How England's rugby league bosses plan to avoid repeat of World Cup pain

England's men won two of their three group games and finished with a points difference of +86, but it was not enough

>The time for excuses is over - and those in charge of English rugby league know it.

>There were mitigating circumstances behind England's early departures from the Men's and Women's Rugby League World Cups.

>But there is also an acknowledgement within the Rugby Football League that, for both the men and the women, a group-stage exit is just not good enough.

>Within minutes of the men's exit being confirmed on Sunday morning as Tonga defeated Samoa 20-18 in an epic, the RFL had announced a plan to map out the future of the English game.

>Former Great Britain men's captain Paul Sculthorpe, retiring England women's skipper Jodie Cunningham and international great Adrian Morley will be among those helping to put together that plan.

>The RFL has promised more names will be confirmed on the panel in the coming days - to build on work started earlier in the year under a scheme it is calling One Game, One England.

>Its aims - to build a system that develops players from grassroots and academy level who will ultimately be good enough for the international stage - chime with the recent words of Brian McDermott, head coach of England's men's team.

>McDermott has spoken more than once during this World Cup campaign about the need to strengthen the structures of the English domestic game in order to give the national team a fighting chance.

>And while England were not helped by their travel schedule, or a group format that effectively meant they were facing elimination from the moment they lost their opening match to Tonga, or injuries that robbed them of key players, they will not pretend that all is fine.

>Set up to fail? Where England's World Cup campaign went wrong

>McDermott calls for Super League to accept NRL investment

>England's travel schedule like Steve Martin comedy - McDermott

>Ian Nolan, the RFL's new chief executive, has made clear that he recognises that.

>"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," Nolan said.

>"Likewise, we were also criticised for what happened with the TV rights and the tournament going behind a paywall [on Premier Sports]. 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."

>England's women have not been helped by the fact they are playing in a domestic competition - the Women's Super League - that is effectively amateur, while being asked to compete at a World Cup against professionals from Australia's NRL Women's Premiership.

>But they do have a development programme in place - the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) is designed to bring through young female players, in years 12 and 13 of the education system, who have the potential to play at the elite level.

>"Grassroots investment in our women and girls' game only started a few years ago," Nolan said. "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."

>England took a young squad to the Women's Rugby League World Cup, beating Wales 70-6 but then losing 78-0 to Australia and 24-6 to Samoa

>England's exit from the Men's Rugby League World Cup was confirmed on Sunday, exactly 12 months to the day after their Rugby League Ashes challenge officially ended.

>On 1 November last year, Australia won 14-4 in the second Test at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium to secure a series victory.

>That defeat, and the one that followed in the third Test at Headingley seven days later, set in motion the chain of events that led to Shaun Wane's departure as head coach. He left in January and McDermott arrived in April.

>McDermott - with no mid-season international or warm-up matches to fine-tune a style of play - has produced improvements.

>England were good in patches against Tonga, were as ruthless as they needed to be against France, and were doing everything required of them for the opening 20 minutes against Papua New Guinea before losing their way completely.

>McDermott wants to stay on for the 2030 World Cup and, given the right preparation time, could well bring further progress.

>He is, however, fighting with one hand tied behind his back.

>Australia's NRL is king in the rugby league universe: the seven-year, A$5.3bn (£2.78bn) television contract it signed in July is evidence of that. The three-match State of Origin series, staged in June and July, dominates the calendar at the point Europe might try to squeeze in an international window.

>It means that if England want to play the southern hemisphere sides - as they must in order to keep improving - they can only do so in October and November, and even then must work around the southern hemisphere's Pacific Championships.

>That makes it even more important that English domestic rugby league finds a way to bridge the quality gap between itself and the Australian game - to ensure Super League players are facing the best week in, week out.

>Of the 23 players picked for the tournament by Tonga - England's ultimate conquerors - 22 play in the NRL

>The NRL's ongoing negotiations to invest in Super League may help. Peter V'landys - chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, the NRL's parent body - remains keen to do a deal despite a struggle to reach agreement.

>"I think there's some dominoes could start falling our way if the NRL invests and we accept their investment," McDermott said just under two weeks ago.

>But as he has also pointed out, the problems in English rugby league are too deep to be solved quickly with financial investment.

>"New South Wales clubs have got about six teams [from youth level up to the senior side]," McDermott said last month. "And every one of those teams have got a six [stand-off], a seven [scrum-half] and a nine [hooker] and a one [full-back]. And they all play consistently.

>"Super League clubs... I don't think they could populate three teams underneath them with a genuine six, seven, nine and one [the spine of the team].

>"And this is not a new opinion, this has been going on for a long time.

>"It's nothing to do with professionalism. It's nothing to do with commitment. It's nothing to do with good quality coaching or commitment from players. It's just the size of the competitions."

>What is clear is whatever the future for English rugby league, there are no quick fixes, even with the One Game, One England panel in place.

>As Nolan puts it: "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, 10 years' time."