Rugby league: Warriors coach Nathan Brown questions decision to proceed with World Cup as planned

Warriors coach Nathan Brown has voiced his concern about the Rugby League World Cup going ahead later this year, asking for people to "look at the common sense of it."

It was confirmed tonight that the tournament scheduled to be held in England from late October to late November will go ahead as planned, after initial thoughts it would be postponed for a year due to Covid-19.

Having recently relocated from Central Coast to Queensland due to an outbreak of the virus, Brown is extremely alert to the risks involved in staging the Cup.

"We're in isolation up here because there are 65 people a day in Sydney getting Covid; there's 30,000 a day getting it in England," Brown said when asked what he thought of the tournament going ahead. "You tell me where the common sense lies there."

Nathan Brown. Photo / Photosport

While 87 per cent of the adult population have had their first does of the vaccine in the United Kingdom – with 67 per cent having had their second dose – the UK is still registering more than 42,300 cases of the virus and 49 Covid-19-related deaths daily, according to Public Health England.

Although some recent events such as the European Football Championship tournament went ahead in front of full crowds in England, Brown said there was a hesitancy around sending players into that environment.

"As clubs, under normal circumstances, you always want to promote and encourage players to play rep football," Brown said.

"All clubs need rep players to be a successful football club. We've obviously got a strong Tongan contingent, which has become a real big force in the game and a great promoter of our game now for the other countries. Obviously, we've got a fair number of New Zealand players, we've got Samoan players; we're probably the most multicultural club in the competition, and the World Cup at the right time is great for everyone. It is just clearly not the right time with what's going on in the world at the moment and people having to isolate.

"For us as a club, to see most of our squad turn up in February next year, when we're a new club as it is with a lot of new players and being on the road for two years straight, I would have thought it's not the right move for the Warriors."

The Rugby League World Cup is expected to start on October 23, with New Zealand drawing Jamaica, Lebanon and Ireland in pool play.

The quarter-final stages are set to get underway on November 12, with the final being held in Manchester on November 27.