Really? FIFA appears to be rife with corruption, what with delegates selling votes. GF bring Union into it because its learnt from the mistakes that League and Soccer made and now puts on a very successful World Cup.

Dally wouldnt know.

I know the biggest ever footy crowd at the SCG was just over 78,000....but that was for the 1965 grand final. Internationals have never been that high.

I have to say I agree with the article to an extent.

England have probably the weakest squad of all time and unfortunatley this will be proven when Australia embarrass us in momumental fashion at the weekend.

Australia look formidable and the Kiwis look stronger than ever.

What the article doesnt mention and what we English fans need to remember is that our game in the UK is in a rebuilding process which will only be fixed in the medium to longer term.

The RFL have put the processes in place to ensure all SL clubs progressivley reduce the amount of import players and the emphasis is now on investing in home grown talent. The RFL have not only focussed on making England more competitive in the future but have invested massively to allow RL to spread and grow across Europe. Wales and France have taken their first steps to becoming established and competitive RL nations.

The Aussies on the other hand continued to invest inwardly, in their own back yard. Too caught up with a war with the AFL and Rugby Union. NZ badly needs a 2nd team and PNG cant bang loudly enough for an NRL Franchise. With the money and resources that the NRL have in comparison to the RFL, the NRL should hang their heads in shame.

England may hit bottom in this years 4 nations but RL at grassroots has spread like a bush fire in this country and players such as Sam Tomkins, Kyle Eastmond should hopefully be the first of a new generation of players to emerge in a new era.

Lets pray that England can perform this weekend but lets not forget that we are building for the long term and hopefully in the 2013 World Cup a new England team will be born on our own home soil and in the faces of the British media.

Dean Ritchie is a good journo. Always enjoyed his articles.


I don't think there is too much in that article people could disagree with.




Love the pic of little pommie sam missing yet ANOTHER tackle

how are you seeing this thread when youve said youve put me on your banned list?

Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday?

Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday?

What a rubbish article.

The RFL are doing way more for international RL than the NRL on a much tighter budget.

In the last few years, the RFL have awarded franchises to clubs in France and Wales, introduced quota rules (which should really start taking effect in the next 2/3 years, once the players signed pre-2008 start to retire), introduced 'home grown' rules, placed another French and Welsh club in the Championships, invited French and even Russian clubs to participate in the CC.

It's not going to happen overnight, and should have been done alot earlier than it was.

One of the main problems is the eligibility rules - complete joke.

Its all about 2013 people.
Atkins isnt fit to lace Gleesons boots, or even seniors really, all about the future, and potential.
If you look at the back three at the weekend - Goulding 22, Widdop 21, Briscoe, 20 that is very young, players like Tomkins and Burgess are only 21, hell, Kevin Brown was our oldest back at about 26. Its a very young side and one that cant seriously be expected to compete with the worlds best.

If Atkins and Shenton are out this weekend then there'll be another 2 young players coming in.

I'm all for planning for the future, but our best young players need to be augmented by the best experienced players we have available.

Unless you are seriously suggesting that Tony Clubb is a top international prospect and deserves to be in line for a test shirt at the weekend? He will be NOWHERE NEAR any world cup squad in 2013.

Gleeson should be in the squad, no question at all.

No, it baffled me that he went but imo he does get a lot of unwarranted stick and hes not THAT bad. Much more suited to the second row imo

Quote ="Barry_McKenzie"Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday? '" What king of the stuff up's??? Kiwi's love him single handing them the World Cup. Losing a premiership in a team that was over 1 million dollar's by a record margin

Quote ="Barry_McKenzie"Love Dean Ritchies 'Top 20 Kangaroos' slideshow too www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 5943367491 I'd forgotten Canberra had so many great players. And good to see arguably the best player in the world right now gets a mention. Ladies and gentlemen.. please be upstanding... for King Billy Slater Wonder if he will get ANOTHER hat trick against the poms this sunday? '" What king of the stuff up's??? Kiwi's love him single handing them the World Cup. Losing a premiership in a team that was over 1 million dollar's by a record margin

so what makes you think this:

Despite the odd stuff up he is still the most exciting player in the world right now.

I love watching him play. He will be looking for another big game against the soapies this Sunday thats for sure!

Its bloody Cricket & beach season you ignorant soap dodgers

thats actually a very good post.

why not?

we didnt have a ground having an 80,000 capacity back then, now we do.

Having more than 2 countries capable of winning would be nice!

You mean the 'Canes? Crusaders are ChCh based?

