Smith
Madge
McLennan
Brown
Potter
Millward
Morgan

Have all proved this.

Only Noble and Kear from the selection of British coaches have had any kind of decent success.

i'm struggling to find the bit in the interview where he says that the NRL isnt that tough like the thread title says

theres plenty there...you just don't want to read it!

Correct. Also the attitude some coaches have to blooding young players is another issue. Take my club Wigan for example.

Would Joel Tomkins have made the England squad had he been under Brian Noble?

Would Liam Farrell, Ben Davies, Johnny Walker and Stefan Marsh all have made their debuts under Brian Noble?

Coaching is certainly an important issue across all levels of Rugby League. I hope more coaches like Mike MaGuire and Nathan Brown come over to the UK. Ricky Stuart being the next one.

not that i like backing up noble...but did'nt gareth ellis make his debut under noble? and the likes of kirk yeaman and james roby defo did....don't imply that noble constantly went with the old guard...we are a damn sight stronger now than we where 4 or 5 years ago..



i'm sure wigan fans could help me out naming 4 kids noble did bring through....like sam tomkins & shaun ainscough to name just 2

Why do you see it as the Aussies dropping rather than competition improving?

well after reading it (again) i'm sure he says that both leagues are very tough! and indeed he wouldn't find it much tougher anyway as he is one of the world's best forwards - there's not that many of his equivalent in aus, never mind the english game.

for what its worth i think he's playing to the media a bit here, the nrl is still miles ahead of superleague in my opinion, and don't forget there's a difference between toughness and sheer quality, but i do agree with you that the gap appears to be closing

I agree with you when you say the NRL is miles ahead,but i don't agree that the gap appears to be closing.

I watch every NRL game on the tele and the quality is a lot better than ours esp in the backs.

We seem to be producing more quality forwards, but seriously, until we find a batch of big, athletic threequarters we'll continue to get hammered by Australia when it counts. We may have found a halfback partnership that will last for years in Eastmond and Tomkins, and a decent fullback in Widdop. But we're still dreadfully far behind in choices for 2-5.

I've been telling people for years THERE IS NO MAGIC IN THEIR COACHING OR SPORTS SCIENCE that every seems to think there is. That's just been people trying to make an excuse.

I've been fortunate over here to have worked in RL with people who have played in both countries, played Origin, Internationals and someone who have represented their country as a player captain and coach.

They all said there is no "BIG" difference. They all said that any member of the England and back then GB team can play in the NRL. They all say there is no difference in trainin. They do all mention though the intensity is a bit less against the lower clubs and that there is a far greater depth of players in Oz.

Thank Christ Sam has said how it really is over here, it's true, no media hype. Now maybe some over there will listen and believe it. The more people think they are gods over here, the harder it will be to beat them.

actually i'd say 3-4....ryan hall,tom briscoe,peter fox and even lee smith have done very well in the internationals they've played..scored a fair few too....compared to the aussie sfrom the 4nations last year who had brett morris on one side,a very english type winger,cracking finisher,but does nothing our guys can't do and jarryd hayne on the other,who to be frank,has done sod all as a wingman,i'm glad he's out there.....what have the aussies got after that in terms of wingers??

its centres we need...look at michael shenton 6"4 & 85kg compared that to 6ft5 & 108kg of a certain mr inglis


shenton needs to put on at least 10kg of muscle....all our centres do cos they are all skinny, some of them have the height just not the weight..

Biggest difference is the number of Jnr's they can draw from and the amount of money being spent on those Jnr's. Some Leagues clubs spend more on Jnr RL than the whole of RL in England put together.

The more milk you have, the more cream rises to the top.

Oh, also helps if you can convinve half of polynesia to come and move to your country!

Take Joel Tomkins, do you think that a player like that would have been pushed into the centre more if he were at an Aussie club?

if he had any sense he'd push himself out to centre given that burgess & ellis have got the 2nd row locked up for the next few years...

He's pretty shifty too.
Scored a try earlier in the season, best centre's try ive seen in years.. I rate this guy, Im not sure he's the skills to go up against Inglis though

Who has?

aye nobody has.....we're lucky enough to witness the greatest RL player of all time..


the only skill someone needs opposing him is being a solid tackler...and even tthen we just have to hope for the best..

You put top class centres against guys that don't do a lot of stints in a technically defensive area and you could come a cropper. That's more what I was referring too.
I hate playing guys out of position, but in this case I'd be tempted to give it a whirl. He's big, fast and skillful

I agree, I just think we've got something amiss in England in that we like producing mobile backrowers as opposed to big centres, if you see what i mean.

True, but if you ask me, and the two ex centres that spring to mind would be Ellis and Westwood and both imho are much better back rowers than they ever were centres. Tomkins is a bit different of a build, its almost as if in this country we would prefer our better athletes to make 4 or 5 extra yards every time they take the ball in the forwards than to produce something from the backs. JT has it, bags of potential.. ive not seen enough of him at 3 to be convinced there though.

Joel tomkins has covered centre a few times for wigan this year. Aquited himself quite well too. However, he is a devastating second rower. I actually think Englands back row and replacement is now sorted for a good few years anyway with

11. burgess
12. ellis
13. O'Loughlin

14. Joel Tomkins

Widdop needs to be kept at full back and I'd get Leon Pryce in the centres to give us a bit of size and pace outwide.

I may get slated for this but if Karl Pryce keeps his form and improvement up he could be our suprise inclusion on the wing.

I'd seriously like to see and england team of:

1. Gareth Widdop
2. Ryan Hall
3. Chris Bridge
4. Leon Pryce
5. Karl Pryce
6. Sam Tomkins
7. Kyle Eastmond
8. James Graham
9. Kevin Sinfield
10. Jamie Peacock
11. Sam Burgess
12. Gareth Ellis
13. Sean O'Loughlin

14. Joel Tomkins
15. Adrian Morley
16. Eorl Crabtree
17. James Roby

That is potentially a very good england side

All true, and I don't want to sound like I'm talking about tomkins in particular, i just think we're too quick to push players of that ilk into the pack, which may contribute to why we produce a lot more decent forwards than backs.

52 missed tackles and 22 handling errors in Origin - sounds like a knockonathon game of touch and pass.

You miss potentially the best back rower of them Mark Flannaghan - plays week in week out in the NRL given him two years and he will be at Ellis' level - superb prospect

Did you miss the title of the thread