IT’S very rare that rugby league makes the back pages of the mainstream media’s newspapers, and when it does it’s usually a negative story.

That was the case again today when the news of Australia and New Zealand pulling out of this year’s Rugby League World Cup in England received blanket back-page coverage.

As reported in the Star, Australia and New Zealand say they made this decision due to how badly the Covid-19 pandemic has been handled in Britain.

New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters said: “The tournament organisers have moved heaven and earth to make this work, so it is not an easy decision, but the Covid-19 situation in the UK shows no sign of improving and it’s simply too unsafe to send teams and staff over.”

This has not been the case for Australia’s rugby union team, though, who are so far still playing internationals in the UK later this year as planned, while teams from Australia and New Zealand have travelled to Japan for the rugby sevens tournament at the Olympics.

A statement today from the Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) indicated that players from Australia and New Zealand still intend to compete in the World Cup by switching allegiance to their nations of heritage.

“We have had feedback from a number of players eligible for these nations stating their intentions to compete in the tournament, pending more information becoming available in the coming weeks,” said RLPA chief executive officer Clint Newton.

“Clearly the views of those players have not been enough to prevent this decision and we believe it has been made prematurely.

“For players representing remaining participating nations, our priority will be to help ensure appropriate health and safety measures are in place, and also provide them with the relevant information to make an informed decision about participation.

“We had anticipated that players from Australia and New Zealand would have that same opportunity, which has unfortunately been taken away from them with last night’s decision.”

Defending champions Australia have won eight of the last nine World Cups, only interrupted by a New Zealand win in 2008. It wouldn’t feel like a World Cup without them.

The tournament in England this year would have raised the profile of the sport at a time when it desperately needs it — there might have even been some positive back-page stories.

Instead it looks like there will be more organisational and administrative issues to report on than there will be on the joys of the game itself — a state of affairs that is all too familiar for rugby league fans.