Secondly, it was a massive mistake to play the Test in Parramatta... the city isnt exactly starved of top line rugby league. Massive opportunity lost to take the game to a market like Perth or even Adelaide. I'm sure the state governments would have thrown some extra coin in on top of the gate.

Thirdly, the tele is terrible rag. However Ritchie does make a point. A competitve England would see bigger crowds for international rugby league not just in Australia, but back here and in New Zealand.

didn't look like much of a day for either on Sunday in sydney!

Having had access to a free corporate box for their entire season but not bothering...even though it involved free beer, it was an easy mistake to make

2 posts that explain why, if the International Board are made up of people like Old Dear and Dally, the game has gone backwards outside of the domestic competitions and SOO.
1.

Now please do correct me if I am wrong, but since 1995 when the game of Union went "openly" professional, the IRB have managed to....turn the RUWC into the 4th largest GLOBAL sporting event with regard to revenue and TV Viewing figures as well as creating a World Sevens Tour that every year generates further revenue for their Dublin based bank accounts. As such, although the same 4 teams are always in the frame for the RUWC, teams like Samoa and Fiji have an opportunity to do well and grow the game in their countries and teams like Kenya often upset the odds in the 7's format. In reflection, League on the international stage has at best stagnated and probably gone backwards.........but hey, we have nothing to glean from the IRB


2.

The problem with always looking behind you Dally M is that you often blindly walk into things. The rich history of League should never be forgotten, but in the 60's there were no satalite dishes, TV was relitively new in the southern hemisphere and corporate sponsorship was very thin on the ground. Whilst I have no doubt that you are the oracle when it comes to all things League in the 20th Century....you really have not a clue how business works in the 21st....and make no mistake, RL is now a business and it is fighting with other businesses for the disposable income available......and by this, I mean globally, not just on your Island.

The simple fact is that the ARL or international organisation or whomever is in charge of this 4 nations comp either didn't bother marketing the game last weekend or believed that all they had to do was announce a KO time...either way, they dropped a boll0ck and I would argue that whilst England/GB's Demise of recent years hasn't helped, the sign of a successful business is that it does well all the time...even when it has to use the "hard sell".

Face facts OD/DM........League on the international stage is less appealing than international/compromise-GAA rules football.....a game played by amateurs in one of the only 2 nations to watch it. The game last week was shown LIVE in America on 2 networks.......and attracted 3 times as many people to attend it......

I have no doubt I will be called an ARLT or a Union Troll or some other purile name and my PM inbox will receive the usual stupid comments...but unless you can highlight how any of the above is not true, I suggest you go and post on another thread...or even better, another site....because you really do nothing than hark back to the good old days, quote TV figures when it suits you but devry them when they don't and cut and paste stuff from a local Sydney rag.

Lastly, as an Irishman it is my duty to support Anyone But England....but certain posters on here make this weeks game a toughie in that respect even though only one team will win.

It's a no brainer for this Sunday Gutters

'Old Dally Darlin Messenger' is a pom .... so you can safely go for the roos

international RL is bigger than union in australia by a long way

its funny seeing how ignorant you are here

the best union game is a bledisloe.

nz vs aus in a RL test gets double the tv viewers.

DOUBLE.

Pretty much what I expected........INTERNATIONAL RUGBY UNION AND INTERNATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE ARE...ER.....WELL....INTERNATIONAL! Hope that clears that one up.
Was it my use of the word GLOBAL that stumped you?



....almost as funny as your failure to understand that on the Global Stage......Union is 4th....League doesn't register or even twice as funny as your belief that Australia is THE WORLD.

.....not really, but as it involves Australia I would expect you to say that



I have no doubt that it does, in Australia and New Zealand....but GLOBALLY Ireland v Australia in a b'stardised game of footie did better...HTH

....yep...and 11,000 bothered to turn up to watch what was essentially a dead game......unlike the numbers that will turn up in Hong Kong to watch a meaningless game of Union.

DM...you need to see the bigger picture. League will survive in Australia and England and will hopefully continue to Grow in NZ, but on a global stage.....by global I mean outside Australia, it doesn't even register when comapered to Union. Not the post of an ARLT or Union Troll.....simply a realistic statement on the comparison of the 2 codes GLOBALLY.

Let's have a wager shall we.........which of the 2 forthcoming world cups in both codes will:

Make more money?
Get a larger GLOBAL TV audience?
Have more Fans at Games?

[size=150I am a league fan, [/sizebut I am also a realist....RUWC 2011 will make RLWC 2013 look like a kids mini's tournament.....

for a league fan you sure spend a lot of time denigrating our international game and bigging up unions

thats why me and others dont take you seriously.