BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

You could almost forget there is a World Cup happening over in the United Kingdom at the end of the season such is the way the NRL news cycle spins here in Australia.

But we’ll do our very best over the coming months to keep you posted with everything that’s happening around the globe.

This is the ‘Road to the World Cup’.

COVID DRAMA

Many of the best players hoping of getting to the World Cup in England at the end of the season are playing in Australia’s NRL and it’s worrying what the government has to say. “With respect to international borders, it’s quite a conservative, cautious assumption that international borders will gradually reopen from the middle of next year,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg admitted the other day. You’d think they would find a way.

JAMAICA HAS A RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM

Code-hopping English legend Jason Robinson is convinced Jamaica’s first tilt at the World Cup will be a worthy one as they head toward the tournament at the end of the year. A legendary winger in both rugby codes, Robinson’s father is Jamaican, and he can’t wait to see what the Reggae Warriors can do.

“There’s jokes around Cool Runnings but I’ve played in three World Cup finals and I know the demands,” he recently said. “We want to be as competitive as possible. We’ve got a real mixture of guys, playing at all different levels. There will be some guys coming over from Jamaica and it’s going to be great for seasoned campaigners like Michael Lawrence and Ashton Golding, while we’ve Dom Young over in the NRL. The key is to prepare well and, come the World Cup, give a good account of ourselves.”

ISSUES IN SAMOA

There are major concerns for Samoa ahead of the World Cup and if they don’t fix them now then they may have another disappointing tournament. Recently brothers Matthew and Andrew Johns came forward and offered to coach the side for the Cup alongside Sonny Bill Williams. Despite, allegedly, Matt Parish have ‘full support of the board’. Samoa then released a statement that incumbent coach Matt Parish was safe. Some players have gone on record and say they want to do for Samoa what Tonga did at the 2017 World Cup but how much is it the coach and how much is it the players?

FIJI MAP OUT PLAN

Officials in Fiji are planning different scenarios ahead of the World Cup already which could include keeping squad members in different countries before heading to England. “Option one is for all the players to meet here in Fiji. Option two is the boys in Australia just train in Australia and if some of the boys here in Fiji will be selected and they will have to train here in Fiji, the worst-case scenario is option three for us just to meet in England and they just meet in the world cup camping facility”, says coach Joe Rabele.

@woodward_curtis