International Origin: England vs Exiles

[Goldfields_Titans]

What is the eligibility criteria for the Exiles?

Over the hill Aussie's on a holiday trip for a few years in Super League.

 

[roughyedspud]

just about every new south welshman in the exiles squad,besides beaver & hodgson, would be there or there abouts the origin NSW squad if they still played in australia...,,add to that a couple or 3 of NZ world cup & 4N winners and this rag tag bunch of over the hill players...ARE EASILY THE 4TH BEST SIDE IN THE WORLD!...and could very well upset england....and if they can beat england then they can beat NZ too..

you can knock it all you want but we need this...and the sooner it's expanded to a 2 game,2week,back to back series the better (im working on it :lol: )

 

[Evil Homer]

just about every new south welshman in the exiles squad,besides beaver & hodgson, would be there or there abouts the origin NSW squad if they still played in australia...,,add to that a couple or 3 of NZ world cup & 4N winners and this rag tag bunch of over the hill players...ARE EASILY THE 4TH BEST SIDE IN THE WORLD!...and could very well upset england....and if they can beat england then they can beat NZ too..

you can knock it all you want but we need this...and the sooner it's expanded to a 2 game,2week,back to back series the better (im working on it :lol: )

I hope they don't listen to you. You are doing damage to our game.

 

[yakstorm]

Why are there so 'few' options in each position?

Guys like David Solomona, Luke Patten, Patrick Ah Van, Jake Webster, Daniel Holdsworth, are just some players are eligible who can't be picked.

Of course it is unlikely for many of them to even get many votes, you'd think if you're going to do a concept like this, then you have to make EVERYONE available.

Selecting 13 out of 34 doesn't given you much choice...

 

[BDGS]

that ain't the jersey.....expect a all black ISC jersey with gold trim

Thankgod, that jersey posted looked liked the Jamaican national jersey.

 

[Sam_the_man]

I saw Solomoana play yesterday. Boy he's a fat unit now.

 

[roughyedspud]

Why are there so 'few' options in each position?

Guys like David Solomona, Luke Patten, Patrick Ah Van, Jake Webster, Daniel Holdsworth, are just some players are eligible who can't be picked.

Of course it is unlikely for many of them to even get many votes, you'd think if you're going to do a concept like this, then you have to make EVERYONE available.

Selecting 13 out of 34 doesn't given you much choice...

bluey picked the squad i believe?

 

[roughyedspud]

I hope they don't listen to you. You are doing damage to our game.

have'nt you said that you don't care about us beating the aussies??? have i got that right??

 

[yakstorm]

bluey picked the squad i believe?

Fair enough, though it would be nice for next year to see it opened up more. I understand for the RFL this year is very much a trial year of the concept.

Personally I would have liked to have seen the opportunity for French, Welsh, and any other non-England eligible players available for the Exiles side, similar to the old 'Other Nationalities' team, but I can understand by doing that, it would open some controversy over players who are eligible for say England and Scotland.

 

[DINGb@T]

I don't see why the Poms are death riding this game so much. You just have to look at the success of the All Stars game here in Australia to see that by opening up the selection process to the public you get everyone involved and interested in what they could see on the field and everyone knows that the national team needs a better mid-season hit out. Okay, so it's not a true international but they've had 'true internationals' for the last few years and it's got them nowhere.

One thing I dont think they've considered is that this concept does actually have the potential to get a real Origin vibe to it. The Poms have been whinging about the number of imports for years now so this is the opportunity to prove that they really dont need them. Queensland needed to prove that they were better than NSW, those evil people who were pinching all their good players, and the Poms need to beat off all those pesky overpaid antipodeans who take the spots of young and upcoming English talent. They've got the requisite chip on their shoulder about it, this could be the game where they put that chip to good use.

Just a thought.

 

[Evil Homer]

have'nt you said that you don't care about us beating the aussies??? have i got that right??

Not really. I'm a fan of the game, not a fan of England. If England do things that hamper the international game as a whole, then I will be against them. The thing is that the international game is bigger than England v Australia, it's just like the Origin mentality that we criticise Aussies for having and we need to get out of it.

England aren't good enough to beat the Aussies, they don't have good enough players or a big enough talent pool to choose from and until that changes no amount of gimmick matches are going to make a difference. If I was a betting man I'd put money on another England whitewash and this game having absolutely no impact on end of year results.

 

[deluded pom?]

