstly, I’m not sure I want my Tier 2 bonanza to only have 16 teams like the original World Cup. Would anyone argue with 24 teams? Probably not, but I can’t stretch the talent that thin, so lets go with 20 teams. 4 groups of 5, simple.
I’m going to invite the three highest ranked teams (as of the latest postings on the International Rugby League website at the time of concoction, which, despite the publish date on this article, was actually many months earlier) who did not originally qualify to compete. Those teams are:
Serbia
The Netherlands
Malta
That gives us 16 teams, so we need to scratch around for four more.
If you remember my original lead off, there’s so much international level talent that doesn’t get represented at the World Cup, because the Australian squad is only so big, and not everyone has the option or avenue to represent a nation of heritage.
But what if we divided the Australian pool to make it a bit more balanced and open? Yes, that’s right, I’m bringing State of Origin to the international arena. Teams 17 and 18 will be New South Wales and Queensland.
Now to answer what I assume will be some FAQ when people get to this section.
But won’t NSW and QLD still have the first pick of the best Australian players?
No, and I’ll explain more in “Eligibility”.
NSW and QLD aren’t countries anyway?
Well spotted reader. No, they’re obviously not, but including NSW and Queensland was my way to ensure that obviously international quality players with no secondary eligibility would still have an avenue to play at this World Cup. After all, a World Cup is still meant to be an exhibition of the best of the best.
For example, Nathan Cleary is obviously Australian eligible, but Australia isn’t in this World Cup. Cleary is also eligible to play for the national teams of both Croatia and the Ukraine through heritage, but neither are ranked high enough (Croatia aren’t actually even listed on the IRL site, and the rankings go all the way down to Latvia at 47, while the Ukraine is at 26, between Germany and the USA). Therefore, he plays for the NSW “national” side.
That still leaves two spots though, and I’m going to sort of break my own rule.
The last teams will be…New Zealand and England.
HANG ON HANG ON PUT THE PITCHFORKS AWAY.
Yes, the last two teams are going to be basically an exiles side from both England and New Zealand, but this segues nicely into the next section.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
So you may be wondering how I’m going to decide who plays for who in this fictional World Cup. See the matrix below:
If a player is eligible for one Tier 2 nation listed above, they automatically must play for that nation.
If a player is eligible for more than one Tier 2 nation listed above, the following applies:
If a player has already represented one nation but not the other(s), he must play for that nation
If a player has represented more than one Tier 2 nation, he must play for the one he has more caps for
If a player has a tied amount of caps for multiple Tier 2 nations (or no caps across his eligibilities), I’ll make a judgement (I’m hoping it won’t come to this)
A player can only be eligible for the NSW, Queensland, England or New Zealand sides if:
They have no Tier 2 eligibilities, or
The Tier 2 nation they are eligible for is not participating in this World Cup (eg. Nathan Cleary and Croatia, as above)
Before we go any further, I’d like to shoutout some of the resources I’ll be using for this to help me out:
He Can Play For - International RL Eligibility (Twitter)
Zero Tackle (website)
Rugby League Project (website)
SEEDING
I’ve decided, for completeness, to actually allocate the teams into their four groups of five, and to do this I’ve had to seed the squads from one through 20. I won’t bore you with any maths or calculations to work this out, it was purely based on personal opinion. In any case, the seeding doesn’t matter so much as the range does, so if you think Tonga should be seeded third instead of fourth, it does not matter.
The seeding was:
Samoa
NSW
Queensland
Tonga
Fiji
New Zealand
Cook Islands
England
Papua New Guinea
France
Ireland
Lebanon
Scotland
Italy
Serbia
Jamaica
Wales
Greece
Malta
The Netherlands
Again, the purpose of this was to get rough ranges for the groups, which were then determined in snake order, as follows:
Group A
Samoa
England
Papua New Guinea
Jamaica
Wales
Group B
NSW
Cook Islands
France
Serbia
Greece
Group C
Queensland
New Zealand
Ireland
Italy
Malta
Group D
Tonga
Fiji
Lebanon
Scotland
The Netherlands
In this World Cup, everyone plays everyone else in their group once, and the top two teams advance to an 8 team knockout phase. Pretty standard right?
