Across the board, the players at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup deserve a stack of praise for the way they have bought-into the spirit of the tournament, according to rugby league legend Mark Geyer.

“That’s why I’ve bought in … If the players are passionate, I’m passionate,” says Geyer, who has been contributing to Channel Seven’s coverage of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup via expert analysis on the front panel alongside host Jim Wilson, fellow legend Laurie Daley and rugby league analyst Renee Gartner.

The man knows a bit about leaving it all out there on the field as far as commitment to the cause goes. Anyone remember his explosive exchange with referee Bill Harrigan in the second half of the 1991 Winfield Cup grand final, when he was sin-binned at a crucial time? Wasn’t very happy about it, and showed it. Oh yeah, there was also that thing with Wally Lewis in Origin. Same year, wasn’t it? Point is, there’s no pretending commitment and passion like that. 

“If I’m watching a game and I feel as though the players don’t want to be there, there’s no way I’m going to be there,” says Geyer, who played three matches for Australia across 1990-1991. “In every 2017 World Cup game I’ve watched, even if it has been Wales or USA getting their butts kicked, it’s been easy to see that the players still want to be there.

“That is what is keeping people watching for the entire 80 minutes,” the Triple M Grill Team-member for the Austereo network shares with Inside Sport. “You know and can see that the players have been trying their hearts out. If you were to use one word to describe this World Cup, it would be passion.”

Speaking of refs, a contentious issue throughout the tournament has been whether or not the one-ref system, as used in RLWC2017, has proven more effective than the two-ref way of things in the modern NRL. Whether one ref has produced better footy is up for discussion, but Geyer says what it has done is open-up the game in a way local footy fans haven’t seen for quite some time.

“All of a sudden attrition is called upon,” he shares. “Obviously in NRL it’s called upon as well, but in this type of format the game-play isn’t as scrutinised as much as it is with two referees in control.

“There are less penalties, the players get buggered a lot quicker and we’re seeing a different type of game. We’re not seeing any wrestling in the tackles … It’s back to the old-school type of play. It’s good to watch.”

The French were well-beaten by Australia but were full of fighting spirit. (Photo by Getty Images)

“I have no doubt using one ref hinders one team more than the others … and that’s been Australia. If we’d had two referees for Australia’s games, the stop-start nature of these matches and the potency of the Kangaroos would have seen them beating their opponents by a lot more.

“For example, having one referee kept England in that opening game a lot longer, and I like that. I don’t want to see thrashings. We have seen some 40-point-plus blowouts in this tournament, but some of those have been expected. I don’t want to see Australia beating England by 40 points.”