Mascord: Kangaroo tours return 2019/2020; Great Britain to play Ashes Series

[Roy80]

What's the difference between a Australia vs GB tour and an Australia vs England tour Hutch?

Now?
Or in 20 years after all this amazing development thats happening in Wales, Ireland and Scotland cos... you know, they are playing as individual nations now and the games is growing so much because of it.

All of that is rubbish of course.

In fact the guys who are against Great Britain now are making the best argument for it to return one day. That growth in these nations will mean Great Britain will be truly representative of all British countries.

Right?

 

[deal.with.it]

Does GB become a tier 1? Can you play for GB and say Fiji? Should rlif eligibility even apply to something that isnt a rlif member?

??

 

[roughyedspud]

I don't care if it's 17 Englishmen playing for Great Britain, it is rugby league tradition that should never have been scrapped. I for one would be pumped to watch a 3 test ashes series between Australia and Great Britain again. It would work, it would be huge!

Nostalgia is not a good enough reason to relegated England,Wales & Scotland to that of 2nd fiddle to GB (England in different shirts)

 

[roughyedspud]

Now?
Or in 20 years after all this amazing development thats happening in Wales, Ireland and Scotland cos... you know, they are playing as individual nations now and the games is growing so much because of it.

All of that is rubbish of course.

In fact the guys who are against Great Britain now are making the best argument for it to return one day. That growth in these nations will mean Great Britain will be truly representative of all British countries.

Right?

I absolutely want it to return....when it's actually a GB team and not England in a different shirt

 

[roughyedspud]

Does GB become a tier 1? Can you play for GB and say Fiji? Should rlif eligibility even apply to something that isnt a rlif member?

Its a silly question but I'll try and figure it out..

Fijian player with English heritage would be eligible for England & technically GB if he opted to play for England...but if he opted for Fiji then no he can't play for Fiji & GB..

But do we go down the route of the RLIF ELIGIBILITY laws when selecting a GB squad? Doing that could see half a dozen Aussies in the GB squad..coote,aitken ,linnett,frizzell etc that won't sit well with the nostalgic old farts that pine for GB's return...

 

[deal.with.it]

I know it's a silly question, but with tier 1 and tier 2 being created, where does GB sit? You would hope the RFL would pick a team that best suits the GB nostalgia.

Does Bennett become the GB coach if he's still the England coach? Could there be a guest coach for the tour?

Its a silly question but I'll try and figure it out..

Fijian player with English heritage would be eligible for England & technically GB if he opted to play for England...but if he opted for Fiji then no he can't play for Fiji & GB..

But do we go down the route of the RLIF ELIGIBILITY laws when selecting a GB squad? Doing that could see half a dozen Aussies in the GB squad..coote,aitken ,linnett,frizzell etc that won't sit well with the nostalgic old farts that pine for GB's return...[/QUOTE

 

[roughyedspud]

GB aren't a tier team cos they aren't a RLIF member, it's a special touring team and the coach will be whoever the RFL appoints

 

[Pommy]

Its a silly question but I'll try and figure it out..

Fijian player with English heritage would be eligible for England & technically GB if he opted to play for England...but if he opted for Fiji then no he can't play for Fiji & GB..

But opting for Fiji isn't a bar to playing for England though is it?

 

[roughyedspud]

Who is this effing Fijian?? Lol

At the end of the day the RFL can select it's own eligibility criteria,like the Aussies do with origin,one would hope they go with a "must be born in British isles,or lived here since the age of 12"

Also...

If the Welsh,Scots & Irish have any sense they'd ask quotas in the GB 30man squad something like 3+3+3+21 so there's 9 spots open to Welsh,Scots & Irish born in the British isles

 

[morningstar]

It gets worse. It's obvious no real thought has been put into this. GB is just a buzzword to make the press release sound more exciting seeing as they shit the bed on the federations cup...

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ing-to-australia-in-2018-20170512-gw4379.html

Wood, who is also the chairman of the Rugby League International Federation, is involved in several other initiatives aimed at boosting the game globally. Officials will consider the prospect of forming Great Britain teams, with more flexible eligibility laws allowing the likes of Scottish internationals Lachlan Coote and Peter Wallace joining the Poms.

"In theory, there's no reason why not," Wood said.

"The RLIF would have to decide that in consultation with Scotland and Ireland."

 

[adamkungl]

Saw somewhere else that any player eligible for any of the 4 would be eligible for GB

 

[Pommy]

Who is this effing Fijian?? Lol

At the end of the day the RFL can select it's own eligibility criteria,like the Aussies do with origin,one would hope they go with a "must be born in British isles,or lived here since the age of 12"

Also...

