Forget Canada the real current power house of Rugby League expansion is the South Sea Islands and their ‘power house’ forwards that have decimated GB’s raft of NRL and Super-league ‘stars’

Some play in the NRL and are stand out players just look at the ones that come to Super-league and play well.

If ever there was a moment that British rugby league stood at a cross roads with a Canadian team shouting for more marque players and no salary cap and a stop on restricting them playing Australian and South Sea Island players instead of UK ones then this is it.

The ill judged scheme for increasing the number of overseas players and overseas teams into a British league is going to lead to the slowing of the development of our own players and lead to us becoming a fourth rate international nation.

For every English club that is replaced in Super-league by Toronto and New York etc. The academy and development of our players will reduce replaced by a false expansion created by teams that are not developing players either in their country of origin or the UK.

Expansion is alive and well in a Tonga, Fiji and PNG playing a game at high speed and with a toughness that is built on a proud heritage that we are prepared to lose to bring in a Canadian millionaire team who want to change the rules to the detriment of our game.

We seem to want to fill our team with second rate international antipodeans with dubious connection to our country.

Our playing depth is getting poorer take out a few players and we have a poor team and players that don’t want to dig in when the going gets tough.

For all of you that will call me a Neanderthal I agree with expansion as we have seen over the last few weeks but not the crazy style we are following if we change our rules to accommodate short term teams from Nth America.

The proper and long term expansion in the South Seas looks so good just imagine if Australia and NZ weren’t allowed to poach these players and use them before ‘giving them back’ RL would become a much more attractive game on the a International stage.

Our way using Catalans hasn’t worked as the French team would be playing to a much higher standard like the South Sea Island ones if it had.....

No such place as the “south sea islands”

Tonga fiji samoa cook island's etc are sometimes collectively known as the “south Pacific islands”

Call em what you want the name doesn’t matter it’s the way they play Rugby League that does...

These are some of the poorest countries on earth.
PNG has more people and a bigger economy than the rest combined, but per capita they are still amongst the poorest people on earth.

How can the inclusion of overseas teams like Toronto and New York be the reason for poor development of British players?

Similarly, what is this pseudo development you're talking about in the South Seas Islands by the NRL? PNG have a side in the NSW Cup (just like we introduced a French side and Canadian side).
The rest are just heritage players mainly. Unless our strategy for international development is converting all our immigrants to make new rugby league playing nations (which we're failing at with the home nations!) then I can't see us competing.

In reply to the op, I think teams from that part of the world should be invited into SL a.s.a.p.
May as well let anyone for anywhere into the league, logistics aren't a problem anymore



On a serious note, GB were beaten by a more enthusiastic and committed side, buoyed by a passionate home crowd.
GB on the other hand looked tired, uninterested and ready for home and that was before a ball had been kicked.

The players from PNG, if good enough, will be snapped up by sides in the NRL and SL

PNG had several NRL/SL players in their team: Alexander Johnston (South Sydney), Edene Gebbie (South Sydney), Justin Olam (Melbourne), and David Mead (Catalans). There should be more to come after today's performance. Ipape looks like the real deal.

You can add in Rhyse Martin

Talking of PNG players, there was a superb article on the BBC RL feed recently about the work that Stanley Gene had done back home.
Getting running water into his village and helping to set up a school for the local youngsters.
He was an excellent player but, the work done "back home" is absolutely top draw, what a bloke and a credit to the sport and to his country.

That ship has already sailed. The quality of SL has plummeted over the past decade, and shows no sign of improving.

The heartland towns along the M62 are dying fields for cultivating new talent, in part because of the soccer playing immigrants who have moved in. The only hope for increasing the talent pool for England to recruit from is to spend RFL development money in places like London and the surrounding areas of southern England, and in new areas like Newcastle where the Thunder has an active interested management and organisation in place. York might also be a place to focus on.

As for the Celtic nations, obviously there needs to be development work done in places like, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff, Swansea, Belfast and Dublin. It will take a decade to bear fruit, but if the work is not started now, nothing better will ever emerge.

Agree with the last post, why the he'll are we concerned about other countries rather than increasing grass roots in the UK counties to eventually strengthen the playing pool, all as the Pacific islands have slowly progressed but with solid results ???? Our talent pool is low for whatever reason, but these other countries will pool/pull on that talent with bigger higher salaries - unless we increase that talent pool our further demise is set to go down further. We still have blind not wife in charge @ the RFL !! Wanting short cuts !!!!

An absolute brilliant post to wind someone up.

Thanks. I just call it as I see it.

That's right ,you see it as an opportunity to wind up who you can with your constant twaddle.

Once Sooper Dooper League starts this 4-0 GB whitewash will be a distant memory....it will be nothing but the 'biggest hits' & 'amazing tries', courtesy of the Sky Sports commentary team.

Soccer playing immigrants you say? Nigel Farage missed that one. Maybe if they have a second vote they could use that.





Anyone who cites the PI growth of late as an example of how it happens take a closer look at the birth place of the players from Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands...even PNG to a smaller extent. These are heritage players are ANZAC born. It doesn't make them any less Tongan or Samoan BTW, but it does explain where these players learnt to play the game. Chances are they started off in school, then in the Auckland or NSW/Qland comps, as I say, after they attended schools where League was taught.

Try and find a school where RL is played ahead of Union in Samoa, Fiji or Tonga?

Find me thriving domestic competition in any of those Islands........ you won't.

The pseudo french troll saying the way forward is development offices in Dublin and Glasgow is just trolling. If Ireland, Scotland and Wales are to compete and develop interest in the game, then they need to throw the heritage net far and wide.

I am not a fan of heritage players, but put plainly, a team of Tongan born players would be annihilated by most NSW/Qlnd cup sides, so to grow interest in the game, we allow swapping of nations and teams with 98% heritage line ups, but unless we back this up with real money at grass roots level in the PI's, you may as well get them to play in Green and Gold and call them the Australian 3rd string.

PNG Hunters is one of 14 teams that plays in the Queensland Cup. The only team that does not have an affiliation with an NRL team.

Didn't you know that immigrants from the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan play soccer, not rugby league?

Oh I am sorry, I forgot that you live in Wellington New Zealand and that the Dominion Post and New Zealand Herald don't carry much information about social life in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire.

WoW. You really are a racist Oker aren't you! All those brown fellows kicking footballs around is killing RL in the heartlands......boo..hiss....call Mr Argyle

Football has always been more popular in rugby league towns than rugby league. When I was at school in Warrington over 20 years ago, most people (who were interested in sport) liked both, but the people who liked football and didn't like rugby league outnumbered those who were the other way round. Suggesting the playing pool is weakened by people playing football is churlish to say the least. We played both in PE at school and I imagine most did/do.