Australia will play either Tonga or England in the final

[CliveC]

Its about $10-18m but I get your point

The Poms are too big,too fat and too slow!

 

[roughyedspud]

Hey up...a cattle station has lost a inbred fxxk

 

[The Great Dane]

Given the amount of money in the game in Australia at all levels (remember Jnr funding due to pokies would be many times more in Aus than UK, in fact Panthers leagues probably spends more on Jnr footy than most of the M62 corridor put together) its pretty amazing England are as close as they are. That sort of money buys you a lot of extra coaching, supplements and other such enhancers. The Perth SG Ball team probably has better training facilities than some SL clubs!
I think player registrations wise there isn't a huge difference, Aus has around 100k grass roots players I believe, not sure what it would be England? NRL clubs operate on around $20-25mill a year, SL clubs on around $5-8mill. and so it goes on.

Yeah by they've only really got that close since there's been a influx of top Pommy players that have started getting contracts in the NRL, and once you're through those top 17-20 players there's not a lot left to choose from that's top talent, there's quite a bit with the potential to be top talent, but not a lot that actually is, definitely nowhere near the amount of depth in England as there is down here.

 

[deluded pom?]

This is the name of a thread on the Total Rugby League forum-
It's littered with posts about how England are going to hammer NZ in the final, and how Tonga and PNG have nothing on England.

I mean at least Kangaroos fans have 50 years of results to make them confident and arrogant about their position in RL...

Australia don't have the monopoly on idiots.

 

[The Great Dane]

Australia don't have the monopoly on idiots.

No shit, that's what I was pointing out.

I was also pointing out that based on past performance the Australian "idiots" are more based in reality in this case, and are coming to their conclusions from a logical position, the English idiots are not.

So it's a bit rich for you to come in here whinging about Aussie arrogance when the arrogance coming from your own camp is so much more unreasonable.

 

[Perth Red]

I hope the Kangaroos are as overly confident as some on here

 

[deluded pom?]

No shit, that's what I was pointing out.

I was also pointing out that based on past performance the Australian "idiots" are more based in reality in this case, and are coming to their conclusions from a logical position, the English idiots are not.

So it's a bit rich for you to come in here whinging about Aussie arrogance when the arrogance coming from your own camp is so much more unreasonable.

It's the fact that the OP was posted after Tonga beat New Zealand meaning a highly likely meeting with the Kiwis in the semi that rattled my cage. The possible meeting with the Kiwis won't be the stroll in the park the OP author thinks it will be.

 

[Perth Red]

Yeah by they've only really got that close since there's been a influx of top Pommy players that have started getting contracts in the NRL, and once you're through those top 17-20 players there's not a lot left to choose from that's top talent, there's quite a bit with the potential to be top talent, but not a lot that actually is, definitely nowhere near the amount of depth in England as there is down here.

Like I said there isn't the money in the game over there. Bit like asking why Columbia aren't as successful as Germany at soccer. NRL has 16 clubs, SL 12 for starters. Then add in the influence of the Kiwis and Pi's on the quality of the competition here, the club funding, the jnr funding as I have mentioned, the lack of competition in RL's two main states where as RL has to contend with the behemoth of soccer in its heartland and so it goes on.
I'm amazed really that people seem to think it should be close and that somehow England is failing because it isn't.

 

[Lebbo73]

No. I just like talking on LU about it.

You're going to look stupid when Australia belts everyone and wins the WC. Don't worry, you have quite a few fans who will join you.

 

[The Great Dane]

Like I said there isn't the money in the game over there. Bit like asking why Columbia aren't as successful as Germany at soccer. NRL has 16 clubs, SL 12 for starters. Then add in the influence of the Kiwis and Pi's on the quality of the competition here, the club funding, the jnr funding as I have mentioned, the lack of competition in RL's two main states where as RL has to contend with the behemoth of soccer in its heartland and so it goes on.
I'm amazed really that people seem to think it should be close and that somehow England is failing because it isn't.

I don't dissagree with any of that, I was just pointing out that England was only getting as close as it is at the moment because of a new wave of strong NRL influence on it's squad.

 

[Pedge1971]

I hope the Kangaroos are as overly confident as some on here

For the main I think most Aussie supporters would be fine if we lost along the line and were eliminated. Particulalry if it enabled a developing nation to go to a semi or final.

There are a few Aussies on here winding up about how strong the Roos are but most seem to be enjoying the spectacle and are sensible enough to know the tournament and game become much greater when the quarters and semis do not look like foregone conclusions.

Meanwhile a lot of non Aussie supporters keep potting the nrl. Around 20 years ago the ESL had the money and was luring Aussies on the big contracts but it still did not help them much at international level. That was when there were full blown tours as well.