Ok, now the fun part, let’s stop wasting time and meet the squads.
THE SQUADS
Just a quick note here, you are about to see some very slick looking graphics for each team. Massive shoutout to Jack Cronin for helping me out by making this fake World Cup look and feel real.
GROUP A
SAMOA
You know you’re doing alright for outside backs when the likes of Murray Taulagi and Ronaldo Mulitalo can only make the reserves (although there might be a bit of my Penrith bias in there including Taylan May over them).
The Samoan pack is already strong but being able to parachute in a walk up starter for Australia in Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, star Kiwi backrower Isaiah Papali’i, and Rookie of the Year Jeremiah Nanai takes it to a whole new level. And then you get to a new look bench with Moses Leota, Payne Haas and Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
I think the biggest upgrade Samoa make here though is at halfback, going from Anthony Milford to Dylan Brown. Milford has been a tremendous leader and servant to Samoan rugby league over the years, which is why he retains a spot in the squad over someone like Chanel Harris-Tavita, but adding Brown to a spine that already has two-time Premiership winner Jarome Luai and future Origin representative Joseph Suaalii is unfair.
This Samoa squad is not without its question marks, namely the fact there are two five-eighths in the halves, and hooker is still a weak spot with Fa’amanu Brown the best option in a shallow pool, but this team is, to me, a pretty clear number one seed.
ENGLAND
The first of the traditional powerhouses, I was interested to see how many guys England actually lose, and the answer is not many. In a more even competition, this England side stacks up a lot better than maybe their side in the actual edition does, thanks to a bevy of strong NRL players like the Burgess brothers, Herbie Farnworth, Luke Thompson, Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead and new England commit Victor Radley.
To me, the halves are the most interesting spot in this entire roster, with Jackson Hastings eligible through his heritage to play for England (and has represented Great Britain before), while Sam Walker was born in the UK while his father was a coach over there.
Despite the Super League maybe not possessing the quality at the moment to challenge the NRL for elite talent, there’s still some quality inclusions in here, thanks to ex-NRL men like Sam Tomkins and John Bateman.
Kai Pearce-Paul is the X-factor in this lineup, the young Wigan star being able to play in the backrow or at centre, and has been tabbed by many as a future England star.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
PNG have a very settled squad, not really gaining anyone they don’t already have committed for the World Cup.
Alex Johnston, Xavier Coates and Justin Olam are an elite trio of NRL level talent for a Tier 2 nation, while Nene Macdonald and Robert Derby have also spent time in NRL systems.
The biggest advantage PNG have had recently over a lot of the other Tier 2 nations has been in their halves. So often, competent halves play is the difference between being a good Tier 2 team and a great Tier 2 team, and having two very legitimate options in Lachlan Lam and Kyle Laybutt has given PNG a great advantage over forcing one of their more talented guys into the spine just because, like Tonga with Kotoni Staggs or Fiji with Kevin Naiqama.
Maybe the biggest inclusion in here is young promising Bulldogs utility Bailey Biondi-Odo, who fills a void at hooker and gives the nation a very complete NRL level spine with Alex Johnston at fullback.
With nations like PNG I have also tried to keep it as real as possible by rewarding and including the guys who have represented the nation with dignity for a long time, hence the inclusion of guys like Epel Kapinias, Nixon Putt, Wellington Albert, McKenzie Yei and Sylvester Namo. All those names plus the Super League-based Rhyse Martin give PNG a very, very strong forward pack.
JAMAICA
The fun part of doing an exercise like this was learning about the squads and talent pools of some of these emerging nations like Jamaica, and how loyal the core group of this squad has been over the qualifying cycle.
