I haven't claimed to know anything about Italy or the people representing that country in this team. You have.
Having been to Cas, I find it amusing that you'd even try and have a swipe about Hull!


Nobody (including myself) has said anything about "no" heritage players. However, you seem to be kicking off about a country relying on "some" heritage players, and now that it has been questioned, you are backtracking.


What is crazy is that despite me actually saying the exact opposite, you still seem to think that's what I mean. You've got one of them bad arguing techniques where you either ignore what someone has said or you blow it out to extreme proportions to make it seem daft. In reality, you've just admitted you have no argument.

So read my post again. Read what is meant by "boost", and then read your post and see if it actually makes sense as a reply to mine.


What are "actual" Italians? What qualifies you to be an "actual" Italian? And is that in line with this sport and other sport's qualification rules?

Have a look at the Scotland, Ireland, Samoa and Tonga World Cup teams from 2008. How many of them are "actual" nationals in the same definition you give about being "actual" Italian?


You don't seem to have anything positive to say about it. If you don't dislike it, you don't appear to be giving off that impression.


Basically, you have a fear that expansion will see Cas eventually replaced. You can try and distort the rate of expansion in certain areas to the ridiculous all you like in an attempt to disguise this chip on your shoulder, but it's clearly obvious what your agenda is. You don't want to be left behind.

yes, anthony minnichielo deciding to play for a country he has never been to develops the game there massively simply huge for every Itallian walking. Rugby balls will soon replace Footballs on the streets of Naples.

Not from Cas mate, sorry





Not some heritage players, mostly heritage players. The itallian public will be able to connect massively to a team full of players that cant speak the language



So what boost will this give a game that will NEVER be anything near popular in Italy ??? very minimal very very very minimal. About the same impact it would have at my club if we signed a decent Batley player imo. Get a grip.



Itallians are not shrimp eating over the hill green and gold loving surfing people with Australlian accents. HTH



So if i dont like the fact ten aussies that are not good enough for the Australian team and choose to play for a country they have never been to are making a mockery of the world cup im against taking the game anywhere but the heartlands ??? If your cars are as dodgy as your points id avoid using your buisness....id sooner walk





Yes, I saw a thread on the world cup and Italy and sat at home and thought.... ooooo those annoying Itallians after Castlefords SL spot. I better post on RLFANS to stop that happening

Again with the hyperbole - it doesn't have do be all or nothing jeez. Mini playing for Italy and letting Italy be remotely competitive in this WC will give something for people to back - even if its just a few. Sure, nothing will overtake football any time soon in Italy, but you don't see the other sports giving up there do you? Mini giving the Italian team a chance to compete instead of getting destroyed will help, it will not hinder.

ETA: Never been to? Are you joking?

Yeah, nothing will help RL in Italy like an Australian with an Itallian sounding name

Seriously what is your problem? Do you think we are all super excited that it's happening? I'm not, I'm happy Italy has a decent squad that they are entitled to play, that has players who are willing to play for them for reasons other than money (unlike Tamau, Uate, many of England's players in various sports).

Are you really upset for Italy? What are you even arguing?

Because I'd rather watch a world cup with players from the actual nation they are representing. Old fashioned I know but still......

But you are "Cas" 'til you die, so as a representative of Cas, it still works. Sorry.


Like Scotland, Ireland, Tonga, Samoa... I haven't heard you complain about them yet.


You know, when you put words in capitals, it doesn't make it a fact.

What would be a small boost over here would be a huge boost in a country that doesn't have the sport established. I think you need to get a sense of realism when it comes to development. For someone who says he doesn't dislike expansion, you sure don't seem that keen on it getting a boost of any kind.


I don't think that is covered in the international rules for obvious reasons, mainly that it's loving ridiculous.


I like how you have decided not to answer the question I asked about Tonga, Samoa, Scotland and Ireland having heritage players. In fact, you cut them out completely. Good way to pretend those hard questions were never asked!

