It's 18 months away and the World Cup has already been hit by budget cuts. Tournament CEO Michael Brown has sent competing countries the following email saying the Festival Of World Cups which was to take place around the main events - involving police, universities and defence forces - would be slashed. Brown wrote: "The RLWC2017 Organising Committee has recently reviewed the FOWC budget in detail and the level of financial support we had expected from corporate partners and local, state and federal governments has not materialised." It's expected the athletes themselves will have to spend 30 per cent more on getting to Australia than previously expected.

Another slap in the face?

Let's start by congratulating the NRL for supporting Samoa's first full-scale home Test, against Fiji at Apia Park on October 8. But how insulting would it be if Mitchell Pearce was seriously threatened with being stood down from club football if he refused to play State of Origin, when this weekend's coaches received no such assistance from headquarters when more than 60 players withdrew? ARLC chairman John Grant, when asked about the number of withdrawals, said: "We'd like a better turnout. There's not a lot of players who are not going to play for Country because they want to play for Country. I think that reflects on City. Grant described all clubs releasing players for Tests as "a journey". Back to the past, then, when this was standard practice.