There are some absolute stalwarts of Jamaican league, and the majority of the squad has been plucked from the English second division Championship, but they do have some Super League talent, like established prop Michael Lawrence, and a star centre pairing in Kallum Watkins and Newcastle Knights winger Dom Young, both of whom have been called upon by England for the World Cup proper.
Also, I have to come clean, I’ve cheated a bit with Jamaica (it won’t happen again) by including Will Pryce. Pryce is famously actually a generation out of being eligible for Jamaica, but in the interest of fun I decided to look past it and get him in there.
Lastly, the most fun part about this has been discovering the domestic leagues of these emerging nations and how the federations have been keen to reward their home-based talent, with the Jamaican champion Duhaney Park Red Sharks well represented.
All things considered, Jamaica’s squad is solid, with a mobile forward pack and Super League experience in the spine with Ashton Golding and James Woodburn-Hall as well as Pryce. Dom Young is in the centres to get him the ball, he seems wasted standing out on the wing here.
Let’s finish on a fun fact. Murray Taulagi is actually a generation out of being eligible for Jamaica. Wouldn’t that be fun.
WALES
Before he was an established NRL star, Jahrome Hughes was organising his paperwork to represent the Wales national team before the 2017 World Cup due to his grandfather. Outside of Hughes though, Wales don’t really gain too much that we don’t already know about.
Bradman Best fills one of the centre spots, England representative Morgan Knowles slots into the backrow, and the spine is rounded out by former Panthers and Raiders fullback Caleb Aekins and England-hopeful Harry Smith, who plays for Wigan in the Super League, plus Wales regular Matty Fozard at hooker.
To be honest, it’s clearly the weakest of the UK and Ireland group, their success might come down to how far Jahrome Hughes can drag them along with Smith, Best and a sneaky good back row of Knowles, Tyson Frizell and Ben Evans.
GROUP B
NEW SOUTH WALES
So, that’s still a pretty strong squad, even without the likes of James Tedesco and Payne Haas. The forward pack is essentially the same as the actual pack that ran out during this year’s series loss to Queensland, including the nearly-debutant in Jordan McLean.
This NSW side, to me, comfortably has the best kicking game of anyone in this tournament with both Cleary and Burton, and will be giving opposition back threes nightmares with their cacophony of spiral and floating bombs.
I think the front row probably isn’t as impactful as a Samoa or New Zealand, but the forward depth for this NSW side is very competent, with Matterson having played Origin this year, while Reece Robson was in the squad, and you could’ve made cases for the inclusions of Hudson Young and Shaun Lane as well.
Where this side falls down is their depth outside of their best 17, with an injury or two in the forwards likely to derail a campaign, they haven’t got the stable of forwards to call upon in that scenario, unlike Samoa.
COOK ISLANDS
Maybe one of the biggest beneficiaries of an influx of talent that would normally play for a traditional Tier 1 nation is the Cook Islands, gaining certified superstars in Valentine Holmes, Joseph Tapine and Joseph Manu to go along with NRL players who have previously played for the small nation like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Jordan Rapana and Francis Molo.
You might remember earlier when I said smaller nations sometimes have to force their obviously better players into unfamiliar positions in order to ensure they touch the ball more? Well that’s the Cook Islands with Joey Manu being shoehorned into the five eighth role, something he has done on occasion when the Sydney Roosters have suffered injury crises. It does help though when you have outside backs like the Kukis are able to call on here that you can afford to move Manu to the halves.
Tapine joins an NRL-quality middle rotation with Francis Molo and Broncos youngster Xavier Willison, while Marata Niukore is a quality addition to the edge stocks. Where the Kukis might struggle is in that halves play. Dargan is a competent half but he is a lower grader and Manu is obviously mainly in there to get his hands on the ball and be Joey Manu.
