Ive heard the excusing about so called development in the 'home nations' (despite not one of them are technically sovereign countries), yet now we have players from outside England being selected for England.

Great Britain Lions is a strong brand with a well known image, kit colours of the famous red & blue vee. The RFL have failed IMO to market a pi$$ weak England identity.

GB represents the entire island not just a part of it. It has a strong heritage and a better chance of beating Australia than the St. George faux team.

The mockers will mock this, so what. I was brought up on GB Ashes tours. The RFL need to grow a pair and rightfully return something [ithey[/i have wrongfully removed.

I agree 100% and would love to see a Great Britain team again.

The England national team exists because of historical changes to funding of sports in the UK.

To qualify for grants e.g. from SportEngland, NGB's have to operate national teams - GB isn't a national team, so the RFL (and the game as a whole including grass roots), would lose massive amounts of funding.

AHh so its a political agenda by the government? Part of the planned destruction of the Union? Smelly rat poo.

Not a political "agenda"...Sport England fund English sport. Great Britain isn't England, so no funding for the game.

This is not a party political thing.

Funding issues aside, until we have players in the current Wales, Scotland & Ireland setup that would get into a British team, isn't this a moot point?

In fact, if we did start to get players of that quality in those teams, doesn't that just prove that it was the right thing to do in the first place?

Great Britain somehow just sounds stronger and bigger. It is unique, bring back the ashes to go with it.

What makes now the right time? why not last week, or next week, what has changed?

home nations play each other and france and at world cups.

GB play 4 nations and tours.

Its the obvious answer

Aye. Another obvious answer is to leave it as it is.

apart from the 4nations part, that is how it is.

But the 4 nations part would admittedly make a huge difference.

But as a team it's no stronger than England as its not like we gain someone of the calibre of Davies by combining the home nations

I agree that as a brand its more historical relevant and could be used for the four nations as long as Wales aren't competing

This.

we would gain a testing ground for around 80 players.

It's that time of the week again...

I'll just stick to ripping open the opening sentence as that's all I can be bothered to do. First point, can you point on your map of sovereign countries where it says "Great Britain & Ireland" for me please? I assume it must be on there for you to bring up the home nations not being sovereign countries? They are constituent countries though (well, Ireland isn't).

As for your second point, did this not happen under GB&I? I assume it didn't, as again you've brought it up as a negative. I'm guessing because they're called GB, there'll be some kind of difference to the recruitment policy of heritage players.

I'm hoping there is a reply. I would like to know why I should think GB is better to bring back than sticking with the home nations, but I'd like to confirm that these issues are exclusive to the home nations' existence first...

What sort of difference and how?

It would give us a chance to give 80+players a season a go at international level, as trail for GB. It would give us international games, it would mean that a player like Danny Brough or Gareth Carvell, or more importantly players like Dale Ferguson, Rhys Evans, Rhys Williams, Ben Flower and Elliot Kear didnt need to switch nations to be included at the top table

From my own point of view i have NO INTEREST in supporting a team called England and untill the time comes when the side is called GB i'm not going to be a paying customer.

Embarrassing, utterly embarrassing.

I think there is a place for both Great Britain and ENgland in the international calendar. Has to be England in a World cup. A return to the ashes would warrant a GB return for me and keeping GB for three/four etc nations would be good too.

people are talking about the GB Ashes tour but would Australia and NZ be keen? I am not so sure they would!

Unless they want a chance of winning the World Cup, which you'd assume they would.

It seems to work in Union with the Lions touring every 4 years. An iconic brand

If a touring GB side could make some money and bring in the fans I'd have it back tomorrow. Twenty years ago a British tour down under meant as much to me as a World Cup. Possibly more.

I remember getting excited about the 88(?) tour [iTWELVE MONTHS[/i before it took place. Endless conversations with mates in the lead up attempting to second guess the coach's final tour selections followed by endless rows over such-and-such a player being selected above someone else. Stupid stuff like the frenzied search to find TV access on some obscure satellite channel in order to watch the Second XIII go down to some club side. And NO video recorder I owned ever exceeded the record number of successive rewinds and plays I hit watching Mike Gregory's sixty metre try-scoring sprint - or Henderson Gill "doing a bit of a boogie".

Then there were the bets on "Player of the Tour", "Breakout Player of the Tour", "Points scorer etc. " - not to mention the enormous sense of pride one felt if one or all played for your club.

I miss GB tours. I miss them more than any other defunct RL spectacle.

I think we would see a Welsh team competitive with England before an England team winning the world cup.