Hmmmmm. Not so sure about the rationale about being challenged by the best in the form of the NRL competition.
Reading Joel "Barker" Monahan's comments today to sky such as
Quote: Barker "admiting that the more open style of play in the northern hemisphere suits him better, and believes that there is great strength in depth in the competition.
"I think the quality now is a lot higher," said the former Raider who played for Australia in the 2008 World Cup final.
"As an outside back the structure suits me - they like to throw the ball around more than they did back home.
"The quality of players in all the teams it's a very strong league. I think most teams would rival an NRL team."'"
Although we only have the WCC to compare the strenegths between the two leagues, he confirms what I have believed for a few years now; that the top 4 or 5 teams from our league would hold their own against the equivalent NRL. (I believe that teams like salford and the crusaders would still get slaughtered)