Rugby League World Cup will bring excitement and exposure to Doncaster

The Eco-Power Stadium has successfully staged big rugby league games in the past including Challenge Cup semi-finals.

But in terms of stature the three World Cup games are on another level even if the crowds might not be as big.

All the games will be screened live by the BBC - which could hit attendances given the current cost of living crisis - and will be seen in numerous countries world-wide.

Everyone involved in the campaign to bring the World Cup to the city will be hoping that teams, supporters and the media all go away from the complex, and Doncaster in general, with a positive reaction.

The club have put in a lot of work in local schools in the last 12 months or so and will also be hoping that their efforts, and the excitement of the competition, will encourage more youngsters to become involved in the sport going forward.

The first of the three games on Monday features a France side packed with players who lit up Super League last season including exciting young full-back/half-back Arthur Mourge, centre Matthieu Laguerre (both Catalans Dragons) and half-back Tony Gigot who starred for Toulouse.

And they will be expected to get their Group A campaign off to a winning start against a Greek side which will be making its debut in the finals.

Samoa are based in the city during the competition and will therefore attract a lot of local support. They check in at the stadium on Sunday week, also against Greece, having played England in the opening game of the tournament at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park.

Samoa are tipped by many good judges as dark horses for the Cup. And given that a number of their squad recently helped Penrith Panthers retain their (Australian) National Rugby League (NRL) title with a stunning win over local West Sydney rivals Paramatta Eels in front of a sell-out 82,000 crowd, it is not hard to see why.

They are expected to be one of the crowd favourites and anyone going to the Eco-Power Stadium is bound to be impressed with their skills, athleticism, and power.

Papua New Guinea, where rugby league is the national sport, pulled off a surprise win over the touring Great Britain side a couple of years ago, and they will be expecting to give a good account of themselves in Group D.

PNG, whose squad features NRL and Super League stars as well as players from newly-crowned Championship winners, Leigh, and Doncaster’s own Watson Boas, will be in action at the Eco-Power Stadium against Wales squad lacking the big-name rugby union converts of past campaigns.

But Wales, who have selected former Doncaster Knights wing Kyle Evans despite him only having played a handful of games for Wakefield Trinity in the Super League last season following his switch of codes, can always be relied upon to play with pride and intensity.

Depending on how results go in their two previous pool games, the game could decide who goes through to the quarter-finals along with Tonga, who are expected to not only coast through the group stages but mount a serious challenge in the latter stages.

Not only do Tonga boast a number of high-profile players from both the NRL and Super League, they will be coached by Kristian Woolf who recently steered St Helens to a record-breaking fourth successive title.

In addition to finding themselves in the strongest of the four groups, England could hardly have a tougher opener and it is no means certain they’ll get off to a winning start.

Despite having home advantage, England’s hopes of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1972 have been badly hit by numerous injuries to key players which has caused many, myself included, to re-evaluate their prospects.

The loss of St Helens’ trio prop Alex Walmsley, stand-off Jonny Lomax and centre Mark Percival is a huge blow. As is the absence of young Leeds Rhinos’ centre Harry Newman as the latter two would likely have been England’s first-choice centre pairing.

Another key absentee is Wigan back-rower Liam Farrell, one of the best support players in Super League, although there is no shortage of quality players available to Wane in the back-three.

The likelihood is that Wakefield winger Tom Johnstone and young St Helens half-back Lewis Dodd would also have been in the frame for selection but for long-term injuries.

As well as a catalogue of injuries to key players – the rock-hard grounds during the summer months likely to have played some part - coach Shaun Wane’s options weren’t helped by a number of players likely to have been in his thoughts at the start of the 2022 season having poor or mixed campaigns at club level.

Warrington scrum-half George Williams certainly fits into that category and many feel that young Wigan prospect Harry Smith was unlucky to miss out after an impressive season.

Whatever squad Wane picked there would have been question marks against some of his selections but he has obviously gone for players who he thinks will fit best into his system and will best meet the physical challenges which lie ahead.

If the domestic game is going to capitalise on the sort of national media exposure normally only reserved for the rival code, and capture the hearts of the nation the way that England’s women’s footballers did in the summer, then Wane’s team have not only got to be successful but they have got to entertain.

One of the reasons that Wane wasn’t everyone’s first choice for the job was the fact that Wigan, currently one of the great entertainers of Super League, adopted a dour style of play at times under his charge.

England will need to take risks with the ball to pierce the defensive structures of holders Australia, 2008 winners New Zealand and the Pacific nations.

Most of the players on view over the next month will be familiar to those who follow Super League and the NRL.

Great players though they undoubtedly are, a lot of them have not been tested at international level though the three State of Origin matches Down Under are as tough as any test match.

Due to the increasing threat of the Pacific nations the quality of the knock-out stages are likely to surpass that of previous World Cup campaigns and its not beyond the bounds of possibility that there will be a new name on the trophy.

Much could depend on the weather over the next month.