Time the RFL returned Great Britain

[Goldfields_Titans]

I used to love the Kangaroos and Kiwi tours and watching GB play against them in the 90's and 00's. What a stupid mistake the RFL did abandoning the national team.

GB is the identity and a strong brand in the UK. Most non RL fans I know who have watched international RL in the pqast say its Great Britain and not England that is the national team.

Time Dickiebird and Nige the Moneyman restored integrity, heritage and pride back!

Now I await the backlash from the SL era only supporters.....;-)

 

[Poul]

I'd be surprised if it happens, but I'd like to see Great Britain restored as well, at least as a touring side; Great Britain & Ireland Lions.

Having Great Britain as the pinnacle of representation in the UK meant that elite Welsh, and even Irish or Scottish eligible players could declare their allegiance to their home country, without potentially risking not being able to play at the highest level.
Would Iestyn Harris or Keiron Cunningham have played for Wales if there had been no GB? And who would Brian Carney have played for?
I understand that the Evans(?) brothers at Warrington(?) may declare their allegiance to England despite the fact that they were born in Wales, in order to be able to represent at the highest level, currently that being England.
The biggest losers from the dismemberment of GB have been the Celtic nations, and in particular Wales.

 

[Evil Homer]

No, it's not happening and rightly so. The opinion of a bunch of dinosaurs and 'heritage' doesn't have any bearing on what's right in the modern era.

Having Great Britain as the pinnacle of representation in the UK meant that elite Welsh, and even Irish or Scottish eligible players could declare their allegiance to their home country, without potentially risking not being able to play at the highest level.
Would Iestyn Harris or Keiron Cunningham have played for Wales if there had been no GB? And who would Brian Carney have played for?
I understand that the Evans(?) brothers at Warrington(?) may declare their allegiance to England despite the fact that they were born in Wales, in order to be able to represent at the highest level, currently that being England.
The biggest losers from the dismemberment of GB have been the Celtic nations, and in particular Wales.

The highest level is international level. Wales, Scotland and Ireland aren't 'B' teams or some sort of second tier of international competition, they aren't inferior to England, they should have all the same rights and opportunities that England do. f**k I hate this attitude in RL.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

It would be nice, but you will need a better reason than nostalgia. While a GB tour may be profitable, it won't be different than an English tour with the benefits of having Wales, Scotland and Ireland being able to play tests as well.

 

[roughyedspud]

when a Great Britain side contains a fair number of actually scots and welshmen*....then bring it back!....like the union lions..as richard lewis has planned but until then theres absolutely no point in 17 englishmen playing as GB....none whatsoever



* ireland want nothing to do with GB as it stands




the only way to bring GB back in the near future would be to send a massive 45+ man GB squad on tour....the 1st squad,containing englishmen, would play 3 tests against australia or NZ and the shadow squad,containing celts, would play midweek tests v png/fiji/tonga/samoa etc..............but that would cost a fortune

 

[deluded pom?]

I'm no SL era supporter. The switch to a summer season here in the UK effectively killed GB tours. As 'spud says what's the point of GB if it's just seventeen Englishmen? How many times did B Carney actually play for Ireland whilst GB were on the go? The same goes for Harris and Cunningham. They didn't play for Wales that much because they were on duty with GB so how did that benefit Wales? The demise of Wales is down to RU going pro and removing the need for top Welsh RU players to move north. I'd love to see Kangaroo tours back, proper tours including club games but they just aren't feasible in the modern game. Any future tours will probably only consist of international matches anyway. GB is dead, long live England, Wales and Scotland.

 

[krudmonk]

No, it's not happening and rightly so. The opinion of a bunch of dinosaurs and 'heritage' doesn't have any bearing on what's right in the modern era. The highest level is international level. Wales, Scotland and Ireland aren't 'B' teams or some sort of second tier of international competition, they aren't inferior to England, they should have all the same rights and opportunities that England do. f**k I hate this attitude in RL.

Since you ripped me for advocating two other sub-national entities competing at international level, I find it odd that you are so vehemently opposed to the idea of a GB team. Maybe you think it should be properly named "United Kingdom?"

