I agree

And what was illegal?

I only ask as he seemed to have been a half second late from being able to wrap the ball up. Is it the illegal clash of thigh on thigh in a tackle that looks fine or some other slight against the rugby gods?

You have made such a compelling argument, how could the RFL hope to counter it(!)

They may not be of the same standard as aus but are alot better challenge than playing France. You may not like the exiles concept but at the moment it is better option than what we used to have.
My concern is that with the increased cap and strong aus $ the standard of player coming to SL will drop and kill the concept.
Personally I liked the roses matches but sadly our sport is very insular and club based as proved by some on this thread. We mostly care for for our little clubs. Boo other players from teams we don't like or moan and want the concept stopped when a player from our club gets injured.
With our general attitude (not just Wigan I mean all SL clubs) we will never succeed internationally

It's not the attitude of the fans that means we aren't competing with Aus and NZ, it's the calibre of the players. Why do so few people understand this?

Is it balls.

I was there and, believe me, it was sh*te. The fans weren't interested, the exiles weren't interested and I've never been so bored watching rugby league in my life, and I sat through all 80 minutes of Salford 5-2 Catalans.

The entertainment value was nil, and a properly thought out Lancs Yorks would be so much better - at least the fans could dislike each other.

It's a useless, useless concept.

Bad Luck Tommy, but theres now an opportunity for someone to step up. Our youngsters haven't let us down for a long long time. Perhaps we'll discover someone with the impact Sam's made. Useful testing everyone out. But no doubt there will be calls to panic buy and end up with some one we dont need.

I understand it's the players, but when we try something to improve the standard of opposition our players face we all moan and want it to be finished before its been given a chance to succeed.

Does that really make much of a difference internationally though? I really dont think it does. It is like saying France is a step up on Wales but it means sweet FA when Australia and NZ are 10 step ups from that. Much the same applies when you talk about the Exiles. Indeed on tonights showing I would even wonder how much of a step up it actually is on France. England should have beaten the Exiles by plenty tonight, 20+ easily and that is being generous. That Exiles team wasnt a good team by any means and most of them didnt look bothered and they played like strangers. The most laughable thing for me was when Leuluai said to Waterhouse (I think it was him) for him to take an inside ball, Waterhouse couldnt understand so Leuluai generously demonstrated to Waterhouse (and the England players) what he meant. The play was promptly run and Waterhouse smashed. That is the sort of rubbish standard the match was. It was awful and the intensity was poor.

I'd like to see Mellor given a run out for the next three games (Widnes, Bradford and Wakey) to see how he goes. The way our defence is working, we can afford to lose some of our attacking threat.

Gutted, tin pot game just for Sky who have bulled it up something shocking in the last few weeks, everyone could see this was a nothing game be lucky to get 2,000 at Hudds and now we have lost one of our key players for weeks.
Hope you get back for some of the season Tommy.

Tommy got injured playing in a game he wanted to. At least he's passionate about playing for and supporting his country. If only the fans gave a toss... Some people need to get over it - it'll give someone else a chance to impress...

He wasn't playing for his country though was he?

I'm pretty annoyed about this situation. Had he been playing State of Origin or for New Zealand in a test then I could accept it, because that is something every player aspires to do and I'd never expect a player to turn down that sort of Honour, Unfortunately representing the "exiles" which is just another stupid venture from the RFL to make things better that will inevitably fail is what frustrates me. No one gives a damn about the exiles games. and watching the game tonight it was clear that there wasn't much rivalry there. and as much as id like it to expand and become an intense rivalry the expanding NRL cap will mean we will have lower quality imports in the coming years meaning it will be no bigger a test than what the likes of France were to begin with. people keep bringing up anzac tests etc, but those are games that actually mean something to the players and fans alike, that isnt the case for the exiles games.