At the end of the day we don't have the resources, be they financial or physical, to beat Australia on a consistent basis. They have the profile within Australia to command big money for the next TV deal that will drive the development of the future generations of Kangaroos. Our TV deal is just enough to keep the SLE going so not enough is available for the kind of player development England would require to compete with Australia. New Zealand are being dragged along on the Australians' coat tails. I'm sorry 'spud but the top and bottom of it is that we won't be winning an Ashes series or a WC while RL has such a low profile in the UK and no amount of contrived games will alter that. The sooner we accept that then the sooner we can get on with creating a proper international game that benefits RL worldwide rather than England chasing the holy grail of beating Australia in a major tournament that is highly unlikely to happen any time soon.

 

[roughyedspud]

we don't have to beat australia "consistantly" these days.....just the once and when it matters like the kiwis do..

and i'm sorry but we (the RFL) spent the last decade propping up the international game,hosting tours when nobody else would and restarting the trinations and spread the game to new boarders via the RLEF,which the RFL bankrolled....scrapping GB to promote the 4home nations was a master stroke cos between 2001 & 2007 wales,scotland & ireland barely registered a flicker of interest in anyone or any media because they where VASTLY overshadowed by the GB team...

and now that the RFL have actually looked at it's OWN country and ways to improve its OWN national team some of you are in uproar......jesus.......give ya heads a wobble!


and the tv deal argument is the most piss weak view i've ever heard...their kids are'nt much better than ours.........and i don't get how our "low profile" (which has never been higher btw) effects what happens on the pitch? still 17 v 17

 

[raider_mike]

another game of footy? sure why not !

any word on if we will be getting to see this?

 

[PaulyTom]

Love the idea.

The only issue is if the Exiles beat the England team every year. This would then give the England team no chance against a fully fledged Aussie or NZ team.

It will still be a great stepping stone for England to play against good opposition every year as a build up for the big 2.

 

[deluded pom?]

and now that the RFL have actually looked at it's OWN country and ways to improve its OWN national team some of you are in uproar......jesus.......give ya heads a wobble!

I'm not in uproar at all 'spud. Calm down dear.

and the tv deal argument is the most piss weak view i've ever heard...their kids are'nt much better than ours.........and i don't get how our "low profile" (which has never been higher btw) effects what happens on the pitch? still 17 v 17

The TV deals mean they can fund the development of far more players than we can in the UK. More players of a consistently higher quality across the board. Our "high profile" doesn't appear to be doing much to turn England's fortunes around against Australia does it. We seem to be losing by more points than we did during the "low profile" pre SL years. So our kids can compete with their peers in Australia, what happens after that? Those same kids mature and the scores and results stay the way they have since 1970.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I think you both are on the right track spud and deluded. But I think its the middle ground where we are winning the battle and the quality and equality of the NRL that puts us over the edge of you guys.

From about the age of 14, thats when our kids really start to get noticed, they get thrown into alot of competition like state comps, etc etc. Then it goes up to our club development comps like the U20's, SG Ball, etc etc. Systems that our clubs run.

You also look at the second teir clubs of Aus and you compare them to the 2nd teir of the clubs of those in the UK, theyre are just more professionally run. They play in arguable more even competitions. So that competitiveness is there and our players develop that edge to get better.

Most importantly its the NRL competition itself. It is physically tougher then the SL. Its also more innovative in preparation aswell.

I don't think there is anything that the RFL can do to quickly change this. Get all SL clubs as strong or as near strong as each other and it will be close to even again. I think your on the right track.

 

[hutch]

at 18 years of age the english have shown they are just as good if not better than us, it might come down to how they develop after this level!

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Iv got the general vibe that our development teams are more about growing the player rather then winning the certain match. Better yes, but I honestly feel that our kids are being taught to focus on their game more then winning the match at hand.

 

[roughyedspud]

at 18 years of age the english have shown they are just as good if not better than us, it might come down to how they develop after this level!

i think the gap grows between english & australia kids because aussie lads generally have 3 or 4 years in the NRL (20-23/24) before they are even considered for rep honours unless they are freaks like inglis....after they've done their 3-4 seasons they are virtually ready made replacemnets (development wise) for anyone that drops out the kangaroos squad

were as we'll chuck a 19 year old into the england team against australia/NZ and then expect them to develop....if that makes sense?

and the stated aim of the england knights is to bridge the gap between the england academy and full england side..