RFL turns to England icons to discuss international future after World Cup exits with review launched

The Rugby Football League has announced that some of England’s biggest rugby league icons will form a panel to help shape the future of the national game.

The governing body’s new chief executive, Ian Nolan, has acted swiftly following the early exits of England’s men and women from the Rugby League World Cup.

It marked the first time England had failed to reach the semi-finals of the tournament in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Nolan, who took up his role with the RFL at the start of October, will now call upon some of the biggest names in English rugby league to lead a review of national performance.

The panel will include former England internationals Paul Sculthorpe, Adrian Morley and Gareth Ellis, alongside recently retired England captain Jodie Cunningham. Further names are set to be confirmed in the coming days.

The review will examine every level of the game, from grassroots and player pathways to the talent pool available for the international stage.

Nolan said: “In this World Cup, Brian McDermott and his men’s squad have delivered two wins from their three games and shown signs of genuine quality.

“The 82-0 win over France was as emphatic as anyone could have hoped for and the opening 20 minutes against Papua New Guinea on Friday was similarly impressive.

“Sadly, we couldn’t quite maintain that level throughout, but we still emerged with two wins and were unfortunate, in many ways, to not prosper versus Tonga in our opener.

“There are plenty of mitigating reasons why we failed to reach the knockout stages, many of which were out of our control, such as travel itineraries and format of the competition, but we can’t use these as excuses.

“Likewise, we were also criticised for what happened with the TV rights and the tournament going behind a paywall. We had no control over who the rights were sold to. However, television is an important element of capturing the imagination of the next generation.

“This analysis of our national game will be all-encompassing, including how we can influence media rights, balancing reach and revenue, and attracting new audiences.

“But on the pitch, we must look at why we have consistently struggled to make our mark on the world stage for more than half a century - this isn’t just a recent problem.

“With ‘One Game, One England’, we have already been in consultation with the Super League clubs for some time with regards a new talent and performance strategy around pathways and academies.

“This will be finalised by the end of the year, and the panel will add further value to that aspect of work.”

The RFL said the panel would build on work already started earlier this year under the internal title ‘One Game, One England’, extending its remit across the entire game.

That will include examining how the player pool in England can be increased and how the game is played.

Nolan has also spent time with the governing body’s DiSE programme, where the 2026 cohort of England’s elite girls were recently onboarded.

He added: “Grassroots investment in our women and girls’ game only started a few years ago. We’ve started that journey.

“Stuart Barrow took a very young side to this World Cup, with 11 graduates from our DiSE programme. We’re very much building for the next World Cups – the average age of our squad was just 21 years old, but the groundwork is starting to pay off.

“The panel will help us form some big decisions and changes. Those decisions might need the support of the entire game, and progress won’t be achieved overnight. These will be changes that pay off in four, eight, ten years’ time.

“The input from the panel gathered together will be pivotal in giving us some of the answers we need and the thinking required to enable us to reach our on-field objectives.”

Nolan is expected to meet with the panel in the coming weeks.