 

[roughyedspud]

I'm no SL era supporter. The switch to a summer season here in the UK effectively killed GB tours. As 'spud says what's the point of GB if it's just seventeen Englishmen? How many times did B Carney actually play for Ireland whilst GB were on the go? The same goes for Harris and Cunningham. They didn't play for Wales that much because they were on duty with GB so how did that benefit Wales? The demise of Wales is down to RU going pro and removing the need for top Welsh RU players to move north. I'd love to see Kangaroo tours back, proper tours including club games but they just aren't feasible in the modern game. Any future tours will probably only consist of international matches anyway. GB is dead, long live England, Wales and Scotland.

ggeezzz you used to hammer me for say GB is dead...lol.......i really i'm gutted GB has gone,seriously, i bid for every GB SHIRT that comes up on ebay....i have 4 of them 2001-2003 'classics' made shirts,1 of the shit super league GB shirts, a couple of the british coal shirts......trust me no one is a bigger GB fan than me......but for the greater good we have to be the home nations....4 international teams is better than 1....and thats exactly why GB was disbanded......and richard lewis is a hero for having the balls to to it imo...

look.......between the world cup in 2000 and the 2008 qualifiers wales went backwards massively because they best players never played for them....cunningham was either playing for GB or injured....same goes for Iestyn....they've only played 20 odd games between them for wales in 15 years..

ps brian carney apparently played 4 games for ireland RL........and 18 for GB

 

[Evil Homer]

Since you ripped me for advocating two other sub-national entities competing at international level, I find it odd that you are so vehemently opposed to the idea of a GB team. Maybe you think it should be properly named "United Kingdom?"

England, Scotland and Wales are not sub-national entities. They aren't sovereign nations (although Scotland probably will be soon), but they are nations nonetheless. New South Wales and Queensland are not nations, they are states of Australia, there is absolutely no comparison whatsoever.

 

[adamkungl]

Is he still going on about his NSW and QLD in the WC idea....dear god...

 

[LineBall]

IMO one of the best things they have done is abandon GB and returned to their respective home nations. It automatically creates a more internationals in nations in the norhtern hemisphere and it will do much more in developing nations such as wales, when Welsh lads can represent Wales, rather than GB.

 

[yakstorm]

All of Brian Carney's 4 caps for Ireland came in the 2000 RLWC as well, though he did play for Ireland in some other internationals in the late 90's, but as mentioned above because of GB duties and the fact for so long that Ireland, Wales and Scotland were considered 'B' teams by the RFL, Carney never played more.

Since the official break up of GB, with the process kick starting in 05, and it officially being done after the 07 Kiwi tour, Wales, Ireland and Scotland have made massive strides forward. These nations now have domestic born & bred players representing them, they have proper international seasons each year, have student teams & age team internationals every year, and are slowly but surely building a player pool, which won't only just benefit them, but will over time benefit Super League & Championship clubs.

This separation is slowly adding more and more credibility to these national teams come World Cups. To most sports fans, the idea of someone qualifying under parent or grandparent rules doesn't worry them, they just consider it farcical when people change sides, or when they suddenly, out of the blue, are eligible for a nation just for a World Cup, never to play for them again. Come the 2013 RLWC the likes of Ireland, Wales & Scotland are going to have a number of players with 10+ caps under their belt which is going to help not only their performance on the field, but also how a lot of people view them off the field.

 

[krudmonk]

England, Scotland and Wales are not sub-national entities. They aren't sovereign nations (although Scotland probably will be soon), but they are nations nonetheless. New South Wales and Queensland are not nations, they are states of Australia, there is absolutely no comparison whatsoever.

There's no comparison? Why did NSW play New Zealand before the Kangaroos did? Queensland did the same in 1925, even after competing as part of Australia. Meanwhile, Wales is just starting to produce RL players (not converts) and Scotland didn't even play an international match until 1995. Not sure that gives them special reverence in the realm of rugby league.

