Watching the England France game at the dire gaff - nothing like capacity crowd with no SL games on.
you have to ask is it worth it ?
Aus and kiwis are not really bothered apart from playing with themselves
if there is a future we need to change peoples mindset - Tonga up next in a 3 test series, need to really sell hard or otherwise televised games with empty stadiums
Watching the England France game at the dire gaff - nothing like capacity crowd with no SL games on.
you have to ask is it worth it ?
Aus and kiwis are not really bothered apart from playing with themselvesif there is a future we need to change peoples mindset - Tonga up next in a 3 test series, need to really sell hard or otherwise televised games with empty stadiums
I was there (of course) and was hoping that the French would give us a a test but...........
64-0 does nowt for either them or us, and as an Aussie mate of mine said to me at the game "The problem is, the only decent opposition is 12,000 miles away!"
Tonga will defo provide that, but yet again, we'll be heading into a series under-cooked.
What's the answer? I wish I knew!
Spelly.
I agree with Spelly yesterday did nothing for either side going forward. The Aussies insisted on a French side in Superleague to help the French natuonal side to become more competetive. We even had two French sides for one season all to no avail. Catalan cannot even field a French born side relying on UK & southern hemisphere born players to make up part of their squad.
It is time to forget trying to revive the French game by including them in SL. That spot should go to a UK based side. This experiment has done nothing for the French game & weakened the UK game.
Watching the England France game at the dire gaff - nothing like capacity crowd with no SL games on.
you have to ask is it worth it ?
Aus and kiwis are not really bothered apart from playing with themselvesif there is a future we need to change peoples mindset - Tonga up next in a 3 test series, need to really sell hard or otherwise televised games with empty stadiums
I was there (of course) and was hoping that the French would give us a a test but...........
64-0 does nowt for either them or us, and as an Aussie mate of mine said to me at the game "The problem is, the only decent opposition is 12,000 miles away!"
Tonga will defo provide that, but yet again, we'll be heading into a series under-cooked.
What's the answer? I wish I knew!
Spelly.
spelly, I really don’t know the answer either, but the current set up is not working, the only time we get decent crowds is against ANZACs
summer rugby has not helped this as the tours are truncated - remember the Aussie tours were lots of games against clubs ( I was there when we beat em), counties and internationals and a french leg too.
we have tried wales, Scotland and Ireland but the player talent is limited apart from England.
There are two many projects on the go in Rugby League and this thins out the resources. The game would be better focusing on few initiatives and make them work. I used to love the games between the touring sides and the top teams, and have always thought it was a mistake to lose them, summer rugby made it more difficult to have them of course.
I preferred the series games over three games to the World Cup format, and these actually are more useful when trying to promote the game in a region, it is better to have a GB v NZ or AUS game in a place like Newcastle, London or wherever and the other two games in the more established regions.
In my opinion, the game in France would grow quicker and with less risk if the French national side and the two main sides played a touring side, than games against Wales or Scotland. They would get beaten, but they would get a better attendance.
I agree with you all. The Aus/NZ games v club sides were brilliant. After watching the recent Eng V France game it got me thinking. Would a game or two versus a combined Wales/Scotland/Ireland team be any better? I think the test series V Tonga will be excellent.
For me the answer is a more competitive series domestically, we're currently running with a Lancashire V Yorkshire academy series which is working very well. I know this is with a view to the Youth World Cup in France in 2025. Surely this should be replicated for the senior squads, build on the rivalry and you'll get more fans interested. Challenge the players to raise the intensity from a normal SL game which should happen simply due to the strength of the squads.
Have this part of the 'England programme' to ensure players don't drop out of squads and take it serious.
The positives from Saturday was that so many players got their debuts, it's great to see. A Lancs v Yorks game means more opportunities for the top players.