I have also tried to include reps from the mid year Tests, so there’s spots for guys like Tinirau Arona, Moses Noovao-McGreal and Pride Petterson-Robati.
FRANCE
Welcome to the Catalans and Toulouse combined All-Stars.
In all seriousness that is a very good quality French side, but to me what sets them apart is the excitement in the spine they bring with Kheirallah, Fages and Mourgue. Having genuine gamebreakers at international level is often what can separate those fringe nations from true contention, and while I’m not suggesting France are a side capable of winning this, they certainly have a side capable of distancing themselves from the middle of the pack.
I’m also going to use this section to highlight a cool story about how rugby league can find people and break down barriers. Justin Sangare is a young promising forward who has spent the last few seasons playing for Toulouse Olympique, and has signed on to join Leeds Rhinos in 2023. Born in the African country of Mali, he grew up in France and discovered rugby league at the age of 10 when the Toulouse community program visited his school. Discovering future international players through outreach, talk about incentive.
France is nothing if not a very solid team across the park, reflected in my projection of them as middle of the group. They don’t possess the top to bottom talent of NSW or the Cook Islands but the aforementioned spine players combined with quality forwards like Sangare and former Penrith Panther Ben Garcia make for a very competent team. I do worry about the lack of size in their pack, with both Ben Jullien and Mickael Goudemand small for edge forwards compared to their opponents.
SERBIA
A lot of the heavy lifting in this Serbian side is obviously done by the inclusion of the three Trbojevic brothers as well as Raiders winger Nik Cotric and Super League-bound Eels centre Tom Opacic, but there’s several players in this side with NRL and NSW Cup experience.
Zane Bijorac is a centre contracted to the South Sydney Rabbitohs, and was even named 18th man for their Round 20 clash against Cronulla earlier this season. Brad Deitz has played first grade for the Bulldogs and is now contracted to the Dragons. Jordan Grant has played a few games for the Melbourne Storm.
The issue with this Serbian side is clearly the lack of mobility and athleticism in their pack, something that no amount of Trbojevic’s will be able to mitigate.
One cool thing about the Serbian side though is, due to the emergence of rugby league as a sport growing popularity in Serbia, a lot of these players are based in the home nation and have represented their country with distinction throughout qualifying.
For a team that didn’t qualify for the World Cup proper, I think they have a better talent pool than several countries in this fake version.
GREECE
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the difference between a good Tier 2 side and a great Tier 2 side can often be whether you have actual spine players playing in their preferred positions. It doesn’t matter how many quality outside backs and forwards you have if your halves are shoehorned centres and your hooker is an extra middle forward.
Greece, while I think their overall squad is unspectacular, have NRL quality players in three spine positions, in South Sydney starting halfback Lachlan Ilias, along with fellow Souths lower graders in Peter Mamouzelos and Chaise Robinson, all tied together by Greek cult hero Jordan Meads, who has led this nation through the qualifying campaign.
The biggest inclusion here might be Nathan Peats, who acts as a link man in the middle, as is the trend in the modern game. Peats himself was keen to represent Greece at the actual World Cup, but that has not materialised, I’m speculating due to workload and a need to rest in the offseason. Peats joins a forward pack containing NSW Cup players in Billy Magoulias and Billy Tsikrikas.
Like Serbia, Greece are well represented in domestic players too, thanks to the growth of their national league, with such proud clubs as the Aris Eagles and Rhodes Knights represented well in this squad.
GROUP C
QUEENSLAND
Much like their NSW counterparts, Queensland are still able to call upon the majority of their Origin players, with a star spine of Kalyn Ponga, Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and new halfback and captain Ben Hunt. I probably wouldn’t even pick Daly Cherry-Evans on the bench, I think Reed Mahoney or Reece Walsh offer more utility value, but it felt dishonest leaving DCE out entirely.
