International RL Blog

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...

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...

So far so good. France have played before good crowds including one of 14000+ against an Ireland side who are not a big draw. Likewise, Wales have seen an improved crowd against a Scotland team without any big stars which is encouraging. We can't be complacent and an attendance of 700 approx for the Scotland v Wales match is not good enough. The Ireland/Scotland teams contain very few home based players unlike the Welsh/French but we are making progress and building soild foundations. We have attracted a prestigious sponsor and wasn't it great to see neutral referees too? The European Cup 2010 can be regarded as a success and I am deliberately writing this before the end of the tournament. Maybe other countries e.g. Italy, Serbia, Russia etc could be included, it should be held on regular basis and England should compete too. A similar competition should be organised in the southern hemisphere along the l...

Another problem faced by International RL is the lack of referee credilibility. Referees should be neutral and selected by a strong, independent International Federation which will not tolerate any interence. Nothing is more off putting than a touring team arriving e.g. Australia and bringing it’s own referee. The home spectators then have to watch a game played under different rule interpretations than normal. France have particularly suffered from this during the past twenty years A strong independent International Federation should also ensure that the same rules are adhered to (as much as possible) worlwide and sufficient neutral officials are available. At the moment the Australians seem to have a veto on referees for their matches meaning that an NRL referee or a tame Super League referee is always in charge. This stinks I do not doubt the professional integrity of any referee anywhere but all referees should be impartial and more importantly, be seen to be impartial. ...