adamkungl
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Continuing with the European nations, next up is Scotland
As with their neighbours, the gap between their best and worse is largely influenced by heritage players, as we saw from the glorious highs of 2016's 4 Nations draw with New Zealand to the appalling lows of 2017's World Cup where an already thin squad had senior players sent home for excessive drunkenness.
We've since seen a major rebuilding period at every level for Scotland. Their 2018 squad that failed to earn early qualification was younger and less experienced but aimed to rebuild a healthy core. 2019 saw them comfortably account for Serbia and Greece with a squad mostly picked out of the Championship with a small handful of Super League players and local Scottish club lads. They'll be hoping in the next 2 years that some of their players can get call-ups to higher grades.
Their lost European Cup foray was a tough one, this year they will aim to surprise. Their first match is against Italy but the one vs France is where they'll want to put their best foot forward.
Best 17:
1 Coote (St Helens)
2 Graham (South Sydney)
3 Aitken (St George)
4 Russell (Toronto)
5 Tierney (Catalans)
6 Brierley (Hull KR)
7 McLelland (Leeds)
8 Adam Walker (Salford)
9 Houghton (Hull FC)
10 Brooks (Leigh)
11 Joe Wardle (Huddersfield
12 Ferguson (Featherstone)
13 Linnett (Hull KR)
14 Kavanagh (Halifax)
15 Addy (Leigh)
16 Bell (Toulouse)
17 Hood (Leigh)
Pretty speculative, with their star backline players mostly not representing since 2016-17. But if they can get them back in they have every chance of causing some upsets.
WC Pool Opponents:
Australia
Fiji
Italy
Crucial Game: Ouch. This is the pool of depth, despite claims otherwise about pools A or D.
Australia is write-off, lets not bother there.
They'll like their chances against Italy.
But Fiji is the huge hurdle they need to overcome to get into the quarters. IF they get the above side on the field, IF they play their best and IF they catch Fiji on an off day... They need a lot to go right but stranger things have happened. If PNG can beat Great Britain then maybe, just maybe Scotland can get one over Fiji.
Predicted Finish: Pool exit in 3rd place
That said, it would take a brave man to bet against Fiji and Australia taking the top 2 spots in this pool. I expect an improvement from 2017s dismal showing but not enough to crack the big time yet.
PS.
I think it's worth noting some of the improvements in Scotland's local scene. Edinburgh Eagles won the English North East League in 2019 which is a great result.
In Scotland, a re-launched national league saw 3 teams play each other home and away.
Strathmore Silverbacks still active, Fife Lions returning after some absent years, and Glasgow RL launching for the first time.
Also competitive at Student, U19 and U16 levels with all teams featuring strong local representation, things finally seem to be pointing in the right direction.
It will be interesting to see what the next decade holds for Scotland.
As with their neighbours, the gap between their best and worse is largely influenced by heritage players, as we saw from the glorious highs of 2016's 4 Nations draw with New Zealand to the appalling lows of 2017's World Cup where an already thin squad had senior players sent home for excessive drunkenness.
We've since seen a major rebuilding period at every level for Scotland. Their 2018 squad that failed to earn early qualification was younger and less experienced but aimed to rebuild a healthy core. 2019 saw them comfortably account for Serbia and Greece with a squad mostly picked out of the Championship with a small handful of Super League players and local Scottish club lads. They'll be hoping in the next 2 years that some of their players can get call-ups to higher grades.
Their lost European Cup foray was a tough one, this year they will aim to surprise. Their first match is against Italy but the one vs France is where they'll want to put their best foot forward.
Best 17:
1 Coote (St Helens)
2 Graham (South Sydney)
3 Aitken (St George)
4 Russell (Toronto)
5 Tierney (Catalans)
6 Brierley (Hull KR)
7 McLelland (Leeds)
8 Adam Walker (Salford)
9 Houghton (Hull FC)
10 Brooks (Leigh)
11 Joe Wardle (Huddersfield
12 Ferguson (Featherstone)
13 Linnett (Hull KR)
14 Kavanagh (Halifax)
15 Addy (Leigh)
16 Bell (Toulouse)
17 Hood (Leigh)
Pretty speculative, with their star backline players mostly not representing since 2016-17. But if they can get them back in they have every chance of causing some upsets.
WC Pool Opponents:
Australia
Fiji
Italy
Crucial Game: Ouch. This is the pool of depth, despite claims otherwise about pools A or D.
Australia is write-off, lets not bother there.
They'll like their chances against Italy.
But Fiji is the huge hurdle they need to overcome to get into the quarters. IF they get the above side on the field, IF they play their best and IF they catch Fiji on an off day... They need a lot to go right but stranger things have happened. If PNG can beat Great Britain then maybe, just maybe Scotland can get one over Fiji.
Predicted Finish: Pool exit in 3rd place
That said, it would take a brave man to bet against Fiji and Australia taking the top 2 spots in this pool. I expect an improvement from 2017s dismal showing but not enough to crack the big time yet.
PS.
I think it's worth noting some of the improvements in Scotland's local scene. Edinburgh Eagles won the English North East League in 2019 which is a great result.
In Scotland, a re-launched national league saw 3 teams play each other home and away.
Strathmore Silverbacks still active, Fife Lions returning after some absent years, and Glasgow RL launching for the first time.
Also competitive at Student, U19 and U16 levels with all teams featuring strong local representation, things finally seem to be pointing in the right direction.
It will be interesting to see what the next decade holds for Scotland.
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