As you might expect, this normally quadrennial event, which will conclude on November 19, will be played out at familiar venues such as Wigan, Warrington, Leeds, Leigh and St Helens. But not just there. 

Old Trafford in Manchester, which will host the final, Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in north London, St James' Park in Newcastle, Elland Road in Leeds, Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, Sheffield’s Bramall Lane - famous football grounds all - will also host a competition that will, geographically and inevitably, have a widespread appeal.

For its part the English Rugby Football League, buoyed by fulsome United Kingdom Government support - £15 million ($16.5 million/€17 million) to enhance the tournament and up to a further £10 million ($11 million/€11.5 million) into the game's infrastructure - have ambitions for the event to be the most attended in history with more than a million people attending the 16 venues dotted around the country.

And it is not just the venues that will evidence an imaginative approach to the organisation of this competition.

For the first time, the men’s Rugby League World Cup will be run alongside women's version, which will take place at Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York and Hull from November 1 to 19, and the men’s wheelchair version, which will run from November 3 to 18, using the Copper Box Arena in London, Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport and the Manchester Central arena.

All participants will be paid the same money. All 61 matches across three tournaments will be broadcast live.

That is one enlightened schedule. Inclusive. Gender-balanced. The very thing, in fact, to appeal to the… but we will get on that.

Last July the prospect of this huge celebration of rugby league not being able to go ahead as planned because of various COVID-19 restrictions around the world clearly troubled Jon Dutton, chief executive of RLWC2021, and Troy Grant, the Australian chair of the International Rugby League (IRL).

Dutton said that organisers of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup had gone past the point of no return and that the tournament would be staged in 2021.

Grant said that the 2021 staging would represent "a big leap forward" for the sport, adding: "The opportunity that would be lost by not having a World Cup this year is massive and could be significantly damaging to the international game."

A year and three-quarters further on it seems the point of no return has been passed without stupendous consequences.

Grant will have been entirely able to understand the political pressures that came to bear last year over the vexed question of COVID-19 protocols, given that he is a career politician whose love for rugby league, as a player and administrator, has been accompanied by a series of elevated offices including Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services and most recently Inspector-General of Water Compliance.

Asked about the eventual impact and outcome of the postponement, he told insidethegames: "The postponement definitely caused some consternation amongst the World Cup organisers and some of our members, it was difficult that a clear window for the tournament was lost and a cost of that occurred that hurt our game.

"The RLWC team had worked so hard for so long and it was naturally disappointing. It was an impossible situation really with COVID being managed in stark contrast northern to southern hemisphere-wise, with Australia itself shutdown from state to state and people locked out of their homes with far less cases per capita in Australia then there were in the UK at the time.

"So to send the majority of the athletes competing in the World Cup from the southern hemisphere into that environment wasn't imaginable on the scale that was required here, and to not send them was impossible to understand from a northern hemisphere viewpoint when other international teams toured for other sports.

"The key difference was the number of players and support staff for the World Cup was over 400 and far exceeded other sports and tours and dwarfed them in the amount of time they were 'exposed' to greater infection rates in the UK then at home.

"The length of lockdowns in Australia was also a heavy consideration that was untenable to have that quantum of people 'locked down' for an even longer period of time. It was about the way the postponement came about rather than the decision itself that caused the most angst.

"I’m confident now that all relationships are back on track and there have been some clear benefits, especially commercially, with the postponement. But as always with additional challenges in the conflict in Europe, cost of living rising rapidly and more political instability that has presented even more challenges for organisers especially with ticketing.

"Despite all this I couldn't be more grateful to Jon Dutton and team and Chris Brindley and his Board for their resilience and commitment to our tournament which I know will be the best we’ve ever had."

In terms of ticket sales, Grant vouchsafed this weekend, the figure of 350,000 was recently reported - 100,000 up on the figure reached in August - "which is great." He added: "Cost of living increases means late minute ticket-buying will be a likely outcome, so we’re optimistic targets are being met." 

Historically the Rugby League World Cup has featured all kinds of gaps and false turnings. It has only been since the 2013 edition, hosted by England and Wales, that a "winning formula" has been created. Why does Grant think it too so long?

"The RLWC21 will be the 16^th World Cup for the second-oldest sporting World Cup event behind the FIFA World Cup since its first incarnation in France in 1954," he said. "There has been a stop-start inconsistency in the staging of World Cups and between 1975 and 1977 Championships then World Cups were held, adding to the inconsistency.

"Compare that to rugby union and cricket, who both had their first World Cups in 1987, and you can see they have leapfrogged our sport with their commercial returns and consistency in staging of events which highlights the damage our stop-start history left as a legacy.

"I'm proud that we are now on a consistent staging arrangement and despite the postponement of RLWC21 to 2022 due to the pandemic, its why France 2025 was so important to be held in 'our' cycle despite the challenges that a shorter preparation window brings.

