Family living in Australia tell me in the papers it says Nigel Wood has been in Sydney and agreed GB will tour in 2014 playing 8 matches in total, 3 against NZ, 1 against Australia, 1 in Papua New Guinea and a game against a Pacific Islanders All Stars XIII. Obviously prob with 2 warm up games againts NRL clubs knocked out playoffs early.

Must admit I like the sound of that!

Story could just as well read England are going on that tour. Until Scotland, Ireland and Wales can contribute to GB then it's just England in another top

Although the tour does sound good

imho we should always tour as great britain - or can we call them team GB?

It's definately more marketable.

However, as I mentioned on a previous thread about GB, these folk pining for its return dont realise what's in front of them.

It's all the same team with a different shirt.

Whereas in RU the Lions have a genuine representation from each of the four nations.

This is one reason why it is so key that Ireland, Scotland and Wales improve, then we could have a strong international comp with the home nations one year, one with Aus & NZ another, world cup the next and then a genuine GB tour to complete the 4 year cycle!

A long a distant dream, but a nice one none the less

This non-story has already been discussed at length on here.

Yes, you keep saying that but you ignore the reasons why the current England squad would also mostly be the GB squad, whereas in the past it would have been made up of several Welsh players and the odd Scottish and Irish player.

It's because, if they can qualify, all the best players now opt for England as the only competitive home nation, whereas in the past they could play for their home nation of origin while still having the option to compete for GB on tours and for the Ashes.

That's precisely why having no GB weakens Wales, Scotland and Ireland, while essentially turning England into GB. Without the history and prestige GB holds, of course.

I see your point. There is no doubt players pick England in order to compete against the best However, I think one of the big things to combat this would be to put a rule in place that once you play for one nation you cant select another.

That would mean that Ireland would now have Chris Bridge, Ben Harrison, Micky Mac etc

Scotland would have Brough and Ian Henderson

Wales would have great youth coming through.

It really weakens the developing countries when you can play for one on your way up and another when you make the grade

but none of those players are Irish, and neither of those players are Scottish. finding a Wiganer with a grandparent from Dundee doesn't represent development.

I agree, but its one thing questioning the eligibility rules and another choosing to switch when a better nation comes calling

Making your decision final, as I believe it is in football (may be wrong) would be a big help in spreading some of the talent around, not all, but some

Surley a more profitable tour would be to play an 3 test Ashes series against Australia and one game against NZ? I hope they have got that the wrong way around!

That tour sounds superb!

Then in 2015 The Kangaroos tour UK, playing GB, France, Leigh, the Super League and Challenge Cup Winners.

That would be ace.

I'm sure he said 3 NZ and 1 for Aus and I just presumed it was against 2 NRL teams cos he said 8 games but only mentioned 6 international fixtures. It could be NSW and QLD or even QLD Cup/NSW Toyota Cup teams for all I know.

Also said that Nigel Wood wasn't a big fan of the Four Nations but wanted to bring Tri-Nations back, as it was a lot more popular and profitable, with a 4th international team playing against Aus/GB/NZ on a bye weekend when 2 of the other 3 nations are playing each other.

For example if Aus v NZ was the Tri-Nations fixture for that particular weekend, then GB would play PNG in a one off test meaning that teams like PNG are still getting top international footy. Then weekend after if Aus v GB then NZ would play PNG.

That 4th team would be decided by Pacific Cup or Euro Championships for NH Tri-Nations.

IMO its sounds a cracking idea. Think it was in the Sydney Morning Herald paper but could be wrong.

It's a bit unfair making them play Widnes twice but I'll take it!

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding, but isn't that just the 4N, but changing the England shirt to a GB one, and eliminating the 4th team from any potential win (however unlikely)?

Exactly.

The Tri Nations had GB play NZ and Aus twice with a final.
The Four Nations had Eng play NZ and Aus once and a fourth nation once, with a final. It was LESS games.

Why not have them just all play each other twice?! England could play the other European nation twice in the middle of the season, leaving four games on the bounce against Aus and NZ each. ANZAC test mid-season and a test before they jet up here. Surely that would be more profitable?

Year 1 RLWC
Year 2 GB ashes full tour, pacific & European cups, C'wealth games nines
Year 3 5 nations (eng, oz,NZ,pacific winner, Europe cup winner from previous year)
Year 4 RLWC

Every year RL World Nines held in Feb.

That'd do me!

For the ashes tour in year two I,d alternate between

Gb touring southern hemi and playing
3 match ashes series v oz
PNG in port moresby
NZ in Auckland or Wellington
PI all stars in Fiji/Samoa or tonga

And

Gb v oz in England 3 matches ashes series
Gb v NZ 2 matches in England

At same time NZ v France 2 games
Oz v France one game

Giving each side 5 games

Several Welsh, Scottish and Irish players? Or several Yorkshiremen/Lancastrians with Celtic ancestry?

The only time we've had a significant of actual Welshman was when we could buy them in from RU. Everything after that has been a token Celt, and how many of them have changed allegiance?


Like who? Which actual Welshmen/Irishmen/Scotsmen have switched allegiance? Not your McIllorums or your Harrisons or your Broughs. ACTUAL players from those countries that weren't just taking advantage of the fact that they could use Celtic nations as a feeder team for their actual country.


I think what would strengthen those nations is actual development work to bring in genuine players, and not just pretending they're doing well with a bunch of Aussies and Northern English with Celtic heritage. That's the problem. England aren't taking their players. They've been taking ours.

You'd have a RLWC every 3 years?!

As I've said in the past:

2013: RLWC (with a 3rd place play-off)
2014: Tri-Nations - Featuring the top 3 from the RLWC; European Cup; Pacific Cup
2015: Five Nations - Featuring TN teams, Euro winners and Pacific winners; WC Qualifying first round.
2016: Tours; WC qualifying final round.
2017: RLWC - Featuring 5N teams and qualifiers.

It's a genuine structure, with incentives to do well and repercussions if you don't. International RL needs structure, not a bunch of random tournaments picked by inviting teams.

oops,
2013 RLWC Europe
2014 GB ashes full tour down under, pacific & European cups, C'wealth games nines
2015 5 nations (eng, oz,NZ,pacific winner, Europe cup winner from previous year)
2016 Kangaroos Ashes Tour and NZ tour to Europe, Southern Hemisphere tournament
2017 RLWC Oz&NZ
2018 Kangaroos Ashes Tour and NZ tour to Europe, Southern Hemisphere tournament
2019 5 nations (eng, oz,NZ,pacific winner, Europe cup winner from previous year)
2020 GB ashes full tour down under, pacific & European cups, C'wealth games nines
2021 RLWC Europe

RL World Nines every year in Feb somewhere nice!

that's better!

This!

I think having a GB/Aus series every two years would be overkill personally, not to mention just shut out NZ completely from a decent international series two out of four years.

I like it for one main reason, Briers for Britain