Panthers CEO Corey Payne wanted to see matches played in western Sydney. "I am extremely disappointed that we have been snubbed by the NRL for 'commercial reasons'. It doesn't make any sense to me that the only two RLWC games scheduled for Sydney – Australia v Lebanon and England v Lebanon, will not be played in our backyard.



"It is a mind-boggling decision which makes me question the NRL's strategic agenda for Australia's fastest growing economy and population. Our backyard is the growth engine of Australia, a burgeoning infrastructure capital and home to the third-largest economy in the country." The Rugby League World Cup committee, in consultation with the NRL, made the decision to take matches to venues in Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch in New Zealand, Canberra, Melbourne, Cairns, Townsville and Darwin in Australia, as well as Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The two matches in Sydney are pool games, with the city failing to attract a play-off match given the state government's reluctance to invest money into securing fixtures. Penrith made a huge play at hosting a match and according to Payne "offered to host a Rugby League World Cup ball, host after-match functions, organise junior league gala days and school visits at our expense" as well as offering Pepper Stadium hire at cost price.

"The region is a showpiece for multiculturalism in Australia," Payne said.



"It is a real shame that the NRL cannot see the opportunity out here in the west. If they cannot make World Cup games commercially viable in western Sydney then I must be living on the moon. Western Sydney deserves better." At the last World Cup on home soil in 2008, western Sydney hosted four matches with Parramatta and Penrith given two games each. While Parramatta is out of action with Pirtek Stadium to be knocked down and rebuilt at the end of the year, Penrith was desperate to host a World Cup game given the success of the Pacific Test matches in western Sydney in recent years. Payne, who hails from western Sydney, believes the demographics of the area made Penrith a no-brainer to host a game. "My home is Australia's multicultural melting pot with in excess of 180 languages spoken, where 39 per cent of residents speak a language other than English. We are a dynamic bunch," Payne said in his letter.

"We are home to Australia's largest Indigenous population. We are the third largest contributor to the Australian economy (contributing $127 billion to the economy) and within the next decade will be home to an estimated 3 million people. Currently, 830,000 residents aged under 30 call Western Sydney home.



"We are building our own airport, our own light rail system, our own metro rail and have an estimated $35 billion of major infrastructure projects in the pipeline." The Panthers have invested plenty of money into rugby league, including a $22 million academy that is the envy of all NRL clubs. "We spent $22 million building the best training academy in the southern hemisphere for rugby league," Payne said. Loading "We have the largest junior league in the country and committed to developing talent from within. I should note that over 50 per cent of our junior league players are of Polynesian heritage. Our junior development system continues to produce results.

"This year we went one game short of making the grand final in the NSW under 16s Harold Matthews Cup, we won the NSW and national under 18s competitions, we are defending premiers in the National Youth Competition and leading the 2016 competition by a country mile and have just delivered two NSW State of Origin players. We are heading in the right direction."