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Who's the best of the rest ??

Irish-bulldog

Irish-bulldog

Juniors
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785
so with the 2017 World Cup squads starting to take shape, Which sides do you think will leave a lasting mark on the 2017 World Cup ?. I guess who's the best of the rest ?. I think the best of a very competitive bunch of island teams will be Fiji, stacked full of nrl talent.

Png might give this Cup a red hot crack, they looked impressive in the mid year tests, along with the hunters dominating the qld cup.

also I think Italy might surprise people if brown, Vaughan, guerra, teddy , campo, and Jack johns Leading an impressive forward pack around the park.
 
titoelcolombiano

titoelcolombiano

First Grade
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6,620
I'm looking for France to finally stand up and for PNG to arrive on the international stage and show how strong the game is in their country. If these two can do something we will have some nice depth starting to build in international RL with competitive professional squads from:

Australia
New Zealand
England
Samoa
Fiji
PNG
France
 
Irish-bulldog

Irish-bulldog

Juniors
Messages
785
titoelcolombiano said:
I'm looking for France to finally stand up and for PNG to arrive on the international stage and show how strong the game is in their country. If these two can do something we will have some nice depth starting to build in international RL with competitive professional squads from:

Australia
New Zealand
England
Samoa
Fiji
PNG
France
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I can see png arriving before France, I don't really know much about the french squad to be honest. Do they have some talent these days ?.
 
titoelcolombiano

titoelcolombiano

First Grade
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6,620
Irish-bulldog said:
I can see png arriving before France, I don't really know much about the french squad to be honest. Do they have some talent these days ?.
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Yes, they don't just rely on Catalans either. Toulouse are now in the Championship just below SL and there are many talented French players playing at English clubs. They just don't seem to step up in the national jersey. I want this year to be the year it happens.

I mentioned PNG because of their home pool games, I hope they use the home ground advantage and have a cracker of a tournament.
 
Irish-bulldog

Irish-bulldog

Juniors
Messages
785
titoelcolombiano said:
Yes, they don't just rely on Catalans either. Toulouse are now in the Championship just below SL and there are many talented French players playing at English clubs. They just don't seem to step up in the national jersey. I want this year to be the year it happens.

I mentioned PNG because of their home pool games, I hope they use the home ground advantage and have a cracker of a tournament.
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Yeah I think all the island teams will be better then France, the nrl is still miles ahead of the super league in standard.
 
stormbati

stormbati

Bench
Messages
3,089
Fiji will have a big pack with the likes of the Sims and Saifiti bros, RCG, Kikau. Maybe too much size and a lack of mobility.
Tonga and Samoa could be missing a few stars to Aus and NZ but to answer your question I'm expecting PNG to make their best run yet.
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,971
Samoa and Tonga are severely overrated.
I want to say France are 4th but they'll likely bottle it and miss the quarters somehow.
Scotland proved they've some some guts last year.
PNG's best chance to prove themselves is now with home games.

But

Fiji has the easiest draw if favourites win their games.
France and PNG are likely to come up against NZ and England respectively meaning they're up against it to progress through the the semis, while Fiji probably won't play any of the big 3 until the semis.

Pity we don't get to see the islands play the best Euro nations more often. The winners of the Euro and Pacific Cups facing off would be an intriguing contest indeed.
 
Clarkent

Clarkent

Juniors
Messages
828
adamkungl said:
Samoa and Tonga are severely overrated.
I want to say France are 4th but they'll likely bottle it and miss the quarters somehow.
Scotland proved they've some some guts last year.
PNG's best chance to prove themselves is now with home games.

But

Fiji has the easiest draw if favourites win their games.
France and PNG are likely to come up against NZ and England respectively meaning they're up against it to progress through the the semis, while Fiji probably won't play any of the big 3 until the semis.

Pity we don't get to see the islands play the best Euro nations more often. The winners of the Euro and Pacific Cups facing off would be an intriguing contest indeed.
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Severely overrated?? The Samoans performed well in the four nation a few years ago... And they gave England a good fight this year but got beaten comfortably in the end... Fiji have always made the quater finals every world cup and Tonga will probably field there strongest squad ever this world cup... They are the best teams outside the top 3... So I don't get what you mean by "severely overrated"
 
Clarkent

Clarkent

Juniors
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828
For me the Fijians will probably be the most dangerous team out of the top 3... They now have Hayne and Sutton in the halves to strengthen them which has always been there weakness... And they've got koroisau at hooker who's playing really well for manly... And they've got probably the best winger in the world at the moment vunivalu...

Samoan team is another dark horse but they always seem to fail when under pressure but when they're on they're pretty hard to stop.... Milford is a huge loss... So that's gonna hurt there chances... But I've heard Ben Roberts is killing it in the super league and also Carlos tuimavave too... And maybe they'll get Thomas leuluai if the kiwis don't pick him up... He'll be good at hooker where the Samoans struggle... They've got a solid team all round but it's the matter of performing on the day... They lack a lot of consistency...

The Tongans are on the same boat... They've got a power house back line and forward pack but they lack direction... They're the weakest out of the island teams cause of there lack of halves... Hingano for the warriors is a good player but he's struggling to even make the warriors starting team...

Overrall I think the Fijians will probably be the most successful team outside the top 3 they will make the quater finals again... Michael Jennings playing for them is a head scratcher I thought you can't change from tier 2 to tier 2??
 
morningstar

morningstar

Juniors
Messages
827
Clarkent said:
Severely overrated?? The Samoans performed well in the four nation a few years ago... And they gave England a good fight this year but got beaten comfortably in the end... Fiji have always made the quater finals every world cup and Tonga will probably field there strongest squad ever this world cup... They are the best teams outside the top 3... So I don't get what you mean by "severely overrated"
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On form Scotland are the best team outside the big 3.

Samoa performed admirably in the 4 nations but were terrible in the mid year test against England, easily contained.

Tonga flatter to deceive. They have never gotten out of a group stage and were lucky to jag wins against the Cooks and Italy at the last world cup. Fiji are the best of the island teams, but have been dicked in both semi finals against Australia.

Take out the hyperbole about how many NRL players they have and judge them on performance and they are pretty evenly matched with the other tier 2 countries.
 
Clarkent

Clarkent

Juniors
Messages
828
morningstar said:
On form Scotland are the best team outside the big 3.

Samoa performed admirably in the 4 nations but were terrible in the mid year test against England, easily contained.

Tonga flatter to deceive. They have never gotten out of a group stage and were lucky to jag wins against the Cooks and Italy at the last world cup. Fiji are the best of the island teams, but have been dicked in both semi finals against Australia.

Take out the hyperbole about how many NRL players they have and judge them on performance and they are pretty evenly matched with the other tier 2 countries.
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Agree forgot about Scotland... That pool is gonna be exciting
 
Clarkent

Clarkent

Juniors
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828
They're not amazing... Come on PNG? PNG has only won one game probably the last 10 years I think? So tell me why are they better lol
 
adamkungl

adamkungl

Immortal
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42,971
PNG beat Fiji recently.
But mostly I think their QLD Cup side will start delivering some results on the international stage.
 
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