By Brian Lowe

Over the next five weeks, the eyes of the rugby league world will be fixed on the 2017 World Cup being co-hosted by Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

It all gets underway on Friday, Oct. 27, when reigning champion Australia renews acquaintances with its old enemy, England, in Melbourne.

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The history between the two archrivals dates back to the early 1900s, when the newly established professional rugby league broke away from the then-amateur code of rugby union in England.

The 13-player game, which had its origins in the north of England, set off in its own direction because the stiff rugby establishment refused to bend and pay its players.

More than 100 years later, rugby league is now played in around 65-70 countries give or take, and this year’s Rugby League World Cup is expected to attract a worldwide TV audience in excess of 20 million.

The 14 countries competing at RLWC 2017 have been slotted into four pools. The tournament's heavyweights are in Pools A and B, and both of those pools will send their top three teams into the playoff rounds. In Pools C and D, only the group-stage winner will advance.

Australia, which went through RLWC 2013 unbeaten to clinch the crown, is again the team to beat. In fact, the Kangaroos are red-hot favorites to make it back-to-back championships and anything short of that will be considered an abject failure.

They are a class above the rest — they usually are — but if anyone can rattle their cage it’s probably the English.

Pool A

World No. 1-ranked Australia, No. 3 England, No. 6 France, and No. 21 Lebanon make up Pool A, and unless the world spins off its axis, the Australians, English, and French will progress to the quarterfinals over the Lebanese. That’s not being harsh, it’s just reality.

Whoever wins the opening match between Australia and England in Melbourne will be on the way to winning Pool A and setting themselves up as a heavy favorite to win the tournament. Australia, which is loaded with NRL (National Rugby League) players, is currently that team.

The NRL is without doubt the best club competition in the world, followed by the English Super League. Even though the world’s best playmaker, Jonathan Thurston, is out injured, the Kangaroos have unparalleled depth and will be spearheaded by Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, and Billy Slater, who all know how to win.

That said, England has its share of NRL players, including Sam Burgess, Gareth Widdop, and James Graham. The English won their warmup match over a Combined Affiliated States amateur select side, and their opener against Australia should be a barnburner.

Pool B

Pool B will see No. 2 New Zealand, No. 4 Scotland, No. 11 Tonga, and No. 5 Samoa competing for the right to move on from quite possibly one of the most competitive pools at the RLWC. It also could produce some of the most spiteful matches because of last-minute player defections.

Under Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) eligibility rules, players who are not picked by the big three — Australia, England, New Zealand — can choose to represent a Tier 2 country for which they are eligible. These players are qualified to compete if they — or a parent or grandparent — were born in Tier 2 country, if they are a resident, or if they have played in a local domestic competition for five years.

Tonga is the biggest beneficiary of that rule, with the guy who’s arguably the world’s most devastating forward in Jason Taumalolo opting to represent the country of his parents’ birth rather than New Zealand, for which he has played 10 Tests since 2014.

But perhaps even more controversially, another NRL forward Andrew Fifita waited until after being named in the Australian squad before announcing he too would play for the Tongans. While he was within his rights to do so, the fact that he dropped that bombshell at the last minute saw the eligibility rule criticized far and wide, forcing the RLIF to defend its credibility.

Although Scotland are ranked higher than both Samoa and Tonga, it could struggle due to a limited player depth. In their warmup games, an understrength Scotland lost to NSW Country U23s, while Tonga beat Italy.

Pool C

Co-hosts No. 15 Papua New Guinea will be up against European qualifiers No. 7 Ireland and No. 9 Wales in Pool C. The PNG Kumuls are favorites to clinch and will have home-field advantage while playing in Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is also the only country in the world where rugby league is the national sport, and that, combined with not having to travel, is expected to give the Kumuls an edge.

Despite the Irish winning through their qualifying series, their top 10 ranking probably flatters them following a blowout loss to No. 17 Jamaica last October in Ireland. And it’s much the same for the Welsh, who only managed to tie with those same Reggae Warriors.

Pool D

That brings us to Pool D with No. 8 Fiji, No. 10 USA, and No. 14 Italy locking horns. The Fiji Bati are favorites to win out, due mainly to being loaded with NRL talent.

Their big name is NRL to NFL to rugby sevens and back to NRL code-hopper Jarryd Hayne. Other NRL players on the Fijians' roster include Kevin Naiqama, Suliasi Vunivalu, and Korbin Sims. Fiji made the semifinals at RLWC 2008 and 2013 and will be looking to go one better this time.

The USA made the quarterfinals in 2013. The then-named Tomahawks shocked the world by doing so, although they had the benefit of NRL experience on that team. However, this year's lineup does not boast the same credentials for the renamed Hawks.

There has been a major shift in the USA's selection policy over the past four years, with a heavy emphasis now on homegrown players after the previous national governing body was usurped by the current USA Rugby League.

The Americans have a tough draw, though, and not only have to play Fiji and the Azzuri but also PNG in their pool crossover game. They’ll need to win at least two of those matches to have a shot at making the playoff rounds.

The Italians are the lowest-ranked team in this pool, despite having electrifying fullback James Tedesco, who was overlooked by Australia, and a few other fellow NRL’ers in their squad. Their matchup with the USA shapes as pivotal for both teams.

This RLWC looks to be one of the most competitive ever, and it’s now showtime for the greatest game of all.