Quote: BrisbaneRhino "British players dominate quite quickly? You didn't see Flanagan or Edmonson then. Its a different style of rugby - the NRL is actually very physical and a lot of the focus for forwards is a very low error rate. Some SL players will do well, others poorly. Its a much higher standard competition than SL in general - an average NRL player is better than an average SL one. Cooper's done a bit more than that, regularly rating as one of the Dragons' best.
Widdopp is slightly worrying to me as an England supporter. He looks the part, but occasional flashes aside doesn't dominate games or create much. He's starting to look a bit too much like Ben Walker.'"
I said British forwards dominate quite quickly, which they do. We need to stop assuming that everything about the NRL is vastly superior. Some parts are, their defensive organisation, their outside backs, their hookers/halves, but I don't see much evidence that their forwards are better, apart from the hookers. In fact I see quite a lot of evidence that our forwards are better than theirs (maybe in smaller numbers though). Mike Cooper, S, G, T Burgess, Ellis, Morley walked into NRL sides and became among the best, and in some cases THE best forwards in their squads without needing much time or super duper NRL coaching.
