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What's going on? I can't believe there won't be any games at the DW for the World Cup in 2021. Is there a problem with the pitch/new owners or some anti-Wigan/Lenagan sentiment behind this decision. Perhaps the organisers don't won't the fans of one of our best supported clubs? Any ideas?

I wonder if we even applied to be a host venue?

Yes Wigan did apply.

Bloody football grounds.... again!!

No wonder our sport has no bloody money when we insist on showing big games at football stadia

Thanks for confirming. Then that is really disappointing - especially when the majority of stadiums that are being used are primarily football grounds (even allowing for dual purpose like Hull & Huddersfield). I wonder how Leigh got picked, but not Wigan - perhaps they thought they could fill Leigh but not Wigan? Maybe they bid more for the right to host? Who knows? Yet again though, it does look like the RFL / RL World Cup shooting themselves in the foot and taking money away from the clubs who actually play the sport and giving it to football instead.

2 for Leeds but none for Wigan says it all.

I know the RFL want full stadiums and choosing the likes of Leigh, Warrington and Saints will achieve this, but what Middlesbrough will look like half empty and Newcastle for the opening ceremony.

At least at Wigan they would know they would get +20K.

Its got Hetherington written all over it.

The boss of the rugby league World Cup has defended the decision to snub Wigan’s DW Stadium as a venue.

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy described it as an “inexplicable decision” that the council’s bid – backed by the Warriors – was overlooked

Nearby St Helens, Warrington and Leigh will host three games each, while Bolton will also be venue for one match.

Jon Dutton, chief executive of Rugby League World Cup 2021, said: “We’ve had some really tough decisions to make. If you look at the proliferation of venues we’ve selected across the north west, someone unfortunately had to miss out. “It was really tough when we had such great bids.

“If you look at the borough of Wigan, we had Leigh and we’re going to Bolton, which is around the corner but I think offers an opportunity with a different audience.

“For a rugby league fan, whether you live in Wigan, Warrington or Widnes, you can get to all those games and enjoy watching those teams.”

The 2021 World Cup will be almost exclusively based in the north of England, with just two of the 31 matches taking place south of Sheffield.

Wembley has been ignored but the Emirates Stadium in London will host rugby league for the first time, with the home of Arsenal handed one of the semi-finals, while Coventry will stage a group match at the Ricoh Arena.

The rest of the matches will take place deep in rugby league’s traditional heartland, with occasional forays into the north-east, as organisers comfortably meet a Government target of holding at least 80% of the tournament in the Northern Powerhouse.

It is a far cry from 2013, the last time the Rugby Football League organised the World Cup, when matches were staged in such far-flung places as Limerick, Neath, Bristol and Avignon.

The draw will take place on November 27, two years out from the final, and venues are:

Group matches - Bolton, St Helens 3, Warrington 3, Leigh 3, Coventry, Doncaster 3, Workington 3, Leeds (Headingley) 3, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Hull (KCOM), Sheffield (Bramall Lane).

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/rugby- ... -1-9562972

I’ve said exactly the same!

What a load of bollocks!! Football stadiums to show opening ceremony, group matches, etc!
No wonder our clubs aren’t getting money generated from internationals when they keep playing them at mega rich football clubs

Just read that Warrington, Saints and Leigh have all got 3 matches each.

The closest we have is Bolton. Its a shocking decision, they must realise that they could have had a full house at the DW but instead are going with smaller stadiums and football grounds.

It's like having the football world cup in the UK and snubbing Old Trafford, what a piss take

medlocke wrote: ↑Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:20 pm It's like having the football world cup in the UK and snubbing Old Trafford, what a piss take

Agree with you there.

The Smellys hosting 3 matches is a joke.