Sky Sports Rugby League's Brian Carney analyses the big talking points from the world of rugby league, including the upcoming Rugby League World Cup finals, the 'Magic' style concept for the Rugby League World Cup 2030, and the ongoing work towards an NRL partnership. The more things change, the more things seem to stay the same. In a World Cup where we were hailing Tonga and Samoa and their emergence as title contenders, not just for an upset here and there but as title contenders, you have Australia and New Zealand in the final.
Australia and New Zealand are deserved finalists. They opened the tournament with an absolute bell-ringer and we will hope for more of the same in the final. I really cannot split them.
I give New Zealand a really good chance but like Australia have done for nearly half a century now, they keep finding ways to win. When they are down and out, dead and buried, off their game, like they were against Fiji, they find a way to win. Kalyn Ponga coming back in for New Zealand was a massive boost and he obviously had no problems defensively off the back of his broken arm- he threw himself into tackles and came up with try-savers.
We are in for a sensational final between the two best nations in the world. There are no complaints there. In the women's final, I cannot look past the Jillaroos.
They are at a level of dominance that I don't think we have ever seen from the Kangaroos ever. The scorelines they are posting, their ability to win games at a canter, even sometimes leaving points out there. It looks a greater hurdle to catch up with them for the likes of New Zealand and Samoa than the hurdle in the men's game.
I do not think there is a huge amount between Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa on any given day. I would not have fallen over in shock if Tonga or Samoa had won either of the semi-finals. I was probably more surprised that Tonga went full-on against Samoa a week earlier in a game that they did not have to win.
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