Yes the nrl need to concede more to the international game so more tests can be played in the season. But if there were no Kiwi ir English players in the nrl, they would not even get close the roos. Would you prefer the NRL went away and the game was amateur hour again?

 

[The Great Dane]

It's the fact that the OP was posted after Tonga beat New Zealand meaning a highly likely meeting with the Kiwis in the semi that rattled my cage. The possible meeting with the Kiwis won't be the stroll in the park the OP author thinks it will be.

I agree, however based on the recent performances of both the Roos and the Kiwis it's easy to see why people have come to that conclusion, and they may just be right.

On the other hand it is not easy to see how the English fans that are expecting the English team to waltz their way into the final have come to their conclusions, personally I can see Tonga and even PNG surprising England.
If I was betting on either game I'd back England and I expect them to win both games (comfortably against the Kumals, but with a little bit more difficulty against the Tongans) but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Tonga march into the final on the back of the confidence gained from beating the Kiwis or PNG to ride a wave national pride and pull of a thrilling upset over your lot.

 

[Pedge1971]

Like I said there isn't the money in the game over there. Bit like asking why Columbia aren't as successful as Germany at soccer. NRL has 16 clubs, SL 12 for starters. Then add in the influence of the Kiwis and Pi's on the quality of the competition here, the club funding, the jnr funding as I have mentioned, the lack of competition in RL's two main states where as RL has to contend with the behemoth of soccer in its heartland and so it goes on.
I'm amazed really that people seem to think it should be close and that somehow England is failing because it isn't.

True. But it doesn't really explain why England are not as successful as Germany at that behemoth soccer when the biggest premiership in the world is the EPL (arguably).

Nor why the All Blacks have dominated world RU for 80 years when the most money and players is in England by a country mile.

It comes down to elite talent and systems. Money helps but it does not guarantee success.

 

[The Great Dane]

For the main I think most Aussie supporters would be fine if we lost along the line and were eliminated. Particulalry if it enabled a developing nation to go to a semi or final.

There are a few Aussies on here winding up about how strong the Roos are but most seem to be enjoying the spectacle and are sensible enough to know the tournament and game become much greater when the quarters and semis do not look like foregone conclusions.

Meanwhile a lot of non Aussie supporters keep potting the nrl. Around 20 years ago the ESL had the money and was luring Aussies on the big contracts but it still did not help them much at international level. That was when there were full blown tours as well.

Yes the nrl need to concede more to the international game so more tests can be played in the season. But if there were no Kiwi ir English players in the nrl, they would not even get close the roos. Would you prefer the NRL went away and the game was amateur hour again?

Potting is an understatement, their a lot (particularly from England in my experience) that wish the NRL would collapse and RL in Australia would regress so much so that the Kangaroos aren't competitive with England and the Kiwis anymore, just read through some of those threads on Total Rugby League that I mentioned earlier if you want to see it, just look for anything mentioning the Roos, SOO, NRL, or the WCC and you'll find it eventually.

 

[Last Week]

You're going to look stupid when Australia belts everyone and wins the WC. Don't worry, you have quite a few fans who will join you.

Troll on!

 

[Lebbo73]

Troll on!

This isn't even a hint of a troll. Australia only loses if they don't turn up. This won't happen under Mal's watch.

 

[Pedge1971]

This isn't even a hint of a troll. Australia only loses if they don't turn up. This won't happen under Mal's watch.

The only thing Mal watches is when the barmans head is turned so he can pull himself a free beer in Brisbane. Everyone knows that team is coached and run by Smith and Cronk.

 

[CliveC]

Hey up...a cattle station has lost a inbred fxxk

I would prefer Australia to get beaten but the Poms have a pair of plodders in the halves,a couple of good hookers and near useless forwards aside from Graham and Sam Burgess.Their three quarters are good though.
Alex Murphy and Davey Bolton now they were great.

 

[Springs09]

No. It was set up so that they would be on opposite sides, NZ ended up on Australia's side because they failed to top their group.

Also it feels a bit unfair if every World Cup Australia faces a 2nd tier nation whilst NZ and Eng battle it out on the other side.

Especially when in 2013 NZ were the reigning champions and when the draw was made for this tournament I'm pretty sure they were World No.1.

 

[Springs09]

This isn't even a hint of a troll. Australia only loses if they don't turn up. This won't happen under Mal's watch.

If the game was reffed to the rules Australia shouldn't even be favourites. They beat England because of two rubbish penalties while their wrestle, which ruined the game as a spectacle, wasn't penalised once. They then did the exact same thing in the next two games while their opponents were penalised for any little thing, and then had the nerve to whinge about Lebanon slowing the game down.

If Australia's wrestle was penalised I'd tip NZ to beat them. But now that Mal and Cam have complained we will get to see the game 'flow' with 10-15 second rucks as Australia bores their opponents to death.