Queensland also maintain a strong middle forward rotation with Reuben Cotter, Christian Welch and Jai Arrow being spelled by Tom Gilbert and Lindsay Collins, but where I think they suffer is in their centres and their edge forwards, as well as just general depth, which is to be expected when you have second pick of players.
The centre pairing is Dane Gagai coming off maybe his worst season as a pro, and the out of position AJ Brimson, who makes the side due to his previous experience playing for Queensland in 2020 in the centres, otherwise I’d probably give the nod to someone like Reece Walsh. As for their edge forwards, Kurt Capewell and Beau Fermor do not inspire much confidence in me as a tandem, but at least Capewell is not forced into the backs again.
Overall, it’s still a very strong squad, and one that can be counted to make it deep in the tournament on the back of their spine and forward pack.
NEW ZEALAND
Remember when I apologised earlier for bending my own rules to allow Will Pryce to play for Jamaica despite being a generation out? Well, if you hated that, you’ll absolutely loathe my inclusion of Samoan-born, rugby union player Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to have a swansong for the Kiwis. Why did I do it? Because I can, RTS is very fun, and the stocks were very low.
In all seriousness, New Zealand maybe suffer the most out of the Tier 1 nations from being given a reduced pool, as a lot of their star players have concurrent eligibilities, namely to nations like Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. That being said, the forward pack, led by Brandon Smith, Tohu Harris, James Fisher-Harris and the Bromwich brothers is still one of the best in the tournament.
General depth is so clearly a problem though, and I was this close to including Super League-based Bodene Thompson before settling on young Bulldogs gun Jackson Topine in the reserves along with Tigers lower grader Tuki Simpkins.
The biggest drop off though is clearly in the halves, losing Jahrome Hughes and Dylan Brown to Wales and Samoa respectively, and while Kieran Foran and Shaun Johnson have been great servants of New Zealand rugby league, they just don’t have that juice anymore, and the options behind them have all been snapped up by other nations as well.
IRELAND
Just quietly, I think Ireland are one of the biggest beneficiaries of an exercise like this. Just look at the influx of NRL quality talent they gain in Morgan Harper, Kodi Nikorima, Pat Carrigan, Dale Finucane and Josh Curran to join the already-committed Luke Keary, Jaimin Jolliffe and Harry Rushton.
The Irish pack is all of a sudden one of the stronger ones in the lower end of the tournament, boosted by Queensland’s Wally Lewis Medal winner Carrigan, who provides a different dimension to an already solid forward pack, combining with Finucane to provide two genuine ball playing options, although Carrigan’s role in this team would be more as a true front rower.
Ireland’s halves also receive a boost, and while Luke Keary is already playing for them at the World Cup, the inclusion of Kodi Nikorima gives him a capable sidekick in World Cup play. Further down the line, the Senior twins, Innes and Louis, are promising young Super League outside backs contracted to Huddersfield (although Louis has signed for Hull KR for 2023).
The squad is rounded off by Man of Steel candidate Jai Field, who would have walked the award if not for the late-arriving Brodie Croft at Salford. The Wigan fullback is one of the most electric players in the Super League and will provide this Irish side a point of difference in attack with his raw speed.
ITALY
Being able to call upon the best fullback in the world is a benefit Italy will not get this time around in real life after having James Tedesco for the 2013 and 2017 World Cups, but in my imaginary version he makes my home country stronger, which was the ultimate purpose of this exercise.
The Italian side features several veterans who have represented the Azzurri in World Cups before, including Paul Vaughan, Jack Johns (joined by debutant in brother Cooper), Nathan Brown and Nathan Milone, along with hooker Joey Tramontana. In terms of new blood with NRL experience, Trent Loiero and Daniel Atkinson join the team, while there are big hopes for South Sydney reserve grader Jack Campagnolo. Luke Polselli is also a promising fullback in the Queensland Cup, but is forced onto the wing because of Teddy.
