Saints1
Straight Edge
Got to be honest that's pretty hilarious coming from yourself. This is now the 3rd or 4th thread you've had a pop at league in and its getting tiresome. You don't like the sport, we get it.
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Got to be honest that's pretty hilarious coming from yourself. This is now the 3rd or 4th thread you've had a pop at league in and its getting tiresome. You don't like the sport, we get it.
Saints1
Straight Edge
Meanwhile, two great games today. England were atrocious but that's what happens when you leave numbskulls like Steve McNamara and Paul Deacon in charge of overseeing it. Samoa were very, very unlucky to not win that game. But for bungles that led to easy tries for the Tomkins buerks it would have been a different story you'd think. Great game to watch though, proper edge of the seat stuff. An excellent opener to the tournament.
The main event was also a good game but the injuries are starting to really take the Aussies out now. I had no doubts that New Zealand would win but when DCE and Inglis went off it was almost a certainty. The lad who went to full back was a disaster, and I feel sorry for him because he was getting the living daylights bombed out of him and the Kiwis made the most of their opportunity.
Last chance saloon makes life very interesting next weekend but England don't have the halves the Kiwis have.
The main event was also a good game but the injuries are starting to really take the Aussies out now. I had no doubts that New Zealand would win but when DCE and Inglis went off it was almost a certainty. The lad who went to full back was a disaster, and I feel sorry for him because he was getting the living daylights bombed out of him and the Kiwis made the most of their opportunity.
Last chance saloon makes life very interesting next weekend but England don't have the halves the Kiwis have.
Bloody awful match from the Kangaroos - literally the worst performance by an Aussie team I've seen since the Wallabies were at Eden Park this year. We were massively down. On personnel, but the talent available was still pretty good and looked like it would get the job done. That was until DCE and Inglis went off ... Without DCE our attack lost its direction and spark, and without Inglis we massively lost security and penetration at the back - Walker was just not even remotely up to the job.
oh well, hopefully if DCE is out they'll give the 6 jersey to Pearce, who was actually in much better form all year than DCE anyway.
oh well, hopefully if DCE is out they'll give the 6 jersey to Pearce, who was actually in much better form all year than DCE anyway.
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Why do league players want to convert to rugby union then?
It is a worry. Perhaps the two best players in world rugby league, England’s Sam Burgess and New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams, are leaving for union. It’s due to the size of the international game. Rugby union has developed its international competition to make it the pinnacle of the sport. Rugby league is too short-sighted, with no long-term plan. Clearly, the best players in the world want to prove themselves on the biggest stage. We are way behind union in that respect. :lol::lol::lol:
:sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011::sex011:
i don't understand Sheens' thinking to be honest - Tupou (who I don't actually rate) should have gone to FB, not a rookie centre. Left us massively exposed. Also, I know we had 2 full forward packs worth of rep players pull out, but I don't get why we didn't have a single recognised prop and why Cordiner wasn't there...
Saints1
Straight Edge
Strange team selection but would Tupou have been any better? Honest question, I don't actually know the answer. That was some kicking game by Johnson.
It's a fair question. I'm a Roosters fan, and whilst he does some incredible stuff I honestly reckon it's absolutely bizarre he starts ahead of McDonald, who has been better every time he's had to step in for Tupou. That said, he'd have been better as a back up FB than Walker was simply because he's much better under the high ball and breaks more tackles, but he can also be a space cadet and is capable of becoming invisible.
On the game - Australia were massively undermanned, but I still thought we'd win to be honest, and the team was looking alright until half-time. Then it became clear that both GI and DCE were gone... Now, the injury toll is pretty ridiculous as it is, but losing both DCE and Inglis before HT was the coup de grace. Walker was way out of his depth, but I don't get why they didn't move Tupou to FB instead - he's so much more suited to that position.
I also don't get why we don't have a single recognised prop and how Boyd Cordiner wasn't named in that team given he's been one of the best forwards in the NRL for the past 2 years. There really were some odd selections, and I dare say that there was a better 3rd string side available than the one put on the park.
In other news, the opening Kangaroos v Kiwis clash scored a bigger crowd and higher ratings than the Bledisloe Cup at the same venue a week before. Not bad for a game that the NRL has shown very little interest in promoting.
Saints1
Straight Edge
Major team changes before the England game then?
SimonG
Academy Player
Difference in ratings were hardly unexpected given the gulf in interest between the two codes in Australia.
Have to say I wasn't impressed with the BBC not showing Aus-NZ. It's like watching a boxing undercard and then cutting off at the main event. I furiously flicked through the channels to find the game was on some obscure cable channel which I don't have. No one will see it on there so surely it would be better to sell the game for less money but greater exposure?
On England...don't see the hype with Sam Tomkins. Didn't see him do anything at last years RLWC and again saw very little other than his stretch for a try. I expect the Aussies will give them a gubbing if they play like that again.
