Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Mon Nov 14, 2022 8:48 pm  

jonh wrote:

Retired due to pressures of the game and was playing Bush Footie with his mates if I remember correctly.

Yeah spot on. Was basically disillusioned with the game and had retired. Think he was only about 21. He was in awful shape when he first arrived.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:01 pm  

nathan_rugby wrote:

I think it needs a balanced approach though or else you risk making the competition worse off if the additional english players playing aren't up to standard.

There isn't just one thing that can fix this issue and the other issues in English Rugby League.
- Amateur Rugby needs better numbers
- All clubs should have academies
- Salary Cap increased / abolished
- Internationals embedded in the calendar

The starting point should be schools.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:05 pm  

Egg Chasing wrote:

I'm not talking about the overseas players. I'm talking about sending English players to the NRL.

Every player we lose a player to the NRL it's met with moans and groans about losing the competitions best players.

Sorry I misunderstood. But that is our only option if we are to improve the international game in the short-term as the quality of SL does not test the best players we have got on a regular basis. Look at how New Zealand and Samoa have come on leaps and bounds since their players flooded into the NRL.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Mon Nov 14, 2022 11:08 pm  

Stu M wrote:

This is a good point. When was the last time we had a real superstar in our comp who stayed long enough to add some real value? The likes of Barba and Lyon were superstars but came here under a cloud due to misdemeanours back home. Barrett was a great player to use Wigan as an example but these were years ago (apart from Barba)

One of my best mates is Polish and doesn't really folllow RL. However he works with a lot of mad Wigan fans (I don't mean crazy I mean keen match going ones). The other day we were chatting about the WC and he asked if Field and French had been playing well for Australia as he knows they are good players from his work colleagues. He presumed they would be playing. I explained that they hadn't been selected. Trying to explain to him was strange as in his eyes they are 2 of the best in SL (they are of course) and yet if we are being honest would either make even a 40 man Australia squad? Would either start in the NRL?

This isn't being anti-Wigan by using these two as an example, you could argue Coote when he first signed for us would be the same.

The point I am making is that the depth of talent in Aus dwarfs ours. Now of course if a Nathan Cleary comes over here its a different story but its never going to happen for a whole host of reasons.

Spot-on.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 2:08 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

The starting point should be schools.

If only league was played in schools nationwide, eh? Is that a pipe-dream, or should campaigning towards that be one of the RFL's biggest objectives?

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:18 am  

moto748 wrote:

If only league was played in schools nationwide, eh? Is that a pipe-dream, or should campaigning towards that be one of the RFL's biggest objectives?

Nationwide? There's no chance of that when there's schools in Wigan where RL isn't played, especially at junior school level. From my experience it all depends on the background of the PE teacher, if they are 'football' or 'rugby'. If its rugby then lessons tend to be split, if its football then rugby tends to get pushed out completely.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:51 am  

MattyB wrote:

Nationwide? There's no chance of that when there's schools in Wigan where RL isn't played, especially at junior school level. From my experience it all depends on the background of the PE teacher, if they are 'football' or 'rugby'. If its rugby then lessons tend to be split, if its football then rugby tends to get pushed out completely.

I know even when I was a lad at Mornington High in Hindley we only had Union as the PE teacher played union.I dont know about now though.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:32 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

The starting point should be schools.

All my mates played for Thomas More in the early sixties I attended Gidlow School Beech Hill they only played football we asked could we have a Rugby team as we had over 20 interested head master said no chance.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:40 pm  

moto748 wrote:

If only league was played in schools nationwide, eh? Is that a pipe-dream, or should campaigning towards that be one of the RFL's biggest objectives?

Pipe dream.

The focus needs to be on driving kids towards community clubs because the schools system is as bad as it has ever been and getting worse by the day.

Re: England 19-man squad for RLWC Semi Final : Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:57 pm  

Some obvious points coming up, but they need making. Rugby League is a shambles. There is no money in it.
Many “fans” seem to be unconcerned with anything more than 5 miles from their home. Super League clubs are allowed to play in dirty and ramshackle grounds. There is very little in the way of career progression, as some teams have little or nothing in the way of academies. Most club sponsors seem to be small local businesses, as they have always been. I don’t think much has really changed since I started watching in 1966. I’m not trolling here, there are many individuals in the game who are talented and work incredibly hard, but the general parochial attitude means they get nowhere. The Aussies have a structured development path. Also,In the USA, I lived in a small town of 25,000 people just outside Memphis Tenn some years ago. The high school played (American) Football on Friday nights and 10,000 people came to watch. There was something for everyone to get involved with, players, band, cheerleaders, ground staff, admin, food vendors etc etc all being volunteers. For the best players, there was progression to College football at various levels, and for elite College players, the professional leagues. They had a structure. When I was in Texas just before the pandemic, there was the same set up. The funny thing is, I’m not particularly a US football fan, but I’m an admirer of their structure and organisation. Will RL ever get near this level of organisation and structure?
Not long as humans have a hole in their bottoms, I suspect.