Im guessing we will hear positive spin from coach, captain and various players on the run up to Saturday.

For 15 minutes we may edge it, rip into the tackles , even edge in front on the scoreboard (Ryan Hall try from a Sinfield kick) then the Aussies will go through the gears.

Australia by 14.

Hope I am wrong mind..

This sentence perfectly sums up the current state of English Rugby League.



How was it a meaningless game? It was the last game before one of the most important tournaments in recent years and the players should have been 100% switched on for it.

Would the other nations we are ranked among have taken it so lightly or would they have gone out there and shown no mercy whatsoever and trounced Italy by plenty?

Sounds close to the mark.

If you know you're taking part in a world cup for your country in a week's time, you're not going to put your body on the line for a warm up game.

If you're a fringe player you might put more effort in, in an attempt to secure a starting spot but RL is a team sport so unfortunately it's rarely enough.

It's the Leeds Rhinos strategy as orchestrated by their eminent skipper. A strategy which has most recently been adopted successfully by Wigan.

Treat all games as meaningless warm-up games which are not to be taken too seriously.

Accumulate all your energy, intensity and seriousness only for the games which really count.

Only benefit of going to SA would have been the altitude training.... training with less oxygen increases the workload and ultimately means the athlete is "fitter" and can perform better when tired. That is why boxers train at altitude.

So the SA trip was beneficial if they did it correctly - I'm not sure how long they were there or even if they were in a place that was above sea level.

Should have invited a South African Super 15 team for a "friendly" instead... some of those guys are just ridiculously huge. Would have toughened us up.

Not really. One of the main benefits is being able to do quality ball work, try out combinations, without worrying about inclement weather.

All these people who are suggesting that it would be best that the team trains in driving rain & wind 'cos that's the conditions they'll play in' a) seem to have forgotten the opening match will be played in perfect conditions under a closed roof and b) are stuck in the last century.

Agreed.

It's very important that summer rugby players remain conditioned to the perfect summer rugby experience, therefore England players should be given the day off from training today.

Training in inclement weather is an absolute NO NO!

It's the modern 21st century way to embrace such massive leaps forward in evolution and civilisation.

It was a 'meanlingless game' as it wasn't a fully sanctioned International, and less than 5000 people in the RL "heartlands" could be bothered to turn up.

Had they 'trounced' Italy people would still moan about the meaningless of the vicotory, and that Italy didn't deserve a place in the RLWC and that the competition was a joke, and England would still lose against Australia.

A big no hurrah for the average fan, but I would think that McNamara, and his players, have learnt a lot from it.

Where did I say that training in inclement weather is a "NO NO"? What conditions do you think they train in before and after the SA trip? All I'm suggesting is that it is beneficial to carve out time for quality ball work as part of an overall training programme.

It's a pretty simple strategy, thought even you would grasp it.

Learnt what ??? That they have to actually put effort in to win a game of RL ???

How can anyone defend us ??? We lost at RL to Italy ffs

Couldn't they have found an indoor training complex to use over here like St George's Park for example.