International RL Blog

France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will meet in the autumn as the fixtures were confirmed for the 2014 European Championships.  The winners will qualify for the 2016 Four Nations tournament to be held in the northern hemisphere. RL 2014 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP  17/10/14  Scotland v Wales    Workington      18/10/14  Ireland v France      Dublin  2 5/10/14  Ireland v Scotland    Dublin    25/10/14  France v Wales      Albi 31/10/14  Scotland v France   Galashiels    2/11/14    Wales v Ireland       Wrexham

The SL play-offs are under way and and should be the pinnacle of the UK domestic season. Unfortunately, three out of the four matches played so far have been one-sided non-events in front of relatively poor crowds, with one in particular spoiled by inconsistent refereeing. An obvious contrast can be made with the NRL play-offs which have been wonderful.     Since the SL Grand Final was initiated, only five teams have taken part including the big four of Bradford, Leeds, St Helens and Wigan plus Hull. Three of these teams are still in contention despite the salary cap and licencing regulations which says very little about progress being made. All neutral supporters should cheer for Warrington & Catalans It has recently been announced that Jack Reed of the Brisbane Broncos and Chris Heighrington of West Tigers will play for England in the upcoming Four Nations along with Gareth Widdup of Melbourne Storm. They are good players and I don't blame Steve McNamara ...

After their laughably inept attempt at expansion it is time for the RFL to redeem themselves and start creating some excitement  on  the field of play. In the not too distant future we have the best RL players in the world coming to the UK and playing high profile international matches at top quality stadiums. Surely we can't cock this up Not very long ago, European teams used to regularly beat Australia and NZ by out thinking them. More recently we have been content to contain by picking the same old same old players, often out of form, carrying injuries, out of position, with a track record of failure and the results have been plain to see. We need to be bold and pick some young, hungry, unpredictable players who will take the game to their opponents. We desperately need a player (or players) who will stand up to be counted and are willing to make a name for themselves. I can remember a soccer player called Gerry Armstrong who was n...

17/7/11     Crusaders  20  Castleford  26     Wrexham This fixture turned out to be the last match Crusaders played before the grim reaper tolled the death knell on their SL existence. It might turn out to be the last match they ever play. They welcomed back seven players who were suspended for breaking the clubs disciplinary code which seems laughable now but they were keen to get some wins under their belt before the end of the season. Castleford were without star player Rangi Chase through suspension but welcomed back ex-Crusader Nick Youngquest after a long injury break Castleford opened the scoring through Jordan Thompson before Jason Chan, Lloyd White and Jordan Tansey gave Crusaders a 14-6 half time lead although they were clearly the better side and were very unlucky to see two tries disallowed by the video ref especially one by Stuart Reardon in the corner. After the break Youngquest and Jarrod Sammut swapped tries while Crusaders cont...

"The more things change the more they stay the same" The Crusaders fiasco  is Gateshead Thunder and Paris St Germain all over again. I don't understand how a sport with an expansionist agenda, which receives millions of pounds from it's sponsors, can allow a team like the Crusaders to fail on financial grounds yet allow three other teams,  recently out of administration to carry on. If this is a three year process  why did it all happen at the last minute? I feel particularly sorry for the loyal Welsh fans and hard working Crusaders players, some of whom have recently signed new contracts.  The RFL and the club owners have a lot of questions to answer and Rod Findlay has a track record to defend.  Will the Crusaders carry on in the Championship? If they don't, well it says it all  Where does this leave RL expansion? Will it ever be attempted again? Where does this leave Welsh RL, the 2011 Four Nations, the 2013 World Cup and international ...

For the last few weeks I have been searching through various on-line and off-line media outlets to find some information about the series of RL Nines festivals which are currently taking place in the UK. To put it mildly, it has been very difficult but if organised and marketed correctly, these festivals could provide a significant boost to international RL and provide new opportunities for players. I suggest that the international element is emphasised with a core group of countries taking part and it wouldn't be difficult to make a commitment that teams representing England, Wales, France, Australia, NZ would compete throughout. The festivals should be held with as wide a geographical spread as possible with an intention to expand and (at least) England, Wales and France would be a good starting point. Invitations could be issued to other teams, nations or organisations such as BARLA, NZ Maoris, Australian Aborigine, Jacksonville Axemen, Queensland Residents, GB Army etc or per...

