No
The fact that we're picking Australians who clearly can't make the Australia squad is a terrible indictment on our game.
Maybe the RFL should (finally) concentrate on promoting those areas of the country where RL is played and (finally) bin the failed expansion idea.
- How many players have the likes of Widnes, Oldham, Cumbria, Dewsbury, Halifax, Fev etc. contributed to RL over the years, and still do to this day? Yet those clubs are treated like second-class citizens.
- How many players are London, Midlands, Newcastle, Toulouse & Cats etc. going to generate for the England team?
The other thing they need to do is get a grip on is SL teams filling their squads with Aussies from reserve grade. It's a cheap easy way of getting a proficient, by the numbers player. But it's stopping teams investing in local players. Putting in the hard yards to find these lads, and train them up. The likes of Castleford trotting out 10 overseas players every week is not right. We need to get back to a proper limit on these overseas players and start playing English ones.
I agree, I was saying the same thing to my mates after this morning’s game.
How are England going to improve when most of the SL players are overseas players?
While the Aussies have lots of players to choose from, England have less and less, because the young players coming through don’t get much of a chance to play regularly in SL, because the teams are full of overseas players, a lot of them who can’t make it in Australia, so come to SL for a easier time and getting paid good money, that clubs should be using to try and get more English players playing at the top level.
This has been going on for years - if I recall there was a limit on overseas players which got increased year on year - and the standard of overseas players gets less and less
mal maninga was one of the best ever - still in his prime when he played here, but of course that was winter rugby when he would have been in their close season
back to winter rugby ? - not much difference than now really when the summer season starts in February !
McDermot said after the match, that he’d seen enough to see England were heading in the right direction.
I thought the right direction was forwards not backwards!!!
All this reminds me of an interview with Mick Crane of Hull/GB when the Aussie Invincibles were here.
They were streets ahead of us in almost every aspect of the Sport, and of course we got thumped in all three Test Matches.
That was in 1982, and it seems that nothing has changed in the 44 years since.
Shocking really 😥
So it now looks like our only hope is that Tonga beat Samoa and we can put lots of points on France and PNG - the latter will be very hard
Need Tonga to beat Samoa and we need to put (probably) 60+ on PNG. It's possible, Samoa did it today.
Tonga Samoa has got all the hallmarks of a classic.
We need to put 50 + on PNG - in Port Moresby is it ?
very doubtful
and hope Tonga beat Samoa - otherwise we are out
pretty crap format mind, loaded against England to quality
Chers to the convicts !
The PNG match is in Wollongong not PNG, but still going to be very hard to win by 60 points.
If it had been a normal competition, and not one thought up by the RL, to give Australia and NZ the best chance of making the final, then if Samoa beat Tonga and we beat PNG by 1 point or more, we would be in the semis, on points difference.
And if they’d had 2 more countries in it, we could have had 4 groups of 3 and the winners of each group would go through to the semis. Only then, they’d have made sure Australia and NZ would be in different groups.
Yes see game is in aus, which helps see what you say about normal comp rules, but from comp start we knew it would come down to a head to head result - we didn’t play Samoa ?
really bad competition
Very poor England, just don't execute well, too many errors.
We need Tonga to beat Samoa by at least 46, that won't happen.
Yes, the format of the tournament is pants but England need to have a look at themselves, particularly the way SL works. For the reasons outlined in this thread. The comp is a poor standard compared to the NRL.
The best 4 teams will be in the semis, no doubt.
I know it’s still unlikely, but haven’t Tonga got to win by 24, because although their points difference is 46 points better than ours, if Tonga beat Samoa by 24 , that will mean England points difference will be 2 points better than Samoas, and we haven’t played them in this competition, so they can’t go through by having beaten us already.
If it was us playing Samoa we could win by 24 but seeing as it's Tonga playing them, they need to knock 46 off their points difference.
They can play a draw and both are through !
realistically England need Tonga to win by a country mile - and it won’t happen
england are out
but look at the comp format, England really had a very little chance, it was fixed so the Aussies play the kiwis in the final
the Aussies have done a great job developing the pacific nations, wheras European rugby has gone backwards
very sad