Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has called for a four-year international schedule to be introduced in between World Cups.
Australia won their third straight World Cup last Sunday in a tournament which captured the imagination of the Pacific Islands after Samoa made the final.
Meninga emphasised the game should capitalise on the surge popularity as it will create greater depth for future World Cups.
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“People want to play for their country. That’s what they want to do,” Meninga said on SENQ 693 Breakfast.
“Let’s hope the game realises how important the international game is for rugby league.
“Hopefully, they’ll find a schedule for us and we can move forward with making our sport a global sport.
“We can’t let this chance go by and we’ve got to have a four-year schedule from World Cup to World Cup.
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“You can then start to build everything around that.”
Meninga’s selection changes were questioned throughout the World Cup but the coach hit back at the critics after yet again lifting the trophy.
“We had a plan right from the beginning,” Meninga said.
“We knew all the players (in the squad) were going to play and that player combinations might be affected by that.
“Our spine played five or six games together so all the opinions and analysts got that wrong.”
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