I don't sell cars by the way. I'm a teacher. Another sign of a poor argument there: trying to insult the poster to deflect or ridicule. You're only harming your own point.


Again, you can exaggerate it to the ridiculous all you like, but you are worried that expansion will take Castleford's spot. Whether it be Italy, or a second French club...

So those Tongans and Samoans then, how do you feel about them?...

And who are you to say which nation they represent?

Yes, it is very old fashioned? I take it the mayor of london is american?

So if i chose to support Swinton, id be representative of Lancashire





Because the thread is not about those 4 nations



To me a bigger boost for them would be playing players that will live in the country pre and post tournement



Well if the god of the humber bridge says so .....



The thread isnt about that, i know ill go to the Hull KR board to look at Salfordslatest signings..... FWIW I like seeing players from the country they are from. Same as Rangi Chase.... FWIW what are your views on him playing for England ???



If thats the case then so be it mate, there will always be a Cas. Maybe we will get a merger with money thrown at us then we may be able to compete at a higher level.



Its an opinion....you know with this being an open forum and stuff you might get the occasional one

WTF - Mayor of London

No, because Swinton isn't in Lancashire.


It's also not about international eligibility, but you've decided to make it about that. So go on, what's your opinion on those 4 nations? Should they not compete either?


So even if they have moved out if the country despite being born and bred Italian?
The team you have described would be a residents team. A completely different set up, and one that most countries actually operate.
In your opinion, that would mean James Graham, Jack Reed, Garreth Widdop and the Burgess Brothers shouldn't be eligible for England either.


How many people have agreed with your point? Maybe you should sit down and think why...


I like seeing players that want to represent that nation for whatever reason they choose as long as there is a connection to it. These Italian-Australians have that connection. Earlier you made comments about Minichiello never being to Italy. Do you really believe that?

On Rangi, I believe that someone who will quite likely not be allowed to work in this country should not be allowed to represent it. But they aren't the rules, so we have to pick the best available.


We'll see if/when it happens.

All these players are qualified for Italy. They would be qualified under the international eligibility rules of virtually every sport. The likes of Minichiello were involved in the World Cup qualifying tournament last year and paid their own way to be there, who are you to say that they aren't allowed to represent their nation? Mo Farah wasn't born in Britain and doesn't live in Britain, does that mean he shouldn't have been allowed to represent GB at the Olympics? I don't know why you are repeatedly trying to be funny by suggesting that RL will be the national sport of Italy after the World Cup, but it seems to me that you don't have any sort of concept or understanding of how international sport works.

What do you think would be achieved by Italy purposely limiting themselves, fielding a team of amateur players from the local competitions and being beaten by 80 points? Do you think that would be a good way to develop the sport? You would have a point if this was an exclusively foreign organization with no ties to the nation they were supposed to be representing but that isn't the case at all, it is an Italian organization based in Italy who naturally want to field the best available team and have every right to do so.

How is one muppet derailing this thread so much?

Going from the article, a number of players, eligible to play for Italy, are volunteering their time, willing to spend their own money and have already committed to putting on a shirt in a years time. Forget who is playing for which nation and the right and wrongs of that, this attitude is a massive shot in the arm for International RL in general.

1. Being able to run a 24 team league, and have some form of international setup, would be within my definition of pretty popular. Attendances of 4,000? Well, Championship-level RL is certainly well within my definition of popular.

2. Obviously as RU was played in Italy, but RL was a newcomer, many rugby players in league came from union, and played both codes. The Italian Rugby Union threatened to ban any player found playing RL from any future participation in Union. Is that exact enough?
[urlhttp://www.rlwc2013calderdale.co.uk/italy.html[/url

3.

If you can at least give me a clue what "chip" you perceive, I'll have a go at replying to that.

