Yet again another major resounding success for our game with a thrilling pulsating game played out to another full house,this exile experiment is paying massive dividends for our sport.

The amount of talent the franchise system is producing is outstanding,look now at our world standing we have leapt forward continully with a non stop production line of talent.

This wasn't some country we were playing but a mixture of two great countries,we should feel blessed to be facing the all time greats out there on the pitch tonight,and how our young talent learns from exposure at this level is priceless.


Now we move forward to the world cup in great shape,hope your all on the phone tomorrow to snap up your world cup tickets.

cool story bro

I always thought sarcasm was supposed to be served up in a well timed one liner.

Whinge, whinge, f**kin whinge.

I think we should have a Yorks vs Lancs series, oh wait a minute we tried that but decided to scrap it because it wasn't an instant success. Although IIRC the games weren't as badly attended as people seem to think.

How about we have a mid season game against France? Oh hang on we tried that as well but once again the RL fans in this country decided the couldn't be d with that so we got rid of that as well.

Whatever we decide to do next (whether its a county of Origin series, a game against France or a game against the Exiles) we have to give it more than just a year or two. We have to give it time to grow and become part of the RL calender. The GF was poorly attended the first couple of years but now we get between 65 and 70k at OT evey year, and its become one of the biggest occasions in British sport.

If RL fans put as much effort in supporting our game as they do whinging about then we wouldn't have a problem.

No what we should do is reward mediocre players.....Oh we already do that.
Our strength in depth could be measured in millimetres.

The Exiles concept will never work unless there is a reward for the winners. Then everyone will make themselves available and we might get some passion.

Does the Exiles clash even have a sponsor?

If this is to prepare us for the world cup then surely we need to be playing our strongest team!

If we want to attract a good crowd we need the likes of Tomkins playing, belive it or not people actually pay to watch world class players.

Tonight was a waste of time, dont buy into this "we gave young players a chance" crap!

Hall, Tomkins, Hock, O'Loughlin, Westwood, Graham, Burgess, Sinfield, Widdop, Ellis will all be in the squad at the drop of a hat if fit.

This game tonight in no way prepares us to face Oz or NZ next year. All it did was to prove that our backup team cant even cut it against a team of 'Exiles' which contains about 20 international caps (oz & nz) and 15 came from Menzies!!!!

We got taught a lesson! big time. Hardly any of their squad would get anywhere near an Oz or Kiwi shirt. it wasnt an 'international class of opposition'

if they were that good they wouldnt be in England would they!

Beaver is a Legend - on the plus side.

i'm not a big fan of the Exiles concept but I got behind it, I went to Langtree Park (and was suitably unimpressed) and will go again if it takes place next year. Because I love rugby league. I don't see this ever being a ferocious contest and it can never be compared to State Of Origin because the Exiles do not exist - they are a fantasy side. They do not have supporters, it is not a place. But it could become an entertaining trial/exhibition match, similar to the All Stars match in Australia and can be excellent preparation for the England team. Attendance at Langtree was okay, very disappointing tonight since the core of rugby league support here is supposedly in Yorkshire!

But I thought everybody wanted to see some young players given a chance? Didn't McNarmara do that tonight? Damned if does...

England v England Knights please.

The England soccer team used to have England v Young England (which was the Under 23's I believe) in the 50's and 60's. Anything but Yorks v Lancs.

I'm with Charlie Sheen (above, not the meltdowny "actor"icon_wink.gif on all counts. RL fans, particularly at internationals, are awful at supporting initiatives.

I'd rather the Exiles showed us how crap we are than see the side smash France/Wales and go into the World Cup thinking we're better than we are.

Why?

Because it was awful when we tried it previously.

All that tonights game proved is that JJB,Wilkins et al are not worthy of playing at International standard.
So maybe McBanana stumbled unexpectedly on some fortunate news.

How about England U21's vs England Retired Select XIII? Or "Ex-Scotland Wales Eire NZ v an Always been England side?

Or, how about we stop cocking about and get back to regular SL matches? The International game is dead on it's bottom. The Aussies don't care and we can't beat them anyhoo. Any interest we had in the Int'l game died when GB became extinct and the Aussies stopped touring.

We tried it for 2 seasons, if we gave up on everything that wasn't a succes in that amount of time we'd probably have no game at all.. It wasn't great but the crowds were OK, and because of the history and rivalry it could've been a real success. You can't expect every new concept to be an instant success, it takes time. SOO was first played infront of 25k crowds, now every game is pretty much a sell out.

What about the younger players though? They should've been trying to prove their worth and show why they should be selected above some of the more established (so called) 'failures' but most looked like they couldn't be d.

I get what you're saying but come on that match tonight was awful. I also don't understand the obsession with everything origin and the fact that because it works in Australia means we must copy it. Aussie rules football is very popular over there but no one here gives two hoots.

If we must have a mid season International then play either France/Ireland/Wales and build the International game over here. Let's face it, with the new tv deal down under we will be light years behind them for many years, so forget it. Try and aim towards an eventual competitive 4/5 nations and even if the quality isn't the highest, if the games are close and intense (which will take a while) then people will watch. Hell we might even get someone to sponsor the thing.

I don't disagree the intensity wasn't what it should be and I don't necessarily think we should go back to a county of Origin, and I too don't share the fascination with everything Aussie (including SOO), I just think we dissmiss experiments as failures without really giving them a chance to grow.

You have got to have a contest that people have a side to support, we have that with the Exiles. England v Knights is nothing other than a trial game and no one would pay to watch it.

Exactly.

The Exiles concept is a good one imo but the RFL need to a - stop trying to market it like SOO and b - put something in place that stops the England players pulling out left right and centre. Playing one match on a stand alone weekend would have been enough imo. We can build it up to a 2 match and then a 3 match series when it takes off.

SOO is a trial game for the Aussie team.

Just play one test against france away on a weekend.

England will get more intensity from that game. Also I want an explanation from the RFL on why they turned down a tour to New Zealand this year?



It use to be. Them days are long gone!

We do need to do something on the international scale IMO. The state of origin is a three game test where full teams are fielded on every occasion. England exiles is a two game test where on the second test we rested a handful of the best players and got beat by the exiles. Absolute pointless game for me unless your going to play a nearly identical team to the one we will use against the Aussies and all blacks.

But people have a team to support. People from NSW support NSW. People from QLD support QLD.

Who would you support if England played England? I'd personally find it difficult to want England to lose.

The Exiles match will never take off, It will continue to be a ridiculous contrived farce no matter how much 'time you give it'. I don't understand why people make excuses for this match, TBH I'm surprised it has lasted this long. Though the majority of people decrying it appear to be the regular whiners, in this case they are right. Hopefully the concept will be dropped ASAP along with 'England Knights' when McNamara is removed as England coach.