Now, I can imagine there are some questions around Tom Flegler’s inclusion, as the big unknown of this side given there has been no mutterings of his Italian descent unlike everyone else. Well, for this piece I did a lot (and I mean a LOT) of research on esoteric tournaments, distant club sides and heritage games. As it turns out, there is a heritage game in north Queensland every year between Queensland Italy and NQ Samoa. Tom Flegler ran the water for the Italian side while his brother Ryan played in the game. I take that to mean he is eligible, and thus he is selected.
In terms of the overall squad, it is very solid across the park, but the lack of a genuine NRL level half does cap the ceiling of the side, despite how good Tedesco is. Alas, Jake Clifford is of Italian descent, but he is a generation late, and after bending the rules for Will Pryce and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie for this one.
MALTA
My immediate thought when Jack sent through the Malta graphic?
“My oh my hasn’t Jarrod Sammut aged like a fine wine.”
Sammut is Malta rugby league, having represented the side on 8 occasions over the years, including in the Emerging Nations World Cup in 2018. The 35 year old halfback is still running around in the English lower divisions to this day, scoring 20 tries for Barrow in 27 games in 2022, and is the undisputed leader of the side.
Outside Sammut though, the new NRL representation coming into the side is…scarce. Sean O’Sullivan had a fine season at Penrith in 2022, while Jake Mamo and Zac Cini have both played a handful of NRL games, and Sam Stone is a 39 NRL game veteran of the Knights and Titans.
Mainly though, this side is reliant on the state competitions as well as the English lower grades, and I’d be lying if I said I knew a hell of a lot about the side outside of the few NRL contracted players. Luke Sommerton is a promising reserve hooker at Penrith while the McDermott brothers are Queensland Cup prospects, but this side is relying on their halves at great length.
GROUP D
TONGA
Tonga have made such strides in the international game over the last few years that I look up and down this squad and realise…most of these guys are in their main World Cup squad anyway.
It’s a very strong forward pack led by revolutionary Jason Taumalolo, while David Fifita committed to Tonga over Australia, joining other elite forwards in Keaon Koloamatangi, Tevita Tatola and Addin Fonua-Blake to make up a formidable pack. The squad is so strong that regular Tongan representatives in Joe Ofahengaue, Sitili Tupouniua and Siliva Havili don’t even make their best 17 in my opinion.
Their backline is also top to bottom one of the strongest in the tournament, tied together by the returning Will Hopoate and young gun Will Penisini, coming off a very strong finals campaign with the Parramatta Eels.
If there was one weakness with Tonga it’s one they haven’t solved in real life too, and that’s their quality of halves. Kotoni Staggs is a great player, but he is out of position at five eighth, but you have to have him in the team somewhere, and thanks to the form of Penisini and Siosifa Talakai it makes them hard to drop.
You could also make the argument that Talatau Amone is very unlucky to not be in the side, and I’d agree with you. However, we saw during the mid year Tests this year how directionless a Staggs-Amone pairing was, so it’s one or the other to pair with great Tongan servant Tuimoala Lolohea. Do you drop Staggs for Amone? It’s a big call either way.
FIJI
Much like Tonga, the Fijians are a very settled group right now in international rugby league, with only Reagan Campbell-Gillard moving across from the Tier 1 nations to represent his heritage here, joining a very strong and established forward pack that includes the Saifiti twins, Viliame Kikau, Tariq Sims and Tui Kamikamica. Even better though, is we can end that weird “Taane Milne at lock” experiment that Fiji are somewhat forced to do due to a lack of options.
Sunia Turuva, the Penrith reserve grade fullback, really had a breakout in the mid year Test against Papua New Guinea, scoring two tries and running for a bucket load of metres in a losing effort, but firmly putting himself on highlight reels and shop windows despite agreeing an extension with Penrith mere weeks earlier.
What Fiji lacked though, in that loss to PNG was a quality spine, with Brandon Wakeham suspended and Api Koroisau on Origin duty with NSW. With those two included, the Fiji spine becomes very settled, despite running Kevin Naiqama at five eighth still, but did you actually think I was going to drop the legend of Fiji himself? You’re crazy.
