Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 11:16 am  

Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener The story of one hundred and nine years of history, between the two oldest rugby league playing nations, turned the next page as Australia welcomed England to the opening game of the 2017 World Cup.   Mal Meninga's cast iron Aussie favourites were up against Wayne Bennett's cream of Super League with the hopes of both nations resting on their shoulders.    The World Cup wouldn't be won today, but the result would give us a clear indication of how competitive the latter stages of the competition would be. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener The story of one hundred and nine years of history, between the two oldest rugby league playing nations, turned the next page as Australia welcomed England to the opening game of the 2017 World Cup.   Mal Meninga's cast iron Aussie favourites were up against Wayne Bennett's cream of Super League with the hopes of both nations resting on their shoulders.    The World Cup wouldn't be won today, but the result would give us a clear indication of how competitive the latter stages of the competition would be. READ MORE ON THIS STORY...

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:05 pm  

Wonder why they didn't bring Gale on

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:13 pm  

Had them rattled in the second half but same old story in the end

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:32 pm  

Still not good enough. Sadly, very predictable.

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 4:00 pm  

Enjoyed the game and overall I thought our defence was pretty solid.
McGillvary had a fantastic game

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:37 pm  

yeah, I think it was lost in the first half, it was a shut out on every count but the scoreboard.
the 2nd was far more competitive.
If we can string 2 halves together like the 2nd, then we aren't far off.
Put it in context, we're in the back yard of the best RL team in the World, I'm not sure they have an awful lot more to offer other than a bit of offensive polish.
nah, they had a massively dominant 1st half which smoothed the route to the result but they don't look invincible.

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:45 am  

Upanunder wrote:

yeah, I think it was lost in the first half, it was a shut out on every count but the scoreboard.
the 2nd was far more competitive.
If we can string 2 halves together like the 2nd, then we aren't far off.
Put it in context, we're in the back yard of the best RL team in the World, I'm not sure they have an awful lot more to offer other than a bit of offensive polish.
nah, they had a massively dominant 1st half which smoothed the route to the result but they don't look invincible.

Agree and also add to the context, we lost one of the best RL players in the world 20 mins in, which left us light on the interchange bench, meaning guys like Graham and Hill did big minutes and were blowng out of their asses.

Looking forward they have to get Bateman back in the back row and get Percival in the centres now, even if Sam hadn't got injured. The game also reinforced most people thoughts on why a 35 year old Aussie is playing, he's average and there's so many better back rowers around, including our own Ashurst. We also imo looked far better with Roby on the pitch and moving forward I'd play him for the full 80 mins, especially against the better sides, whether that happens is another thing. Hodgson although plays well for Canberra, he just hasn't cut it for England imo and he seemed to make a fair number of missed tackles & his distribution just isn't as good as Roby's. Widdop looked better after that first half and Gale I hardly noticed tbh.

Big Sam is going to be a huge hole to fill. The 20 odd mins while he was on he looked good, made some big meters after contact and did plenty of tackles. Hopefully his injury isn't serious and we can get him back for the semi's. Apparently Walmsley was a bit ill today so he didn't play but moving forward, this lad will imo cause plenty of teams problems and would of been a handful today. With Sam's loss though, it does give others a chance to show what they can do, like Walmsley, Taylor, Currie and Bateman in the pack.

One final note obviously McGilvary had a great game but I also think that Hall showed his class and didn't put a foot wrong. I also thought our goal line defense was the best I've seen from us in years.

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:27 am  

I didn't think it was the same old story

If people who say that mean we lost then yes it is but to me over the last couple of years Australia no where near dominate us like they used to

I see a side that are a FB and a centre away from beating them (ffs hardaker)
I also see a side that stand up and are not scared either (Bateman giving cronk a facial!) you wouldn't have caught danny maguire doing that
I see a side that are becoming more confident in defence and attack and more comfortable playing with one another

I also see a team capable of beating the kiwis and getting to have a second go at Australia in the final!

Re: Aussies Beat Brave England in RLWC2017 Opener : Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:33 pm  

Shifty Cat wrote:

One final note obviously McGilvary had a great game but I also think that Hall showed his class and didn't put a foot wrong. I also thought our goal line defense was the best I've seen from us in years.

Yep, the both had good solid games, didn't think Lomax was too bad either.
We ain't gonna beat Oz at their own game though, and the thing that seems glaringly obvious despite the performance of the wings and FB, is we don't have anyone with blazing pace, we don't have anyone that can shoot a hole in their game plan, an equalizer when the chips are down.
I dunno, mebbe I've been conditioned to expect it to be part of our arsenal from watching wakey the past few years, it doesn't exist in the current England squad, McGilvary is probably the best shot at that, but he's much more a physical entity than out and out raw pace.
Lomax and Hall are rock solid, but they're not gonna burn anyone, could be that rock solid is a more desirable quality for the Oz games.