The plan England's rugby league bosses hope avoids repeat of World Cup pain — SkimNews
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- RFL announced a new strategic panel including Paul Sculthorpe, Jodie Cunningham, and Adrian Morley to lead a long-term rebuild of English rugby league following World Cup failures
- Ian Nolan acknowledged the RFL must address media rights strategy and grassroots development, noting the women's game only began receiving investment in recent years
- England men's team failed to advance past the group stage after losing to Tonga and Papua New Guinea, with head coach Brian McDermott citing structural gaps in player development
- England women's team fielded a squad averaging 21 years old, with 11 players from the DiSE youth programme, as part of a long-term development strategy despite early exit
- Brian McDermott called for Super League clubs to strengthen their youth systems, noting Australian clubs consistently develop more high-quality spine positions than English counterparts
- RFL tied the new review to its existing One Game, One England initiative, aiming for changes that will take four to ten years to yield results
Why it matters: The RFL is betting on a decade-long rebuild to close the gap with Australia’s NRL, meaning English fans and players will endure more international disappointments before any payoff. Without stronger domestic structures, even committed coaching and youth pipelines won’t bridge the systemic quality deficit.
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