And the amount of kiwis living over here.

Favourite subject....

Whatever the thread, GF will get the rah rah into it.

The article is the usual crap from the journalist (used loosely) concerned.

It makes no real sense and is full of inaccuracy. Typical for the Tele.

The funniest thing of all is GF believes the IRB are some sort of model...

lol x 10

We will be fine without the rah rah. FIFA is THE model anyone in sport would be crazy not to look at.

Unless, we want the RLIF to be infested with "55 old farts" like the IRB, it has nothing of interest to anyone. Whereas FIFA is clearly the more professional organisation in every conceivable facet of its operations...

Shame union can't offer us a brass razoo.

Good on ya Darlin. The media over here can be riddled with this sort of journalism. See it's not just the Manly Daily.

I would never suggest otherwise. The Australian sporting press is a joke overall. Little better than Britain in many respects regarding rugby league. This was his intro to a blog on the 25th October... www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5942998083 Same story. But it wouldn't matter at what point you asked him (Ritchie) that question during his lifetime. He would still answer the same way. He is an idiot.

I would never suggest otherwise. The Australian sporting press is a joke overall. Little better than Britain in many respects regarding rugby league. This was his intro to a blog on the 25th October... www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5942998083 Same story. But it wouldn't matter at what point you asked him (Ritchie) that question during his lifetime. He would still answer the same way. He is an idiot.

winning 25% of recent games isnt competitive mate.

by competitive i mean every game stands a good chance of either side winning it

and a competitive england would be a bigger draw than a competitive nz

even though the later is realistically possible in the next 10 years

the scg has never held that much mate

65,000 was the most the SCGs ever held

going back to the 50ws/60s many a test match at the scg had more than 40,000 in

as i said before england have gotten massive crowds in the 60s at the SCG

your ignorance on the history of international RL is coming to the fore here.

Really? FIFA appears to be rife with corruption, what with delegates selling votes. GF bring Union into it because its learnt from the mistakes that League and Soccer made and now puts on a very successful World Cup.

Dally wouldnt know.

I know the biggest ever footy crowd at the SCG was just over 78,000....but that was for the 1965 grand final. Internationals have never been that high.

I have to say I agree with the article to an extent.

England have probably the weakest squad of all time and unfortunatley this will be proven when Australia embarrass us in momumental fashion at the weekend.

Australia look formidable and the Kiwis look stronger than ever.

What the article doesnt mention and what we English fans need to remember is that our game in the UK is in a rebuilding process which will only be fixed in the medium to longer term.

The RFL have put the processes in place to ensure all SL clubs progressivley reduce the amount of import players and the emphasis is now on investing in home grown talent. The RFL have not only focussed on making England more competitive in the future but have invested massively to allow RL to spread and grow across Europe. Wales and France have taken their first steps to becoming established and competitive RL nations.

The Aussies on the other hand continued to invest inwardly, in their own back yard. Too caught up with a war with the AFL and Rugby Union. NZ badly needs a 2nd team and PNG cant bang loudly enough for an NRL Franchise. With the money and resources that the NRL have in comparison to the RFL, the NRL should hang their heads in shame.

England may hit bottom in this years 4 nations but RL at grassroots has spread like a bush fire in this country and players such as Sam Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond should hopefully be the first of a new generation of players to emerge in a new era.

Lets pray that England can perform this weekend but lets not forget that we are building for the long term and hopefully in the 2013 World Cup a new England team will be born on our own home soil and in the faces of the British media.

Dean Ritchie is a good journo. Always enjoyed his articles.


I don't think there is too much in that article people could disagree with.




Love the pic of little pommie sam missing yet ANOTHER tackle

how are you seeing this thread when youve said youve put me on your banned list?

Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday?

Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday?

What a rubbish article.

The RFL are doing way more for international RL than the NRL on a much tighter budget.

In the last few years, the RFL have awarded franchises to clubs in France and Wales, introduced quota rules (which should really start taking effect in the next 2/3 years, once the players signed pre-2008 start to retire), introduced 'home grown' rules, placed another French and Welsh club in the Championships, invited French and even Russian clubs to participate in the CC.

It's not going to happen overnight, and should have been done alot earlier than it was.

One of the main problems is the eligibility rules - complete joke.

Its all about 2013 people.
Atkins isnt fit to lace Gleesons boots, or even seniors really, all about the future, and potential.
If you look at the back three at the weekend - Goulding 22, Widdop 21, Briscoe, 20 that is very young, players like Tomkins and Burgess are only 21, hell, Kevin Brown was our oldest back at about 26. Its a very young side and one that cant seriously be expected to compete with the worlds best.

If Atkins and Shenton are out this weekend then there'll be another 2 young players coming in.

I'm all for planning for the future, but our best young players need to be augmented by the best experienced players we have available.

Unless you are seriously suggesting that Tony Clubb is a top international prospect and deserves to be in line for a test shirt at the weekend? He will be NOWHERE NEAR any world cup squad in 2013.

Gleeson should be in the squad, no question at all.

No, it baffled me that he went but imo he does get a lot of unwarranted stick and hes not THAT bad. Much more suited to the second row imo

Quote ="Barry_McKenzie"Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday? '" What king of the stuff up's??? Kiwi's love him single handing them the World Cup. Losing a premiership in a team that was over 1 million dollar's by a record margin

Quote ="Barry_McKenzie"Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday? '" What king of the stuff up's??? Kiwi's love him single handing them the World Cup. Losing a premiership in a team that was over 1 million dollar's by a record margin

so what makes you think this:

Despite the odd stuff up he is still the most exciting player in the world right now.

I love watching him play. He will be looking for another big game against the soapies this Sunday thats for sure!

Its bloody Cricket & beach season you ignorant soap dodgers

thats actually a very good post.

why not?

we didnt have a ground having an 80,000 capacity back then, now we do.