NRL.com - Aus to play NZ in Oct 2018 ??? + Mal wants 'Australia A' to play Pacific

[adamkungl]

Ahhh a classic Rugby League damned if they damned if they don't scenario.

Facts:
-Tier 1 nations must play more often against tier 2 nations.
-These games need to be profitable to continue, which means they need to have some perception of being competitive.
- England's reserve team is clearly better on paper than Wales, Ireland, Italy or Scotlands 1st team.

The question I guess is which sells better in this tournament?
a) England Knights offering closer games
b) England putting up scores
c) No England at all

I think A) by some margin. Entering England's 2nd team is a good way to make this possibly succeed IF they do it the right way. They must count as full ranked tests against England's record. Do not allow England to enter a team that counts for nothing.
I don't see why anyone else's professionals would refuse to play against England Knights if the result is taken seriously.

And for good measure don't bloody play them in England at the same time England is playing NZ.
Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Perpignan, Milan.

 

[Evil Homer]

Ahhh a classic Rugby League damned if they damned if they don't scenario.

Facts:
-Tier 1 nations must play more often against tier 2 nations.
-These games need to be profitable to continue, which means they need to have some perception of being competitive.
- England's reserve team is clearly better on paper than Wales, Ireland, Italy or Scotlands 1st team.

Entering England's 2nd team is a good way to make this possibly succeed IF they do it the right way. They must count as full ranked tests against England's record. Do not allow England to enter a team that counts for nothing.

And for good measure don't bloody play them in England at the same time England is playing NZ.
Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Perpignan, Milan.

Yeah tier 1 nations playing against tier 2 nations ≠ tier 2 nations playing against a tier 1 nations' reserves.

Maybe you don't understand how international sport works but you're absolutely deluding yourself if you think anyone in Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh, Perpignan and Milan is showing up to watch a bunch of uninterested part-timers getting stuffed by England's reserves. No, play the matches at Featherstone in front of 100 people and minimal coverage, or better yet don't play them at all. According to someone on TRL Ireland have stated they are not interested in participating in this tournament if England Knights are involved, hopefully they do pull out or just take the piss by sending an Ireland 'A' team of players from the Irish league to lose by 200 points.

 

[adamkungl]

I don't see how they're in any position to demand to play England's top side when England's second side is still far batter than any of their best teams..

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Lol no, the Ireland, Wales and France teams will be reserve teams. I expect maybe 2 or 3 of Ireland's WC squad at most will play and France will be looking at 15-20 pullouts again. England Knights will win every match by 60 points. This is not a new thing or just me guessing, this is something that has been happening since 2003 and will continue to happen because the people who control the sport at international level are pig-headed idiots who just do not f**king learn. We actually had a decent European Cup back in 2005 once they pulled England 'A' out and then again in 2009, and in both cases they scrapped it after one year.

Wow - that's sh!t - well if it ensures that the strongest lineups play for the other nations then put the full England team in but I fear it will weaken the English as they won't have as many games against Australia and New Zealand.

Or I guess as has been suggested above - send an England second 13 but all games are counted as tests against England's records.

 

[Evil Homer]

I don't see how they're in any position to demand to play England's top side when England's second side is still far batter than any of their best teams..

So on that basis let's just scrap international sport altogether then.

 

[adamkungl]

So on that basis let's just scrap international sport altogether then.

If the game is given full test status and Ireland is playing for real results I don't see why they care who England name. England are the ones who get embarrassed if they lose, no one expects Ireland to win.
Only takes 1 team to knock off the 'Knights' and England are forced to enter their top side the next time round.

 

[Evil Homer]

If the game is given full test status and Ireland is playing for real results I don't see why they care who England name. England are the ones who get embarrassed if they lose, no one expects Ireland to win.

Firstly they cannot give test status to a match involving a non-nation, that opens the door for the likes of NZ Maoris and the Aboriginals to compete in the World Cup. And secondly even if they do say it has full test status, it's still a nation vs another nation's reserves, you can wrap it up in a pretty bow but that is what it is, we're telling 5 other nations and everyone else in the world that they are small fry and only worthy of playing against a development squad while the real England compete in real big boy internationals. And then we wonder why the WC final doesn't sell out, lol.

The likes of Mickey McIlorum and James Tedesco, and even fringe first grade players are not playing vs England Knights. It's not going to happen and I don't blame them one bit, I wouldn't play either.

If you think I'm making this up, take a look at what happened last time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_European_Cup_(rugby_league)

Note that Ireland had two first graders and Scotland had 0.

 

[adamkungl]

Firstly they cannot give test status to a match involving a non-nation, that opens the door for the likes of NZ Maoris and the Aboriginals to compete in the World Cup.

England is a nation, my entire premise is that they are forced to enter as England (regardless of who they pick).

And secondly even if they do say it has full test status, it's still a nation vs another nation's reserves, you can wrap it up in a pretty bow but that is what it is, we're telling 5 other nations and everyone else in the world that they are small fry and only worthy of playing against a development squad while the real England compete in real big boy internationals. And then we wonder why the WC final doesn't sell out, lol.

2nd team and development squad are 2 different concepts. England can easily put together a test quality side full of senior players not picked for the World Cup.
And quite frankly in Rugby League terms the other 5 nations are small fry, they are obviously aware of this. England has a professional competition. France and Wales have semi-professional comps, Ireland and Italy have local comps, and Scotland has 2 clubs.

The likes of Mickey McIlorum and James Tedesco, and even fringe first grade players are not playing vs England Knights. It's not going to happen and I don't blame them one bit, I wouldn't play either.

If you think I'm making this up, take a look at what happened last time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_European_Cup_(rugby_league)

Note that Ireland had two first graders and Scotland had 0.