Can't argue, I think I'll leave it. It's just some guy who likes to tell people where they're from based on unfounded opinion. Btw the Mayor of London example is a classic one of someone who is evidently a representative of the UK around the world, but was born in the USA, and spent the first few years of his life there. Mo Farrah as above is another good example (as are people like Graham, Hamilton, Beckham etc who do not live in the UK) of the idiocy of these people who like to try to tell people which country they should/not be allowed to represent.

With the unfair treatment of RL, since the sport began, it's no wonder that many within the sport have a "chip" on their shoulders.
If this means fighting for something that we believe in, then i'll have a bag full wi' bits on !

Really? Your definition of pretty popular and that of the OED are on seperate levels then. There are a load of AFL clubs in Britain and the GB side plays in a Euro and International cup.....it is in no way "pretty popular"....neither was RL in Italy. 73,000+ Watched the Union match v the AB's a few weeks back, with another 32,000 last week v the wannabees...that's more people than watched the 2 ANZAC RL tests this year between the 2 best RL sides on the planet......and in a soccer mad country, I would say that that is the definition of "pretty popular". HTH



So, a sport that was amateur and required it's players to be amateur threatened any players who played a professional sport with expulsion......I see no problem here, given GB RL was full of Welsh Union players who faced the same ban, but took the cash anyway. If you play a game, in this case RU, you abide by the rules and instructions of that games governing body......it's the same for any sport.



The 'it's not fair" chip. You paint a false picture of health in the Italian game from the 60's.....it was a small flash in the pan and as is usually the case in "expansion areas", wasn't followed up with any support from a RL central international body. ......therefore it's demise is immediately blamed on the IRB/IRFU rather than THE FACT THAT NOTHING WAS done to counter the threat from the IRFU.

I find it's more often than not the case, that in 99% of incidents, the FAILINGS of League can easily be blamed on Union rather than to accept that TGG dropped the ball on many occasions.

cheese and gravy is nice with chips too BTW

I'm excited by the potential of the Fijian team. They had a good world cup last time and look even stronger this time. Shame Uate and Hayne won't be playing for them.

Really JB?

Loking atwho's available for each nation I think Fiji are behind a few others.

Such a rule would be illegal. Regardless of that, just because it was a rule, doesnt mean it was right or acceptable or shouldnt be criticised.

Pretty popular, relatively speaking.

As expansion in other countries was very small in the mid-20th century, a 24 team league is pretty popular. If you're going to compare to other sports, it's obviously easy to bash the game in any direction... yet achieves nothing.


I know you're doing your best to defend union from unfair bashing (and most of your defence I usually agree with), but the fact that you can't see a problem with one governing body preventing people from having a freedom of choice by using its influence to ban people is just ridiculous.

Was Italian RL professional? Does being a professional once mean you're not ever able to be amateur again? Were other professional sportsmen banned from playing union? Don't try and dress this one up, it was just an attempt by rugby union governing bodies to stump the growth of league.
And just because it happened in other countries also doesn't make it not a problem. Quite the opposite.


So what could they have done?


That sounds utterly disgusting.

Italy 750/1 to win the world cup ...

Canadians make a national dish out of it.......

If they can get Hayne to switch their backline looks great, There was a couple of young Fijians come through in the NRL last season that looked very talented.

Slight difference with your selection. Vic Mauro, who is normally a second rower, can play at centre. Laffranchi at prop.

So the team would be:

[i
1. Anthony Minichiello

2. James Tedesco
3. Vic Mauro
4. Cederic Prizzon
5. Ryan Ghetti

6. Terry Campese
7. Craig Gower

8. Kade Snowden
9. Shaun Berrigan
10. Anthony Laffranchi
11. Aiden Guerra
12. Mark Minichiello
13. Cameron Ciraldo

14. Rocky Trimarchi
15. Alex Ranieri
16. Fabrizio Ciaurro
17.

[/iThis looks like a very strong team.
It will challenge France, Fiji, PNG and Samoa for 4h place in semi finals.