Totally pi$$ed me off, spoiled the tour for me I will take no pleasure at all in seeing those guy's lined up in front of me, how can they have any emotional connection to the GB shirt, one been here for 18 months the other 2 just completed a season all born, raised and learned their sport growing up in Australia and most probably wanting to wear the green and gold, not being good enough to do that they make themselves available for GB and like the soft es we are we go and pick them, are we really that desperate?
It is a sad day for the British Rugby League.

I know where you're coming from however most international sides are guilty of it. In areas, such as half back, it's slightly easier to swallow but I dont understand why were picking an Australian full back or indeed why in the past weve included Australian forwards.

It's an odd, unbalanced squad altogether. It's almost like Wayne Bennett can't really be bothered and doesn't even bother to watch the UK games.

Hardaker? Hill? They are bigger questions than the inclusion of the Aussie players.

5 half backs and only 5 props? Bizarre

I'm sure there are loads of fans of them successful clubs who don't give a monkey's who's in the team, as long as they can tick off beating the Aussies from their ever diminishing R.L. bucket list.

I believe the best hope we have of beating the Aussies & Kiwi's is for the core of the team to be playing in the N.R.L. with a sprinkling of players from S.L. but the old grandparent route is not for me.

Then again, if there are no players in the G.B. team who play for my club, I couldn't care less.

Cue the, "well, you'll be waiting a long time for that, ha ha", stuff.

To be fair to coote he has been playing for Scotland for a few years and therefore why shouldn't he come in to contention? If they're the rules then so be it. It's not like the aussies haven't picked fijians and other pacific islanders in the past.

There isn’t a single team in the world that doesn’t use players that play via herratige

I want to see us put the best available team out
To be ed of by it is bizzare at best.......

World hunger, rape, murder, famine, incurable illness are all things that upset me and me off

Seeing someone play for GB who’s mum or nan emigrated over to Australia at some point isn’t an issue is it really..........

Yeah that’s certainly a mystery on the props
Watts, Sutton, Green and other burgess all capable, Janes Graham still playing very well, squad needs a minimum of one more of the above

Let’s hope none of our props pick up an injury

If we lose it will of course be an issue, if by some miracle we win I suspect it won’t.

For me as we're a tier 1 nation, I personally think the qualification process should be that they are a British citizen; those who are born abroad but have a British parent, therefore have a British passport qualify; anyone that has residency of 3 years+ like they do in Cricket now also qualifies. Which enables anyone that's moved to Britain as a kid can play, or someone who's chosen to make their life over here.

As some posters have mentioned the make up of the side and a few chooses are a bit questionable & weird. We've got nearly half a team of halfbacks,plus a few questionable calls like Philbin and Hughes; how does Watts not get picked in among that lot who knows. What's Mike McMeekens form been like to not get picked. Also just the 2 wingers, neither have been great this year in McGillvery and Hall.

Which Green?

Why was Samuel Tomkins not been picked? He has shown glimpses of brilliance in 2019.

I bet he means Taylor, I used to get those 2 mixed up a bit.

I don’t really have an issue with the Aussies who qualify, we will be playing a Tonga side who very few have even set foot in the place & their fans won’t raise an eyebrow when they step out in the red shirts. What really should worry us is the post that says they are not bothered as no one from their club is involved! For heavens sakes it’s our national team if we can’t get excited by that then we might as well pack the game up & hand our grounds over to Barrats for housing.

I am always exited at the prospect of International games, so much so I will be boarding a plane next week to go to NZ, quite frankly I don't give a hoot what other nations dò *Tonga can't field a team of their own without employing Aussies BUT we can and that is the big difference, we don't need them we have our own to select, and for me personally I don't want them anywhere near the team, nor the bloody coach either.
*The Tongan team, lets face it, teams like Tonga, Samoa, Italy, Lebanon, Fiji, USA are contrivances of teams made up mainly of Australians and Kiwi's to make the World Cup competition sound more global, add to that the Number of nationals other than Irish, Scots or Welsh that populate their teams and we realise we only have 5 nations that could actually field a team of their own. The big 3 plus France and PNG

One way to remember is that the colour of your front lawn is not 'Taylor'

Why contrived? If people are happy to represent the country they choose what’s the problem, the boring code of our game seem to have no problem with it or with teams being way out of their depth. In fact they have made a big occasion out of their international set up which I am sure will attract yet more people into their game. All our fans seem to do is hunt out every negative they can find. The Aussies can’t even be bothered to play a touring side this year ( only a game against NZ as they were contracted to) I really do despair for the game I have followed for 60 years. I hope you have a good trip I was hoping to go but things have cropped up, at least it’s on TV.

I think a lot of RL fans show some very strange attitudes.

We're a diverse nation. Look at other National teams in other sports over the years...

Terry Butcher (Born in Singapore) John Barnes(Jamaica)Owen Hargreaves(Canada)Tony Dorigo(Australia)
Ben Stokes(New Zealand) Eoin Morgan(Ireland) Jofra Archer(Barbados)Kevin Pieterson(South Africa)
Zola Budd(South Africa) Mo Farah(Somalia)
Bradley Wiggins(Belgium) Louisa Pouli(Greece) Chris Froome(Kenya) Luol Deng(Sudan) Greg Rusedski(Canada)Mike Catt(South Africa)
Justin Rose(South Africa)

Plus many many more.

I think we as a nation need to get over it, and just welcome the fact that if someone commits themselves to the cause, we should welcome them and support them. The RL players that are foreign born who have been picked, have been picked because the rules say they are eligible. Until that rule changes, and I don't think it will, you should either get behind them or if you don't agree, don't. No point whining about something that is perfectly allowed to happen.

All those you mentioned above represented England/GB for many years and some from a young age. This just feels like they've been here for a year so lets see if their eligible, would they of been picked if they were still in the NRL and had never come over here to play? We will never know. Also if they go on to represent England/GB for many years to come then fair enough.

On my way there this weekend. Weird squad which does not look balanced. The wingers not even in top form this season.
Very unsure about Flake Austin but Jackson Hastings will continue to be a revelation both on and off the field.

I don't like the rule but if the rest of the game does it you can't blame us for doing the same.

Australia and New Zealand have been doing this for years.

Personally I think you should have to hold a national passport to qualify, but until it is across the board then we have to use the same rules as everyone else and not shoot ourselves in the foot.

That doesn’t make it right, does it!



Get a grip, people on this forum talk relatively, no one’s saying what your suggesting!

Exactly.
The Japanese 30 man squad for the current collapsathon cup contains 12 "foreign" born players, from the Islands, NZ, Australia and South Africa, but do you hear Rugga fans bemoaning this use of foreign talent? Of course not, they applaud the team for topping their group and the Japanese fans have taken these foreign players as their own. Given Britain ruled half the planet, it's hardly surprising that their are heritage "foreign" players willing to put their hands up and if their good enough, then why not pick the best available.

Smashing, wonderful for Japan it is just a Basterdisation they and that silly game employ, its not for me Axe, if you wish to accept it fair enough, personally I think we have enough player's to pick from without employing people who have no emotional connection with our country, for me you need passion and pride in abundance, to these guy's I don't believe it is anymore that a job of work, it is just another jersey they will put on, if you suggest that they will have that same emotional connection with putting that kit on than a true Brit would have then I don't believe it.

Dead right. Also, Tongan and Fijian teams etc are weakened by Australia and New Zealand nicking their best players, perhaps if they didn't, we wouldn't one-sided world cup matches.