Nor will they be released for a Euro Cup that doesn't feature England.

Maybe the best solution is to just schedule the 6N around England's NZ series?
Something like

pools
A eng ire sco
B fra wal ita

weekends of
oct 20: fra v nz, ire v eng, ita v ???
oct 27: eng v nz, fra v ita, ire v ???
nov 3: eng v nz, sco v ???, wal v ???
nov 10: eng v nz, ita v wal, sco v ire, fra v ???
nov 17: eng v sco, wal v fra
nov 24: 6n-finals

USA or Lebanon to fill the ??? gaps

 

[Evil Homer]

England is a nation, my entire premise is that they are forced to enter as England (regardless of who they pick).

2nd team and development squad are 2 different concepts. England can easily put together a test quality side full of senior players not picked for the World Cup.
And quite frankly in Rugby League terms the other 5 nations are small fry, they are obviously aware of this. England has a professional competition. France and Wales have semi-professional comps, Ireland and Italy have local comps, and Scotland has 2 clubs.

Nor will they be released for a Euro Cup that doesn't feature England.

Maybe the best solution is to just schedule the 6N around England's NZ series?
Something like

pools
A eng ire sco
B fra wal ita

weekends of
oct 20: fra v nz, ire v eng, ita v ???
oct 27: eng v nz, fra v ita, ire v ???
nov 3: eng v nz, sco v ???, wal v ???
nov 10: eng v nz, ita v wal, sco v ire, fra v ???
nov 17: eng v sco, wal v fra
nov 24: 6n-finals

USA or Lebanon to fill the ??? gaps

Yeah I'm not 100% against if they are forced to play as England and not England Knights and give it proper respect and billing, it's the Knights part that kills it and the fact that it would be a self-designated subordinate comp. I just posted on TRL about Segeyaro only having 4 international caps because PNG never play any meaningful matches outside the WC, and that's basically what we're maintaining here for all the European nations apart from England. The real solution would've been for the RLIF to have a proper international schedule agreed and in place for the next 4 years following the WC but we all know how likely that is. But yeah what you've posted above is really the only workable solution, it won't happen though because Kevin Sinfield thinks England Knights playing in this comp is a good idea and nobody at the RFL or the RLEF will have the balls to say no to him.

 

[roughyedspud]

Segeyaro only has 4 PNG caps cos he didn't want to play for PNG cos of the way they treated his dad iirc

Sod all to do with meaningful matches!!! You really are clutching at straws EH

 

[parrawentyfan]

In the soccer when Australia gets scheduled to play a friendly against the likes of Argentina and Brazil they usually send a B team. But they still count as full international matches. England with the European Cup and Australia with the PNG PMXIII match should do the same .

 

[adamkungl]

In the soccer when Australia gets scheduled to play a friendly against the likes of Argentina and Brazil they usually send a B team. But they still count as full international matches. England with the European Cup and Australia with the PNG PMXIII match should do the same .

Exactly and people here lap it up.
As long as the match is given proper standing and they play as 'England' I find it hard to see a problem with picking a 2nd string team.

But I agree marketing as 'England Knights' is a recipe for disappointment

 

[roughyedspud]

I don't see how they're in any position to demand to play England's top side when England's second side is still far batter than any of their best teams..

On this,despite what EH is whinging about, no one is demanding they play England rather than the knights..in fact it's likely France or Wales will play England before we take on the kiwis in our series..

It's fake outrage,the only people worried about it is internet folk..

 

[KokoRugbyLeague]

Well the sport the deserves what it gets when it gets cynics like kungl and pommyland avoid us like the plague. Oh well pacific rugby league is better than any rubbish the Europeans are throwing. The english can enjoy the choke.

 

[Rory]

Well the sport the deserves what it gets when it gets cynics like kungl and pommyland avoid us like the plague. Oh well pacific rugby league is better than any rubbish the Europeans are throwing. The english can enjoy the choke.

Still salty about that tongan loss coconut? Compare pacific union to Euro union and then speak. It's this kind of attitude from pacific islanders as to why i would like nothing better then for people to stop investing in your overrated crap and concentrate on making Euro nations better.

 

[adamkungl]

Well the sport the deserves what it gets when it gets cynics like kungl and pommyland avoid us like the plague. Oh well pacific rugby league is better than any rubbish the Europeans are throwing. The english can enjoy the choke.

lol what are you on about

 

[KokoRugbyLeague]

We just want more test matches its plain and simple. The international game isn't just about those three. The pacific has made more rugby league than any european team could offer. You don't really love the game if international means england get to play aus and nz all the time. The pacific passion on display is worth any ticket in the world. Can you honestly say other nations play like islanders or coconuts as rory says.

 

[Pommy]

We just want more test matches its plain and simple. The international game isn't just about those three. The pacific has made more rugby league than any european team could offer. You don't really love the game if international means england get to play aus and nz all the time. The pacific passion on display is worth any ticket in the world. Can you honestly say other nations play like islanders or coconuts as rory says.

The pacific has made rugby league lol.
Teams full of Ozzie’s and Kiwis giving it large, first it was Samoa and now it’s Tongas turn.

 

[KokoRugbyLeague]

What is your construct of a aussie or kiwi and if they were why did they play as proud polys. Sorry but Australia and nz are british constructs. We remember our ancestors lines so how can you say full kiwis and aussies. If this is how international rugby league mostly poms lets cancel it for the nrl. NRL is enough and showcases our superstars to a level where its unappreciated in international league. See if it goes anywhere without pacific influence god knows oz only care about origin and nz sucks. European rugby league is an afterthought boring zzz. Keep the empty jabs coming poms. We all know England needs protection for their super league is the D league where you go to collect your paychecks.