He got injured playing a game he wanted to yes... but he was selected to play and im not really sure what the reaction would have been if players had all just said, actually, I don't want to play because I don't want to risk getting injured.... there was enough of an over reaction when players like westwood, carmont and finch pulled out with "injurys" but i can't blame them, the amount of players we have had involved in this game whilst flattering is just to much of a risk.

I agree with you in every point. Tommy always gives his all, and I would never say that any player who takes the field does not want to win. My problem with the whole exercise is that as we come up to the business end of the season, nobody wants injuries, especially to key players. This game is not even an international (not a capped game), and I'm sure I'm not the only one ( judging by the lack of crowd) who would rather have all the players fit for my club side and not being risked in a game which to all purposes is a warm up game for England and means nothing. When the concept was announced last year I said it would fall on its . It has. Sky can build it up all they want but Rugby league folk are not the kind of people who fall for hype. Basically, you can't polish a turd and I for one wouldn't be conned into going watching a "full contact" training game. The RFL should give retribution and pay the players wages for the clubs for players injured in this game. Just hope the injury isn't as bad as it looked. For Wigan, but especially for Tommy. He's having a great season as he has had every year for us, and he deserves to leave us on a high.

Er, Tommy?

You do know that the Aussies don't pick players that play in SL on principle don't you - see Jamie Lyon.

Your exclusion of non Aus/NZ players would also have excluded Adrian Lam.

If you're point is that the Exiles team isn't as good as Australia, you're right, but it still a very strong side and there is an obvious point to England playing a team of this quality rather than say France.

Playing over here doesn't stop the Kiwi's being internationals Tommy has played for NZ during his time over here. Lima hasn't played for them since 2009 Meli 2004 Soliola 2009 Sa 2008 Puletua 2005 Faiumu 2007 Fa'alogo 2009 Eric 2007 now I don't know if Tommy gets special treatment to carry on playing but if he can still play why aren't the rest?? Hansen has a cap for NZ and has never played in NRL! Exiles are going to get worst than they already are due to us not being able to get quality Aussies or Kiwis over here. Its a stupid pointless game that doesn't benefit anyone they don't play the same style as the Kangaroos or Kiwis so we get no benefit and what made me laugh was when Eddie and Steve'o were talking about it and SOO like they can be compared! 83k+ were at SOO on Wednesday then yesterday I've seen bigger crowds watching an under 9's game in the local park! Theres no real interest in watching England play an invitational team, a roses or west vs east match would be a whole lot better if for once the RFL figured out how to advertise and promote it properly instead of having a 2 game series which to me makes no sense, is it going to be decided on the aggregate score if Exiles win on 4th July??

Read my original post where I say they have 1 current international. None of the Aussies in Exiles squad were capped during the last season in NRL.

It could happen in any game lads. It's very unfortunate that one of SL's premier players has picked up an injury but it's a concept that is giving the England team a test mid season, rather than dry bumming a french team.

I disagree, we are constantly stating that we will never catch Australia because there are too many foreigners playing in super league yet here we are promoting a team of foreigners!! We need a better concept than this "exiles" farce because that game yesterday had anything but intensity or passion. The locker cup had more passion than what was on show yesterday. I think we need to work more on the lancs/York game more at least then the fans can show some passion which may rub off on the players

Why not just skip the concept of a midseason game, finish the season a week earlier and give them an extra week after the playoffs to learn nothing from McNamara, it'll have the exact same effect.

All I want to say is "Get well soon Tom".





Rock 'n' Roll.

Looking likely that he may well be out for the year and has probably played his last game for Wigan.

I thought the estimate was 8 weeks out? That would mean he is back around the Wire/Salford games?

Has the injury been confirmed then?

If thats him out for the season I hope we definately look for some form of compensation also on a selfish view point I'd ask Tommy to take an early release go NZ and rehab there and give us salary cap room because for me Mellor isn't good enough to play for us at 7 for the rest of the season. Could we push for an early release for Matty Smith?? Maybe have to pay a small fee but would also give him a few months playing in the current set up so we're not going straight to 2 new halves next season but then again can he play in CC having already played for Salford??