Future of England RL : Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:20 pm  

McNamara has brought the profesionalism and stature of England RL on leaps and bounds in the years hes been in charge, it seems harsh to sack him. However, I feel half the players in the squad aren't used to the constant pressure and concentration required for international RL, unlike the Aussie and Kiwi players. I feel this is due to the Super League structure. Lets look at the amount of England players coming from each SL squad:

Huddersfiled - 2 players
Warrington - 2 players
Leeds - 7 players including Briscoe and Hardaker
Wigan - 4 players
Saints - 1 player
FC - 0 players
Catalan - 0 players
KR - 0 players
Bradford - 0 players
Widnes - 0 players
Wakefield - 0 players
Castleford - 0 players
London - 0 players
Salford - 2 players including Hock

NRL - 7 players

You pick your inform players obviously, and these will come from the top clubs, but how many players from the remaining clubs especially London, Castleford, Wakefield, Widnes and KR can you realistically say will play for England?

Lets compare this with the Australian players coming from the NRL (only Aussie players picked for 2013 WC):

Roosters - 2
Rabbitohs - 1
Storm - 3
Sea Eagles - 1
Sharks - 3
Bulldogs - 1
Knights - 1
Cowboys - 4
Titans - 2
Panthers - 0
Warriors - 0
Broncos - 2
Raiders - 1
Dragons - 1
West Tigers - 1
Eels - 1

Obviously, the spread of talent is far greater in the NRL, hence an improved all round comptetion with better quality international players coming out of it.

Jarad Hayne plays for the Eels, the bottom club of 2013. Would that realistically ever happen to Salford or London (without cash injections), don't think so.

I believe the rugby league are right to reduce the number of teams to 12. I would reduce it further in 2017 to 10 teams, and then even further in 2019 to 8 teams. This way, we could improve the league as a whole by improving the quality of matchs, making the level of international players in each team more or less equal which will increase the intensity of games and produce better players for England RL.

We also need more competative international friendlys, what about:

- Lancs v Yorkshire
- England v England Knights
- England v Rest of Super League (include English players)

I don't like the exciles matches because they don't include any English players in the excile team. We need to form our own Origin matches some how, a trial match (like the Origin series) to see which players are good enough for England.

Key questions in the world cup were:

Briscoe or Charnley
Burrow or McIlorum
Mossop or Hill or T.Burgess
Ablett or Farrell

If we put these guys against eachother in different teams (Eng v Knights) we could see which players perform better. This will give us a much better understanding of which players can withstand the international intensity.

What do you guys think?

Re: Future of England RL : Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:43 am  

A lot of the options have been tried before and do not work. The only way to develop is to play high quality opposition on a more regular basis which is pretty obvious.

Due to State of Origin we cannot play Australia mid season but what about a two match test series v New Zealand with a warm up match against one of the Pacific Nations. The following year New Zealand could tour England for the same series and play a warm up game agains the SL Champions. This would ensure well attended games and give some commercial value to potential sponsors.

The key in all of this is the reduction in SL teams and matches, which looks set to happen, but more importantly agreement from the NRL. That is where the big money in the sport lies and doing anything will have to work for them. Remember the NRL are talking of expansion whereas we are talking about reductions.

The best thing for the game as a whole would be for the leagues/clubs/RLIF to agree a window mid season for International fixtures where clubs must release players (like the have in Rugby Union). Some clubs may have to play without top players but if they want what is best for the sport then surely that is the way to go.

If the NRL bye system can be worked with the Warriors having a bye during this period then a workable solution could be achieved.

Re: Future of England RL : Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:50 pm  

The return of GB with Shaun Edwards as coach me thinks.