If the Welsh,Scots & Irish have any sense they'd ask quotas in the GB 30man squad something like 3+3+3+21 so there's 9 spots open to Welsh,Scots & Irish born in the British isles

I was quoting you about this 'Fijian' and you didn't answer the question.

Quota rules are bullshit this is the exact reason I didn't want to see GB come back. How does weakening the England side promote the game?
If there's 9 players who can make the squad on merit great, if there 30 that could make it on merit and no Englishman that would also be fine.

The British and Irish lions are taking 41 players to NZ only 2 are scots and thats with a much more credible national side than the combined English and Australian B side Scotland RL puts out.

 

[LordLeague]

I just typed out a shit-load of stuff in support of the Ashes test series with GB but it didn't upload for some reason. And f#cked if I can be bothered typing it all out again.

Went something like this:

-Ashes series has history and meaning - bring it back.

-GB has been the Aussies Ashes opponent over 50 years. The team needs to be GB. No other option.

-If GB team is all England then that's OK - the door is open for Welsh, Scottish, Irish to be selected if good enough. You never know when the next Brian Carney is going to burst onto the scene.

-I'm sick of meaningless one-off Bundaberg, Holden, VB test between NZ and Aus. Sometimes the Bill Kelly Cup is mentioned but who the F#ck knows when it is even contested? Why should I give a flying f#ck?

-Any England player would love to pull no the GB jersey and contest the Ashes. Expect a boost in care-factor and performance from players in GB shirts.

- Would I travel from regional Aus to see a meaningless four-nations round robin gamne? NO! Would I travel to Sydney and Brisbane to see an Ashes test? HELL YEAH!!!

The 2019 series in OZ better be an Ashes series or I'll be P!SSED!

Fire up!

Lord League

 

[adamkungl]

I just typed out a shit-load of stuff in support of the Ashes test series with GB but it didn't upload for some reason. And f#cked if I can be bothered typing it all out again.

That's weird, I totally saw it.
In the RLIF Sydney meeting thread.

 

[LordLeague]

That's weird, I totally saw it.
In the RLIF Sydney meeting thread.

Just noticed that too! Thought my first effort timed out! Blame it on the Friday long lunch!

 

[adamkungl]

Sooo Mascord's running with speculation that the GB Tour may include matches against NSW and/or QLD...

 

[roughyedspud]

If you plant enough ideas some of them sprout....trust me I'm guilty of the same thing.lol

PS it'll obvious be a 2nd string/ emerging origin teams not the full blown NSW/QLD sides

 

[adamkungl]

f**kin stupid idea.

The 1 part of tours that needs to be left in the past is playing against non international teams.

 

[jim_57]

f**kin stupid idea.

The 1 part of tours that needs to be left in the past is playing against non international teams.

Agree, it's not the bad old days where we have 4 international teams. We have a 14 team World Cup and plenty of those 14 and more are crying out for big games yet these dinosaurs are talking about club and "rep team" games.

 

[morningstar]

Bit more from Wood here...

http://sport.bt.com/rugby-league/i-...er-lions-plans-says-rfl-chief-S11364184490839

The Rugby Football League will consult with Wales, Scotland and Ireland before finalising plans for the revived Lions tour down under in 2019.

The Rugby League International Federation agreed at their last meeting to bring back the Lions as part of the international calendar up to the 2021 World Cup.

The burning questions which remain unanswered are the scale of the 2019 tour and whether the team will simply be England in another name and Nigel Wood, who is chief executive of the RFL as well as chairman of the RLIF, will spend the next three months working on the answers.

“All that has happened so far is the International Federation has agreed to that window being used for a tour of the southern hemisphere by the Lions,” Wood told Press Association Sport.

“I know people are wanting to know if that means the British Lions and, if so, what happens to Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and who are they going to play and how many matches are they going to play.

“I’ll be meeting with Wales, Scotland and Ireland next month to discuss it and then we have to put together a calendar and I’ll be working with Australia and New Zealand and the other southern hemisphere nations to see who may want to host us. That’s my agenda over the next three months, to flesh that out.”

The Great Britain team, which last toured in 1996, was disbanded in 2007 and its return is timely as the rugby union Lions fly out for their high-profile tour of New Zealand.

Because the rugby league seasons now run in tandem in both hemispheres, the traditional tours when the Lions and the Kangaroos each played anything between 30 and 40 matches will never be replicated, but Wood wants to see much more than a three-match Test series amid speculation that Queensland and New South Wales could provide some of the opposition.

“The intention is do something that we all recognise as a Lions tour, something the sport can be proud of,” Wood said. “My personal ambition would be for a squad of about 30 players to go out there and we’d play mid-week matches.

“You certainly can’t get to 40 matches or even 16, we might get to six or we might get to eight, but it’s all to be worked through.”