I don't mind splitting up GB if it fosters growth outside of England, but it's still a bit old-fashioned to give parts of the UK special consideration just because a few other sporting bodies do.

Is he still going on about his NSW and QLD in the WC idea....dear god...

I'm not still going on about that or else I would have revived that thread, which was really just a knee-jerk reaction to a shitty final. The issue is not that near and/or dear to my heart. I'm just pointing out the extreme opposite viewpoints of two technically similar cases and the arbitrary rules applied to each.

 

[Evil Homer]

There's no comparison? Why did NSW play New Zealand before the Kangaroos did? Queensland did the same in 1925, even after competing as part of Australia. Meanwhile, Wales is just starting to produce RL players (not converts) and Scotland didn't even play an international match until 1995. Not sure that gives them special reverence in the realm of rugby league.

I don't mind splitting up GB if it fosters growth outside of England, but it's still a bit old-fashioned to give parts of the UK special consideration just because a few other sporting bodies do.

It's old fashioned, yet in the same post you are bringing up matches from 1925? You are aware that Wales played in the first ever international RL match in 1908?

This argument has been done to death on here, albeit without the ridiculous comparisons with NSW and Queensland. It's a boring debate and the answers are pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain.

 

[krudmonk]

It's old fashioned, yet in the same post you are bringing up matches from 1925? You are aware that Wales played in the first ever international RL match in 1908?

I cited actual precedent, not simply antiquated notions of what is or isn't a country. And your point about Wales (one I conceded by not mentioning them in the same regard as Scotland) only serves to make the situations appear more similar.

This argument has been done to death on here, albeit without the ridiculous comparisons with NSW and Queensland. It's a boring debate and the answers are pretty obvious to anyone with half a brain.

Fair enough, but civilized discourse on RL matters is the reason this forum exists.

 

[docbrown]

In my opinion the year after a world cup should have a LIONS tour.

For example:

ASHES and BASKERVILLE Down Under
2014 - LIONS tour Australia and New Zealand, two games against each plus finals (if required) and practice matches against other nearby internationals

ASHES and BASKERVILLE UK
2018 - KANGAROOS and KIWIS tour UK, two games each against LIONS plus finals (if required) and practice matches against other nearby internationals

Also Australian can play New Zealand twice plus final (if required) in those years.

Means a tour of 4 minimum games up to 6-8 max depending if finals are required.

 

[Evil Homer]

In my opinion the year after a world cup should have a LIONS tour.

For example:

ASHES and BASKERVILLE Down Under
2014 - LIONS tour Australia and New Zealand, two games against each plus finals (if required) and practice matches against other nearby internationals

ASHES and BASKERVILLE UK
2018 - KANGAROOS and KIWIS tour UK, two games each against LIONS plus finals (if required) and practice matches against other nearby internationals

Also Australian can play New Zealand twice plus final (if required) in those years.

Means a tour of 4 minimum games up to 6-8 max depending if finals are required.

Or we could just play a 4 Nations which is better in every way.

 

[nadera78]

I used to love the Kangaroos and Kiwi tours and watching GB play against them in the 90's and 00's. What a stupid mistake the RFL did abandoning the national team.

GB is the identity and a strong brand in the UK. Most non RL fans I know who have watched international RL in the pqast say its Great Britain and not England that is the national team.

Time Dickiebird and Nige the Moneyman restored integrity, heritage and pride back!

Now I await the backlash from the SL era only supporters.....;-)

You got slaughtered on TRL for posting crap like this day after day, week after week. So now you've run over here to do it again? How long before you start up again about Israel and the racist RLIF?

 

[adamkungl]

Or we could just play a 4 Nations which is better in every way.

You have no interest in seeing something like a 3 match series England v Australia? (I'm not commenting on the GB matter here, more the idea of tours in general vs 4N)

 

[Evil Homer]

You have no interest in seeing something like a 3 match series England v Australia? (I'm not commenting on the GB matter here, more the idea of tours in general vs 4N)

Not really. Only if the other nations have something good to be doing during that time.