Have to say I wasn't impressed with the BBC not showing Aus-NZ. It's like watching a boxing undercard and then cutting off at the main event. I furiously flicked through the channels to find the game was on some obscure cable channel which I don't have. No one will see it on there so surely it would be better to sell the game for less money but greater exposure?
On England...don't see the hype with Sam Tomkins. Didn't see him do anything at last years RLWC and again saw very little other than his stretch for a try. I expect the Aussies will give them a gubbing if they play like that again.
Don't know if there'll be major changes given Sheens has hamstrung himself with the squad he's selected. I'd have put Pearce at 6 for DCE - better form than him all year - but he omitted him from the final squad in favour of Hunt for some reason. The forwards are a bigger problem, but he surely has to have Cordiner somewhere this time around. Either way, it's very much backs to the wall stuff now, so we're gone if we don't perform.
As for ratings Simon, it's actually a bit of an achievement, given it's the first time it's happened in a long time - the Bledisloe was a cut through event for a while, but has seemingly been relegated to just rugby diehards now. In terms of converge I'm guessing the situation there was the same as here - the national team's game on FTA and the other one on PayTV
As for ratings Simon, it's actually a bit of an achievement, given it's the first time it's happened in a long time - the Bledisloe was a cut through event for a while, but has seemingly been relegated to just rugby diehards now. In terms of converge I'm guessing the situation there was the same as here - the national team's game on FTA and the other one on PayTV
SimonG
Academy Player
Any idea of the figures for the Bledisloe?
The NRL final roughly got over 4.5 million (peaked at 5 i think) which for Australia is massive. The viewing figures for the Aussie RL national team should correlate with that, unless the Aussie public don't pay much heed to the international game due to lack of serious competition.
The NRL final roughly got over 4.5 million (peaked at 5 i think) which for Australia is massive. The viewing figures for the Aussie RL national team should correlate with that, unless the Aussie public don't pay much heed to the international game due to lack of serious competition.
When Fox, FTA Metro & regional data is consolidated the Bledisloe scored ratings of 1 million (to the nearest thousand), while the 4N Aus-NZ clash just beat it with ratings of 1.068 million when Metro and Regional is consolidated. Not much of a difference, but it's significant given the amount of players missing from the Roos and the general perception that the Bledisloe "matters" more.
But neither got close to Origin or the NRL GF by a long shot. All the same, what it does show is international league has more potential as a product than it is given credit for.
But neither got close to Origin or the NRL GF by a long shot. All the same, what it does show is international league has more potential as a product than it is given credit for.
England team to face Australia: Sam Tomkins (New Zealand Warriors), Josh Charnley (Wigan), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Ryan Hall (Leeds), Gareth Widdop (St George Illawarra), Matty Smith (Wigan), George Burgess (South Sydney), Josh Hodgson (Hull KR), James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs, capt), Liam Farrell (Wigan), Joel Tomkins (Wigan), Joe Westerman (Hull).
Replacements: Daryl Clark (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Tom Burgess (South Sydney), Chris Hill (Warrington).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/29798697
Replacements: Daryl Clark (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Tom Burgess (South Sydney), Chris Hill (Warrington).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/29798697
Australia: 1. Greg Inglis, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Dylan Walker, 5. Sione Mata'utia, 6. Daly Cherry-Evans, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Sam Thaiday, 11. Beau Scott, 12. Greg Bird, 13. Corey Parker.
Interchange: 14. Boyd Cordner, 15. Robbie Farah, 16. Aidan Guerra, 17. Ryan Hoffman, 18. Ben Hunt, 19. David Klemmer, 20. Josh Papalii (three to be omitted).
I hope Cordiner stays - can't understand why he wasn't there before.
Interchange: 14. Boyd Cordner, 15. Robbie Farah, 16. Aidan Guerra, 17. Ryan Hoffman, 18. Ben Hunt, 19. David Klemmer, 20. Josh Papalii (three to be omitted).
I hope Cordiner stays - can't understand why he wasn't there before.
Australia and England to play in commemorative "Rorke's Drift" jerseys:
Not a fan to be honest. Fine for England to be wearing it, but it'll be confusing for the Melbourne crowd and will made the game look too NSW-Qld centric.
Not a fan to be honest. Fine for England to be wearing it, but it'll be confusing for the Melbourne crowd and will made the game look too NSW-Qld centric.
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Saints1
Straight Edge
Absolutely dreadful.
We're in trouble. Cherry Evans just doesn't look up to international standard and Inglis has made more mistakes in the past two weeks than in his whole career:
Guilty
Academy Player
We definitely are. Kind of bizarre watching the Kangaroos play so badly over the past two weeks. Really hope some very hard words are said at halftime and they come or firing.
Sheens picked some strange players to be honest - I know there's a million guys out injured, but I can't work out why DCE is in there when Pearce has been better all year and how he's picked a guy who's only played 7 NRL games on the wing and how it is that there isn't a single recognises prop.
England look great on the other hand and like NZ just look like they're running through us.
England look great on the other hand and like NZ just look like they're running through us.