"The best thing in addition to our rich history is that rugby league is the only sport that showcases its three tournaments together - men’s, women’s and the wheelchair competition - which gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the diversity and inclusiveness of our sport over others.

"It's unique, and I think gives us a competitive advantage going forward, especially given the growth of the women’s game and the remarkable broadcast arrangements that have been secured for this event, putting our sport in front of new audiences and on a massive scale for the first time is a wonderful opportunity."

The choice of France as "preferred bidder" for the 2025 Rugby League World Cup was made round about the same time as last year's hopeful online media event and confirmed in January of this year. 

Given that country's deep and abiding love for rugby union it appears a bold gesture. One wonders how hopeful Grant is in terms of how the 2025 Rugby League World Cup will be received - and of how the game might grow in France in future years?

"The history of league and union in France is well known but I am confident that the perception of a divide between the two codes isn't as combative or as wide as people think," he responded. "We have a lot of common ground and we respect union.

"Having the French Government’s support is critical and being the third leg of a trifecta of events - the 2023 men’s Rugby World Cup, the Paris 2024 Games and then RLWC2025 creates a ton of momentum. Being placed alongside other world sports events is also beneficial.

"One of my close friends is Nick Farr-Jones, the Wallabies captain when they won the 1991 World Cup who is a tragic Sharks supporter. As a friend he, along with others such as Trent Robinson and Michael Cheika, gave me a lot of help and guidance for our bid for France 25.”

The 2025 Rugby League World Cup will be prefaced, for the first time, by women’s qualifying. How much further does the game have to go in its push for gender equality?

"The women’s game is growing rapidly but it’s important it also grows sustainably," Grant replied. "Governments will have a big role to play in that growth so we have to take them along that journey. It’s too early for a wish list but our growth from four to eight to 16 women’s teams across a couple of cycles is already amazing in my eyes."

The impending Rugby League World Cup in England will operate in conjunction with an unusually rich Cultural Festival which will highlight, among other things, poetry. It is a far cry from the old British image of rugby league - "Ee ba gum! It's an up and under…oh, poor lad…" What is Grant's take on this aspect of RLWC2021?

"It's amazing what had been organised and really entrenched in communities and schools across Britain," the IRL chair responded. "It has really demonstrated the power of sport to bring people together. I know the players and officials can't wait for the emotional embrace I know they will receive.

"I can’t wait to experience it all personally - it shows again the inclusiveness of our sport. I'm not remotely surprised by the poetry.

"The new National Rugby League side the Dolphins have a renowned poet, Rupert McCall, in their ranks, who has penned an establishment poem. There is so much power and story-telling in league and to have that articulated in poetic verse adds another emotional level to the story."

Simon Morton, director of events at UK Sport, wrote on insidethegames recently: "The Rugby League World Cup is a case in point with research highlighting how, before a ball has even been kicked, the competition’s social impact programme has delivered more than £25 million ($30 million/€29.5 million) of positive change in communities, largely in the north of England."

Presumably this will be a factor in future IRL activities and events?

"Absolutely," Grant confirmed. "It is already in evidence in the planning for France 2025 and will be part of all future Rugby League World Cup plans."

While Grant has his main attention focused on the impending World Cup competition in England, he is also maintaining a strong lobbying line in terms of promoting rugby league's suitability to becoming an Olympic sport - an ambition that was underlined even more strongly following the confirmation of  Brisbane as host of the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.

IRL was made an observer member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations, the umbrella organisation for Olympic and non-Olympic sports, in 2017 but will need to be appointed as a full member before it can become recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

It is a hard road - and the sport's ambitions to play a part in the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games were rebuffed this week as it failed to make the cut as organisers named their final list of sports on Thursday (October 6).

If rugby league were to achieve its lofty Olympic ambition, however, with its nines game nudging in alongside the rugby union sevens that has become a firm favourite since being included at Rio 2016, then surely Brisbane 2032 would be its golden opportunity in terms of an entry point.

But one can hardly think rugby union would be happy to move over?

"Firstly the good news is that it isn’t rugby union’s decision to 'let us in'," Grant responded.

"I absolutely stand by our vision of having rugby league showcased for men and women in the nines format at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. It’s a decision for the IOC and we have to make our case.

"I absolutely believe that our sport is a better TV and viewer option than sevens - without diminishing the rugby sevens in any way.

"And if you can have varying disciplines of the same sport across swimming, running, rowing, canoeing, shooting to name just a few in the Olympics currently there is absolutely no reason sevens and nines can't co-exist. They are different games and could co-exist without diminishing from the other.

"In that pursuit we will also seek to include wheelchair rugby league for the Paralympics in 2032 as well. As a sport it is leaps in front of wheelchair rugby and truer to the sport than others.

"So we will strongly make that case. It allows athletes to cross over sports as well which only adds to inclusiveness and creates more opportunities for sportsmen and women with disabilities.

"Meanwhile we are also looking forward to showcasing our nines at next year’s Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands."