London getting the Olympics in 2012 is great for the city and great for the country.

It's the biggest event there is - it's bigger than the World Cup in terms of revenue and, as with all the world competitions, it brings the best athletes together to compete.

It will give people some focus. If you look at the younger generation, some athletes in their early 20s will be looking to get their first opportunity in major competition.

There's also the ones in their early teens aged about 13 or 14 who have got potential to make it big. It will give them a real focus and a real target for the future and they will realise what it means to be really disciplined and committed when you set a major aim.

If you want to get on a world stage, there's none bigger than the Olympics. There's all the trials to start with so you are going to have to be in the best four athletes to even get a look-in, although there are combination events like rowing, among a massive blend of other sports, and of course football is in there, too.

There are no rugby events in the Olympics so far, although rugby union sevens has been talked about. It would be good for the sport if sevens or rugby league 9s was an Olympic event. I've never played 9s rugby but it's fast and it's open and you get quite a few tries scored. It's end-to-end stuff and I don't think it would look out of place in the Olympics as long as it was set up so there were no big mismatches between the teams and it was a good standard.

When choosing sports to take up, I think people will go with whichever sport they prefer and which sport they think they can get the best playing career out of and not necessarily based on ones that are in the Olympics.

Some people play rugby league when they could be a sprinter or a shot-putter, but that's down to the individual. They've got to enjoy which pathway will be best for them, and work out which will be best financially.

To take the gold medal in an Olympic sport may well earn you a little bit more than winning the grand final, especially in the individual sports.

To be the best in the Olympics takes a fair effort - it's a lot of dedication and a lot of sacrifices have to be made - and that's why it's such an achievement.

National League One leaders Castelford Tigers face Hull KR on Sunday in the Northern Rail Cup in Blackpool.

Originally I thought Castleford might walk away with it but Hull KR seem to have a bit of form about them. Cas got beat by Rochdale on Sunday, and while I don't see that as a massive indicator of how they will perform in a final, the Robins have found a bit of form of late and Cas have got a few injuries so it may be a more interesting game than people had predicted.

Mind you, I said that Wigan would run Saints close in the Challenge Cup and they got beat 75-0 so what do I know?

It's a tough one to call. Hull KR smashed Featherstone 78-10 this week so you might think they are backing themselves to find some form at the right time and then kick on in the league and improve from there.

I was going to go to the final in Blackpool but might just watch it on Sky. Whatever the outcome, I think it should be an interesting game. With any luck it will be a great match and will do the sport proud.

Updated: 09:32 Wednesday, July 13, 2005