Contrary to the usual cliché, I don’t remember where I was when Shaun Johnson scored that miracle try against England in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup semi final. From what I recall I was drunk in town and I definitely have a recollection of seeing the try, in all its wizardry, replayed on a small telly screen behind a bar while waiting for a refill but that might just be my memory playing tricks on me.

I absolutely remember where I was the following week for the final. I’d been at a 21st and a bunch of us stumbled back to a mate’s house to watch it afterwards. It’d been a long night and nobody really expected the Kiwis to beat that Aussie team anyway. But hey, 2-0 up after quarter of an hour or so and it didn’t seem so bad… but the writing was long since on the wall when Billy Slater scored the third try straight after half-time. Pretty sure none of us managed to stay awake until the end.

That was a really strong Kiwis team too, it just couldn’t compete with an all-time good Kangaroos line-up. All the great Kiwis sides have been forced to admit that same thing… all except one. I don’t remember where I was in 2008 but I’m assuming I was at home because I wasn’t yet old enough to get into the pubs and, dammit, it was the Rugby League World Cup Final. I do remember falling asleep during a famous Kiwis win over Aussie at one point around then… but pretty sure it was the Four Nations final. Look, some of these games are on at very tricky times, alright?

The reason this matters is that there’s a Rugby League World Cup coming up later this month (you might have heard) and I’ve been reading Andrew Marmont’s new book ‘Their Finest Hour: A History of the Rugby League World Cup in 10 Matches’. It’s gotten me reminiscing, you know? Thinking about my own finest hours as a rugby league fan, asking others about their own. The Rugby League World Cup probably doesn’t get the credit it deserves as a competition but thanks to 2008 it holds a special place in the hearts of most Kiwis fans.

Admittedly, the ten games that ‘Their Finest Hour’ focusses on are all semi-finals or finals. Those are the most important matches, the ones with the prize on the line. A tome celebrating the FIFA World Cup would have a similar trend. However this also hints towards the main thing that’s held the World Cup back in comparison to other World Cups.

See, the difference with the football World Cup is you can’t pick the finalists before the tournament’s even begun, and it’s that predictability that tends to be the Rugby League World Cup’s biggest shortcoming. The lack of depth in international league outside Australia, New Zealand and England/Great Britain is a problem – the entire group stages tend to be a walkover of 50-point victories and rotated squads. Three dominant teams (and even then there’s space between Aussie and the other pair) doesn’t make for a comprehensively entertaining tournament.

The first RLWC, as I now know, only included four teams: Australia, Great Britain, France and New Zealand. This was back in 1954 and the GBR topped France 16-12 in the final. (I did take note whilst reading of the golden era of French rugby league back in the early days of the World Cup, Robert Puig Albert is a bloke worth googling). They wouldn’t add a fifth team until the 1975 edition and even then it was only because England and Wales competed separately (Wales had a couple almost tournaments over the years which were sadly never quite capitalised on in the country). Papua New Guinea entered things in the 80s but it was only in 1995 that they fully began to expand things – with Fiji, South Africa, Tonga and Samoa entered. Right around the time, as Marmont details, of the Super League revolution, when money began to enter the sport at a crazy rate.

Even without their Super League aligned players (a list that included folks like Ricky Stuart, Steve Walters and Laurie Daley), Australia still won the damn thing. Frank Endacott’s Kiwis took them to extra time in the semi but the Kangaroos were still narrowly too good… although Matthew Ridge missed a sideline conversion that woulda won it (and a drop goal). Yet despite the typical outcome, that 1995 tournament deserves to be remembered as a visionary event, the one which forged the Rugby League World Cup as we now know it. And probably paved the way for the tournament we might be about to witness.

Fast forward to the modern day and there’s already drama, weeks out from the first game, thanks to the decisions of a number of players to reject call-ups from Australia and, especially, New Zealand, in order to represent their Polynesian roots instead. Jason Taumalolo most famously. You’ve already read enough on that whole situation, suffice to say that it could’ve been handled better but, as far as the World Cup organisers go, this might also be an incredible boost for the tournament.

Suddenly the New Zealand vs Tonga match in pool play has some serious juice behind it. Suddenly the Samoa clash does too. We were already coming off a Queensland Cup season which was won by the Papua New Guinea Hunters featuring a large chunk of the squad that’ll represent PNG at the World Cup. The majority of the Fijian side are affiliated with NRL clubs too. For most of the history of international rugby league the smaller nations have struggled to compete with the resources of the only three nations to have ever won the RLWC and that’s before they go poach their players on top of that.

When the first ever tournament was held in France in 1954, the whole thing was frantic and disorganised enough that the British team spent their first training sessions throwing about a vest stuffed into a sock down after having to jump the gates at the ground because nobody spoke enough French to figure out how to get there or get in and they didn’t have access to the gear. They went on to win and returned home as heroes (it was the only time Australia hasn’t made a final). That was where this thing began. Four teams, everything planned in a hurry, barely any money involved at all. Now we’re preparing for a World Cup that’ll be broadcast around the planet, featuring 14 teams full almost entirely of professional athletes. And, finally, the push and pull between the top few teams and the rest is starting to be a little more push and little less pull.

So if the Kiwis had to cop a few more PR losses to demonstrate the power of the World Cup then so be it. The Kiwis still have a quality team. Despite what the same old jokers who get interviewed every time there’s a controversy in NZ league have to say, this isn’t about New Zealand anyway. If the eligibility rules give you the opportunity to choose then it’s your choice, right? And that one of the finest players in the game chose to represent Tonga at the World Cup shows the World Cup for what it’s always wanted to be: A World Cup, rather than a glorified Four Nations. A celebration of rugby league, to borrow a phrase.

And tempting as it is to look at this current incarnation through a microscope, it’s a lot more valuable to appreciate the 63 year trajectory of the Rugby League World Cup from humble and hopeful beginnings to the modern tournament where the lure of playing for the best couple teams isn’t an automatic decision. Here’s to a few more World Cup classics this year. They should be a bit easier to stay awake through this time.

The Niche Cache is still in the early days of its world domination plans, so give a tap on an ad to help us along. Or, if you’re really keen, throw a buck or two on our Patreon. Also, read ‘Their Finest Hour’ if you’re looking for some summer literature, why not?