City v Country- Waste of time and a menace to players and clubs!

[sharko]

It's not a waste of time. It might not be as good as it could be but to say it has no benefit whatsoever is crazy. The people on the north coast will certainly see it as a positive this week, just as those in the western plains, northern rivers, central west and riverina regions would have when they've hosted it in recent years. This game is the only pro regular season game played in country NSW and it still means a lot for country people to see the Country team play. I know I'd rather play for Country than for NSW. Plus, it should be a genuine selection trial this year because there are a few positions very open and a good performance by one or two blokes might propel them into a sky blue jersey.

I agree and am not happy that the County people only get a single match to see all year. The trouble is these guys are thrown together for a couple of days, they cannot gel..I beleive the country folk deserve at least a regular NRL game each month. The stadiums will not be as big as Sydney of course but you could guarantee a full house, real good atmosphere and some decent size sponsors to support it...that is what counrty league supporters deserve.

 

[innsaneink]

I think the players selected take a lot of pride in their selection...let's face it...a lot of these players may never play SOO and this is their only shot at rep honours at senior level.

Bingo.

Hit it on the head.

 

[madunit]

How someone living in a city can represent country is still beyond me.

I reckon it should be the best from CRL against the city guys.

I don't care if its a whitewash, I for one would like to see some players different to the ones we see week in week out for a change, and see how they shape up to the big boys.

I reckon you'd see some nasty boys from the bush, playing for bragging rights.

"I decked Willie Mason!"

thats the sh*t I wanna see. all out carnage.

the ref can be a bush ref too. those blokes only see about 5 metres in front of their nose

 

[innsaneink]

Had that nearly every week in the amco cup.

 

[madunit]

thats another thing we need back too!

 

[The Engineers Room]

Well as Laurie Daley said tonight on NRL on Fox, some players are still potentially going to be selected for SOO even though they weren't selected in CvC. Now that doesn't make sense. If it is going to be a real trial for SOO then why not make it a real trial? Unlimited benches, unlimited interchanges?

Because it isn't a trial match. It is a representitve fixture. Just Like SOO isn't a trial match for Test matches. Sure players are picked mostly based on their form but they are playing for their state first.

 

[steeden.]

I see no reason why city country couldnt be played on anzac day. the test players arent picked anyway, and of late the test match hasnt been on anzac day weekend anyway. next year it's not till may to conincide with the centenary of the game, so why not play the C vs C on April 25 next year?

first city country

then origin

then tests

how f**king' hard is it !

its a bit hard when no other country wants to play us post-origin.

 

[ShineDog]

Another game of footy , I love it!!!

 

[steeden.]

Another game of footy , I love it!!!

same here. made even better by nsw origin hopefulls bashing each other up. its perfect! at least the Qld derbys count for competition points.

 

[Raider_69]

I think the players selected take a lot of pride in their selection...let's face it...a lot of these players may never play SOO and this is their only shot at rep honours at senior level.

spot on
trying telling the blokes playing tonight who probably know this is as high as they'll represent, that its a nothing game and waste of time

 

[Mr Saab]

Some players get a stepping stone from the game.
Look at Matt King in 2004. He was selected in 2004 and now look at him

 

[steeden.]

I see Country have gone with the sublimated jerseys.. what a shame.

 

[RABK]

thats another thing we need back too!

Why, so the Sharks can win a trophy?

 

[pennywisealfie]

waste of time, but i dont care if its played, as long as no broncos play in it. they can all run around and bash each other for all i care

 

[Timmah]

How big do your want your sig to be? :roll:

 

[RABK]

 

[Timmah]

Predictable much?

 

[RABK]

Yeh you are actually. We can all now predict when the forum cop will arrive.

 

[Timmah]

Even if I'm not 'forum copping' you'll bring it out - now THAT is predictable ;-)

 

[strewth_mate]

Waste of time as far as an Origin selection trial goes.

But usually good fun to watch. I look forward to it every year.

I've never really looked at it as a 'selection trial', I just like a (mostly) harmless match that's a bit of a middle ground. The City vs. Country aspect of it might fall flat depending on how much either team values the encounter, but to me there's something compelling about composing rep teams that include some second-tier players and seeing what happens.

The Origin teams tend to largely pick themselves a few years in advance anyway, but that's not City vs. Country's fault - it's Origin's fault. Besides, Origin teams probably shouldn't be selected on the merit of one Thursday night game, particularly when some more 'deserving' players have missed tonight's game. When this fixture was in hiatus, Origin teams didn't cease to be picked. Tonight just serves to create some slightly artificial hype based on weight of occasion, e.g. O'Hara.

And I know it's not a really adequate promotion of league in the bush, and pretty much a token effort without dedicating huge resources etc etc, but some of those arguments to me seem like 'it's not good enough, so get rid of it'. That logic I don't understand. Of course it's not good enough, but I'm happy to leave the game itself as is. I just like it.