You fools can you not see? In whatever form it takes (Yorks V Lancs, East v West, Possibles v Probables) we must have another representative tier within the game FOR ENGLAND/GB PLAYERS ONLY. The Exiles game? What nonsense this is. Why are we limiting the exposure of our own players to a representative higher tier in this way? We could have 34-40 of our own players with this exposure every season which would help to prepare them for international football. What do we do-give this exposure to second rate imports over our own. Lets not kid ourselves here. The Exiles was a second rate import team and not one of those players would land an Origin or a Kangaroos/NZ spot over here. It is an embarrasment that we did not hammer this team.

Give 40 of our blokes the chance to fight it our for an international spot over a three game series and you would see real intensity and players develop into international players before your eyes. Why can we not look after our own and add our own signature to the way we play? I'll give you a perfect illustration of why. We have a league full of Australian coaches like Mick Potter who would rather play an appallingly slow, 3rd rate Australian player such as Mark Herbert over a developing, raw local talent like Kyle Briggs because he is apparantly 'better defensively'. Briggs has now been shipped out on loan. We must maximise the limited opportunities we have in our game for players and coaches and remove the likes of Potter and Herbert now! I know all the arguments about visas and grandparent rules so lets further incentivise the clubs to develop origin players financially so it is not worth bringing these people over. We could use this new series as a vehicle to achieve this and it will need some radical thinking around the size of Superleague and it's length to make it fit the calendar. Having lived in Brisbane now for a year and witnessed the stunning origin spectacle, I am now even more convinced that the lack of terrestrial TV exposure and Australian/NZ imports are the major blight on our game and until this is corrected and we start to play the game in our own style, with our own core values we will never be competitive internationally. I could live with never winning another series against Australia in my lifetime as long as we were trying to do it in our own way. We must increase our terrestrial TV exposure, commit to this new series in the long term and save the Challenge Cup. How can we stand and watch this wonderful competition die like this? It's about time we regained some dignity even if it means losing for another 40 years, because the strategy of importing everything Australian clearly does not work.

As the TV deal negotiations are on-going, now is the time to build and commit to this three game series in whatever form it takes and stop penalising our own. The question of whether it should be Yorks V Lancs misses the point completely.

Maybe you're not so far off the mark.

A game based on birth origin, between eligible British players, but in time rather than space.

Year of Origin - odds(reds) -v- evens (blues).

It may sound a little arbitary, and to be fair crazy, but I think it could work. It splits the player pool exactly in half and is inclusive of all players. The division is clear and unchallenged by boundary or name changes.

You could say who would support them? but you just look at your own year of birth to pick your team.

I would extend it to British players rather than just England to give the top players from the smaller nations a chance to play at a higher level.

Just think about it, this could develop over time into serious rivalry. Brother against brother, both players and fans. (What year were the Tomkins' born?)

The concept may take some selling initially, prefererably by someone more skilled than myself, but I honestly believe it's got potential.

Can anybody come up with some teams?

I'd like to see the War of Roses completely rebranded to get away from the tired old County game concept into a War of Origin three game series, more of an East v West scenario, very similar to the way Austrailia use the Origin Game for their national team.

There are some absolutely shocking ideas on this thread, it has to be said!

East vs West? Odds vs Evens? What other random way can we split them? Those with siblings vs those without? Those with brown eyes vs the rest?

Seriously. These people need to sit down and have a think who they REALLY think would support these concepts. Do they really think these people would feel an alligence to any of these teams? Just because you are from the East doesn't mean you'd support an artificial team from there. Just because I was born in 87 doesn't mean I'd be well into the Odds. They're terrible ideas that would only be worth using on a football end-of-training kick about, not an RL international.

Fair enough, but do you really believe the Exiles game is the answer? Is it really increasing intensity and competition for England shirts? The question of which side a fan supports is moot, at least there would be fans supporting both sides, making for a better atmosphere and increased gates/revenue.

As a curtain raiser for the exiles game with West (to include Crusaders) and East (Quins) but under 20's only with a choice of one senior pro as captain per team.

As a full grown tournament it's pointless there is too little interest