International RL Blog

I have just discovered these two photos of an empty Station Road just before it was demolished. This "graveyard of the Aussies" is now an anonymous housing estate on the outskirts of Manchester but I prefer to remember it in its full glory hosting Rugby League Tests Matches and full to the rafters. It's an indication of how times changes and it's also very very sad. Not very far away is the City of Salford Stadium which was built at considerable expense by Salford Council as the home ground of Salford City Reds and it's opening was supposed to herald a new dawn for the club. The council have now withdrawn their support and the future of the club is now in serious doubt. This is understandable in these harsh economic times and is also very sad but it begs the question, why did the council build the stadium in the first place? Surely the stadium will be a white elephant if Salford Reds go out of business. Surely it was all or nothing i.e. no support no st...

This week I have been watching, recently departed RFL supremo Richard Lewis, giving interviews in his new role as Wimbledon CEO and have been reflecting on his time in office. There is no doubt that he provided much needed stability when it was very much needed and RFL revenue has increased under him.  Dickie Lewis has presided over the introduction of the licensing process which has resulted in improved facilities and increased professionalism at SL level. He will be remembered for an expansion of the international game throughout the northern hemisphere and I believe this will bear fruit in the future. While the financial situation has improved at the RFL (although in my opinion  it started from a very low base and needs to increase much more) we have witnessed the Crusaders debacle, the Stobart non-sponsorship and now the problems at the Bradford Bulls. London still play in front of very low crowds (3600 v Leeds yesterday) and they along with other clubs are struggling...

After watching Salford launch their new stadium in the snow we are all glad that RL in the UK is now played in summer. Despite a warm spring period and a very hot Magic Weekend, the cold weather has continued and RL spectators have been enduring a very cold wind up their collective kilts I watched Featherstone Rovers play Pia in the Anglo French Challenge on Sunday which was again played in dreadful conditions and neither side looked as though they wanted to be there. After a dreadful start, Pia we actually quite competitive and I believe the top French sides and top Championship teams would be evenly matched if given a fair chance. An Anglo-French Challenge or a Treize-Tournoi would be great idea but it must be organised correctly and positioned properly within the calender. The end of the French season coincides with the middle of the Championship and this is not good timing for either. September would be better but it must be organised in advance, publicised properly and if ...

Just as an Exile Kangaroo XIII could be selected from players based in Europe, an Exile Kiwi XIII could be selected too.  What about this team for starters and again I realise that some "might" be considered Samoan, Tongan or even English. If any problems occur  we could ask  we ask for volunteers in NZ and I'm sure some would jump at the chance to represent their country. 1  Webb 2  Lulia 3 Soliola 4 Sa 5  Meli 6  Hohaia 7  T Leuluai 8  Lima 9 Faiuma 10 Moa 11  Manu 12  Puletua 13  L Anderson  With V Anderson, K Leuluai, Solomona, Webster, Chase, Isa, Witt, Kite, Lauititi, Temata, L Paea and other in reserve a strong squad could be selected to  compete internationally with England, France, Wales, Exile Australia and others. It would be nice to have official backing from the NZRL but if not, they could be called the "All Golds" who were formed in similar circumstances  The Ex...

I've expressed my doubts in the past about a bunch of mercenaries playing under an Exiles banner which could become increasingly weak depending upon currency valuations and player quotas. Players would be much more likely to represent their country and perhaps England  could consider playing matches against unofficial Australia and unofficial NZ teams drawn from players based over here.  What about this for an Exile Kangaroo team to play England in 2012? 1  Hodgson 2  Robertson 3  McDonnell 4  J Monaghan 5  Richards 6  Finch 7  Gower 8  Kaufusi 9  M Monaghan 10 Clinton 11 Waterhouse 12  Galea 13  Rodney With Perry, O'Meley, Laffranchi, O'Donnell, Dobson, Delaney, Patten, Green, Dureau, Randall, Dorn, Howell, Holdsworth and others in reserve.  I realise that some of these players "might" be Irish, Scottish, Italian ... etc but we haven't bothered with things like that in the past. In for a poun...

Good to be back both personally and after a quiet period for International Rugby League. There have been a few recent announcements including some incomplete information delivered in a half arsed manner about the the 2013 World Cup. CLICK HERE  for more details Wales will play there first mid season international for many years against France in Wrexham in June CLICK HERE  for more info A two match exiles series is planned during the summer with a Tri-Series involving England, Wales and France planned for the Autumn CLICK HERE  for more details I very much have my doubts about the long term viability of the Exiles team but if they get paid enough, who knows?  Maybe we should consider playing matches against unofficial Australia and NZ teams drawn from players based over here? The players involved would be much more committed although player numbers would be a problem unless we could tempt some interested parties from down under. Maybe we should ask f...

The Four Nations series was an obvious success and proved that holding big international RL at big stadiums is the best way to showcase our game. Some success was desperately needed after a series of calamities e.g. the Crusaders fiasco Unfortunately England lost and once again it emphasised our losing mentality and a continuation of the timid selection policy of picking out of form players out of position. At least we didn't  try to get away with selecting any injured players as we have in the past. Burgess, O'Loughlin, Bridge, Atkins etc would've enhanced our chances but why were so many of our players injured? Some of them were involved in the play offs Collectively and individually we still have the wrong priorities.We play too many games and have too many foreigners involved in an unsuccessful and stagnating club competition whose media profile declines by the hour. This is down to poor management and we are kidding ourselves ...