As we know, the Bati outside backs are always strong, and Maika Sivo in particular will be out for revenge after an anonymous NRL Grand Final, along with clubmate Waqa Blake, as well as Dragons winger Mikaele Ravalawa and Canberra utility back Semi Valemei.
LEBANON
Lebanon, up and down, are just a very good side, punctuated by NRL quality outside backs, an elite halves pairing and a serviceable forward pack.
We have to start here with Adam Doueihi and Mitchell Moses, which is maybe the best halves pairing a Eurasian Tier 2 nation could ask for. Not to repeat myself, but I will. Halves play dictates Tier 2 sides, and Lebanon, outside of maybe Samoa, could have the best pair in this entire tournament.
The forward pack may actually be the biggest weakness of this side but Alex Twal is still a 100 plus gamer at NRL level, while James Roumanos, Kayne Kalache and Charbel Tasipale are all quality NSW Cup level forwards.
During the World Cup warmups, Jacob Kiraz has been playing at fullback, but I’ve decided to play him at his more natural centre position and bring in another loyal Lebanese international rep in Anthony Layoun, while the rest of the backline is full of NRL experience in Josh Mansour and former Manly winger Abbas Miski, while Brad Morkos represented NSW in the U19 State of Origin in 2022.
One to watch in this side is Bulldogs reserve utility Khaled Rajab, who I believe is joining the full time squad in 2023 from NSW Cup. He laid on some impressive tries in the NSW Cup Grand Final loss to Penrith, and will provide a spark off the Lebanon bench.
SCOTLAND
Upon reflection, I may have seeded this Scotland side far too low, because all its done is create a “GROUP OF DEATH” in Group D.
For those playing at home, Scotland have gained a functional NRL centre pairing in Campbell Graham and Aaron Schoupp, and the now record-points scoring Dally M winner in history in Nicho Hynes.
I think what stops me from fully believing in this Bravehearts side is the forward pack, Logan Bayliss is a promising Broncos reserve grader, Euan Aitken and Kane Linnett are NRL experienced edge forwards (although you could argue they are more hybrid centres), while Sam Luckley and James Bell are very solid players, but there isn’t much excitement or impact in that pack.
Graham, Schoupp and Hynes are a very capable trio of NRL imports to parachute into a Tier 2 side to elevate them to the edges of contention, but I’m not sure they have enough to boost a side from Scotland’s position into legitimacy, which is why I think Lebanon just shade them in my seedings.
NETHERLANDS
I am going to be brutally honest here. Outside Melbourne’s star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, I know not a lot about this Netherlands side. They are the lowest seeded in my bracket and scraping for what you’d call top-level talent, meaning NRL or state cup.
Ryan Barbuto and Egan Verheyen are U19 reps for the Dragons and Knights respectively, while Blake Barbuto and Bernard Gregorius are Queensland Cup products for the Brisbane Tigers.
Outside of that, this is a side very heavily loaded with Dutch locals, and a lot of this squad was built with the help of the Rugby League Project database.
The Netherlands are not even considered an affiliate nation by the International Rugby League federation (for reference, Greece and Malta are considered affiliates). The Netherlands have not lost a game since 2017, including four wins over Germany and two over Sweden.
Their last game, according to RLP, was a 36-10 win over the Czech Republic in October 2021. This side genuinely might not score a point in this tournament, and especially in this group.
CONCLUSION
Like I said at the start, the entire point of this exercise was to try and create an even World Cup and honour each player’s heritage. I love international rugby league and wanted to create something interesting and use this as an opportunity to research for the World Cup proper, but also to create a digital library of what some of these nations could look like if we ever reached full parity.
Who do you think would win this fictional Tier 2 World Cup? Comment below with your theories, and thanks for sticking with me through the madness.
