Well said. The big problem around international RL is still getting a set international calendar. We still can't get one for the "big" nations never mind anyone else and it's really holding us back. At least we've got a set World Cup now but sadly we've (or will) squandered another oppotunity because we'll have another World Cup without knowing what internationals will take place, if any, or literally where in the world they'll be the following year.

The cost of this is reduced profile for the game as a whole but as you say the cost of this in the 2nd tier nations is that this reduced profile leads to both lack of basic funding and profile and so leads to the Radrada situation.

We obviously need the World Cup but we need the 2nd tier nations much more involved the other 3 years too. Yes they've increased from 3 to 4 Nations but that doesn't really help much because the 4th Nation changes every time. So they still can't plan.

I think you are wrong.

This wouldn't preclude any player earning decent cash in domestic competition in any country but, IF the represent any national side, this has to be "their" country.
To represent a nation should mean something more that just playing for the largest amount of cash.
Footballer's used to say to represent their country was an honour and that they "would play for nothing" to be able to play for their country.
Nowadays, people change allegiance purely for the money, it's just not right and far from diminishing the emergence of smaller nations, it may actually help ?

But then you'd just get nobody who is any good bothered about playing for smaller teams. No decent player is gonna play in a random Fiji v Samoa or Scotland v Wales game in front of 500 people when doing so means they'll lose any chance they might have had at playing for England/Australia/New Zealand in a World Cup final. You'll just get players declaring for the lower tier nations at the back end of their careers once they've realised there's no chance that they're ever gonna get selected by a top tier nation.

Of course the best way would be to standardise international payments and pay them from a central RLIF fund. So that then there is no difference in playing for Australia or Samoa in terms of cash.
If we can then involve the nations with most potential more often and in a set schedule I think we could make some progress.

So much Cynicism in this thread. Maybe it is about his love for Australia

Kind Regards

King James

Lote Tuqiri and Petero Civoneceva were both Fijian born, with Fijian parents. The difference between the two is that Lote was 15 when he came to Oz, Petero was One. Australian born Willie Mason, was raised in NZ and had a NZ Passport when he debuted for Australia. He didn't even have an Aussie one at the time.


It's all a bit cloudy isn't it, and needs serious looking at.


Oh and if an aussie talks about foreign cricketers, just see if they remember "Dinky Di" Kepler Wessels. Never mind the sports people from around the world they got to be Aussies for the Sydney Olympics. My favourite being the chinese table tennis player that couldn't even speak English properly after she moved from Poland whom she represented previously.

Was she called Ping Pong? I'll get my coat....