Senior was voted into the world 13 2 years running in the early 2000s, Gleeson and Watkins were decent, but Farnworth is genuinely world class.

Yep. Watching him in the flesh today, he doesn’t just look like a world class a rugby player, he looks like a world class athlete. That's the measure for the best three quarters in the NRL, and he clearly exceeds it. England need to find two or three more (Young probably hits the mark) before we can be confident of giving the Aussies a game.

The Saints fans think that he's the messiah
but he's just a very naughty boy

IMO Farnworth,Joey Manu and Stephen Crighton are currently the best centres in the game

Did not see the game today , how did Palasia go?

Manu doesn't play league anymore.

Was good for 15 minutes but then became anonymous, but so did Somoa at that point

Some talk of a return of Yorkshire v Lancashire.

Torn on it tbh. Think it could be great if done properly but doesn’t/ won’t push the international game.

Used to complain about the Aussies not been interested. But in the last few years they’ve got the pacific cup right. Yes lots of work on player pools have helped the likes of Tonga/samoa/png but at its core I think regular games have been essential too.

We just don't have enough of talent pool for international to run two competitive teams like origin does imo

Should just be west v east so can include non traditional heartlands. I have no idea who could be eligible but surly we can find 34 players

Which 15 minutes, when he came on? Didn't think he did much good or bad to be honest didn't carry much but def3nded everything that came his way

Only saw the first half.
He looked solid and steady but I don't recall anything beyond that

I like the ‘idea’ of Yorkshire V Lancashire but i just don’t think it will work, Lancashire has been diluted as a county that I don’t think it really means much anymore to the players or fans.

Players will pull out left right and centre rendering it pointless

Yeah, the games would have to have huge importance for the England team like origin does.

It would take big changes and years to bed in

I guess it depends on what it means to the international coach. Wane obviously wants it, and if he makes it clear that this is a test match trial and sticks to that, then I guess the players and clubs can make up their own minds with regards to their international ambitions. I think the sport owes itself to give it ago with IMG giving it the big push. Headingley would make a great initial choice for a Roses match on a Saturday afternoon. You've got to start somewhere with these things.

But it’s not as if it hasn’t been tried before - and failed.

What about the players that don’t come from Lancashire or Yorkshire? I mean technically Wigan isn’t in Lancashire

I agree, but given the amount of NRL players who won't be available for it, how possible would that be?

Well, the simple answer to that is - it's never been tried properly. Mid week fixtures with no thought to fans travelling arrangements or player welfare - although even then (as Wane knows) it served a purpose in preparing GB for test football. It's worth mentioning that NSW and Queensland played each other for over 70 years in state games that never caught on with fans. It just took some vision and leadership to bring it alive as a concept. Your point about participation from outside the two counties would be a stronger if these players existed in any great number. But the fact is that at the moment they don't, and the talent they do provide never gets held back in terms of international consideration. Look, I know there are always reasons to believe something won't work, but would you rather take on France in front of 3k in a poor quality game that isn't even televised, and provides zero benefit in terms of prep for 3 tests with Australia, or try and do something different instead?

I’d rather we do England V France properly and not have it has a Curtain Raiser for s championship game.

It’s not as simple as looking at SOO and saying they made it work the rivalry between the two states just doesn’t exist between Yorkshire and ‘Lancashire’. How many times do you hear crowds chant ‘Lancashire’ Yorkshire yes, but never the other way round.

Also on SOO wasn’t Australia RL played as two state Leagues for a lot of the time enhancing the rivalry?

I'd rather England and France - if it worked. But despite having a presence in SL for 20 years the French remain an international walk over. This isn't about what's good for French RL, it's about giving England the best possible chance of pushing Australia. And by the way, I think you are under playing the rivalry. I believe we still play Roses games at both amateur and academy level so it's not like it's something that's dead to the sporting culture. Just check out the attendances for the T Twenty cricket matches if you think it can't be sold to folk. Anyway, it looks like it's going to happen, so I guess we won't have to wait too long to gauge its appeal.

Exactly. The Roses matches in the cricket are still the biggest domestic games in cricket outside of India. Anyway, even if the rivalry may not be as strong as we want it to be, then perhaps we should create it? Look at boxing as an example, and how they build their biggest fights as an example, build the 'hatred' between the players during SL games and in the media.

Are the T Twenty Cricket matches stand alone fixtures/fixture or are they part of a wider league structure?

I’m not totally against the idea, I’m far from convinced it will help England beat Australia, I really don’t think the intensity would even match a regular SL game, and in the short term it would probably be a Lancashire walkover. Is Wane just wanting a one off game?

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.

I’d suggest the reason we we winning a few games against Aussies in those periods was because we were actually playing them regularly and nothing to do with a poorly attended mud week game



Wasn’t the last time we played Australia 2018? It’s pretty hard to best them when you play them so infrequently

I sense I'm not going to convince you on this, Chris. A couple of final points: since the last time the roses match was played in 2003 (we lost the Ashes series that year 3 - 0 by a combined total of 10 points) our combined GB/England record against Australia is won 2 - lost 17. Now, I accept that there are lies, damned lies, and there are statistics, but what I will say is that when the game was played regularly from the mid 80's to the early 90's our international performances improved out of site, and for the only time in my life there was actually a hope/expectation that we could win. Now again, that might be a coincidence but I suspect if you asked the likes of Hanley, Schofield and Reilly if they would be in favour of returning the fixture to its place in the calendar they would say yes.