The next Four Nations competition is scheduled to take place this Autumn in the UK and should involve England, Wales Australia and NZ. There is a major problem. No dates/venues have been confirmed and thus it is impossible to to buy, or even plan to buy, tickets. It is less than four months until the scheduled start and potential spectators throughout the world are still in the dark. This is our annual opportunity to put our sport and our fantastic athletes in the shop window and show the world what they are missing. There have been rumours of a double header at Wembley but nothing has been confirmed. The RLIF met recently and I have been waiting for some news to no avail. There is nothing on the RLIF website which just directs visitors to other sites and the Four Nations link wasn't working the last time I tried Other sports plan their showcase events years in advance and then concentrate on high quality promotion/marketing in to order gain the maximum possible exposure a...

There has been much talk recently of England players such as James Graham and James Roby joining Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis in the NRL and how this will improve their game and also make our international team more competitive. It is a free country and if any player wants to play in the NRL I wish them well but to suggest, as some have, that this is the only option open to England and it's players is silly. There are some big clubs in the SL with big budgets. With or without injuries, we should be able to compete with Australia and NZ. Anything else is defeatest talk Steve McNamara was an unsuccessful SL coach with Bradford and the same is true with England. I accept that some young players gained some good experience but coaches are judged on results. St Helens have been very succesful in the SL era with their cavalier, off-the-cuff, keep the ball alive style of rugby which is a joy to watch at home but suicidal in the international arena. We must be mor...

I thought the English players in the recent Four Nations looked  very tired. The RFL should look to ways to reduce their workload and a reduced number of matches in SL is an obvious option. The clubs would complain about reduced turnstile receipts with some justification but in reality, scarcity adds value and this should improve revenues in the medium/long term in addition to providing more the intense, competitive matches the players need. Fewer imports are another obvious modification we could easily introduce especially in crucial positions e.g. half back. To be fair though the RFL have addressed this issue A squad system as used in cricket/RU and cricket is another possible alternative where selected players are on central contracts but the number of club matches they can play is severely limited. Kevin Pietersen is an extreme example of a centrally contracted cricket player who doesn't seem to...

So, our national side was defeated yet again and it's time for English RL's annual self appraisal. We're depressed and down hearted and some of us might be thinking, is this really more trouble than it's worth? In 1817, while living in Venice Lord Byron wrote a famous poem called "So, We'll Go No More a-Roving" expressing doubts about his hedonistic lifestyle Maybe we should stay at home too and concentrate on club competitions. We could quit international RL and allow our friends down under to continue to develop their NRL code of football with two referees and no corner flags. We could continue to proclaim how good SL is every year and forget about beating the Aussies. Absolutely not. Like Lord Byron, we must go a-roving. He carried on and died seven years later We must continue to participate and develop International RL or the sport will wither and die. I was alarmed at the lack of coverage g...

Let's face it, the Four Nations competition currently taking place in NZ/Australia have been a shambles. As always, I make my comments before the final matches but no sponsor, poor scheduling, low crowds, uncompetitive matches and very little media attention mean the ARL should hang their head in shame. I was relatively optimistic after the successful World Cup in 2008 but as that proud Aussie, Russell Crowe said on Twitter " ARL should be doing everything possible to help strengthen other nations league sides, not do everything possible to win. The big picture is the important thing for international league games, not simply for Aus to win" Absolutely right. The ARL don't seem interested in International RL and prefer to focus on the NRL and SoO which is very short sighted. For me, the most disappointing aspect so far was that yet again an important international match involving Australia was refereed by an Australian. I do not doubt ...

I remember saying to a friend of mine a few years ago that you couldn't beat International RL for drama in sport. I'm deliberately writing this in the middle of the competition and I still think this is true. We could do with some more variety and more unpredictability but for sheer entertainment, International RL is great When, when, when will the English team perform to their true potential. Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis have been stars in NRL this year and there are plenty more like them. Graham, Roby, Westwood, Tomkins etc are great players in SL if they can just do themselves justice on an international stage. Greg Eastwood has been very ordinary all year in SL but he performed well when it counted. Australian administrators please note. I’ve just said that Greg Eastwood performed when it counted i.e. in an international match. They are the pinnacle of any sport and should be treated as such. Anybody who treats a...

SL 2010 is over and we have new champions in Wigan, one of the big four but still a welcome change from the recent Leeds v St Helens Grand Finals. Nobody can say that Wigan are not worthy champions as they were consistently the best team all year and I predict they will have some difficulty holding on to coach Michael McGuire who will be in big demand within the NRL. Spare a thought too for Mick Potter who did a great job at St Helens and reached two consecutive Grand Finals with team in transition including some very talented youngsters. I'm sure Bradford will be happy with a similar record. After a long hard season we now send our tired players to compete in the Four Nations against our friends from down under. I personally think it would make more sense to hold international competitions during June/July when the players are fresh but this would need detailed advanced planning by the RLIF which has never happened before. It would also mean players woul...