I can't agree on the intensity. I would expect that if the players knew that their performance in the match would be a factor in playing any series of test matches that would be the pinnacle of their involvement in the sport, you'd get some real commitment and desire to win. Also, it gives our players a chance to test themselves in a scenario where the key positions in the team aren't filled by exiled NRL players. That gives English players from less fashionable sides a chance to represent themselves in an environment outside of the sometimes humdrum, less than intense grind of weekly SL matches. Whether it prepares us to win against Australia is another matter, but what I do know that when it was played on a regular basis (mid eighties/early noughties) we were getting test wins against the Aussies on a fairly frequent basis. You can dismiss that as coincidence I suppose, but I'm totally confident it's a more meaningful fixture in every sense than a mid season stroll against France.

If Wane wants the Roses match to be our Origin then IMG need to earn their corn for once and market it and push it and stick with it.

FWIW , I’d run a campaign and compare it to Origin and in short stress the history and extreme violence of the Roses and compare it to State of Origin.

Compare 40 odd years of origin and a few punch ups with a war that lasted 32 years with over 100,000 dead.

Show the skull found at Towton with the big hole in the back. Explain how Game of Thrones was based on the war of the roses.

Mention 28,000 dead at Battle of Towton

Get Sam Burgess talking to Gordon Tallis or modern age players ask them how many have been killed in the NSW v Queensland wars?

Then market it as

The Roses
Real war since 1455
See the next battle…

I get the points about us having less quality to pick from but I think if Wane backs it which he seems to be , players like say Minchella would see it as a great chance to put down a marker

It's not happening anytime soon

Not with the Ashes apparently back on the menu.

The Tonga vs Aus game was excellent. Aus are there for the taking. The international game down under at least, is as strong as it’s been in a long time.

For me it’s up to England to A, take advantage of that and challenge, and B, take a bit of a lead for the game this side of the world.

Granted B is much harder.

The game doesn't have the cash, especially at a central level. The NRL bankrolled the Samoa tour.