You've missed my point.

You're proclaiming the game should invest millions extra each year and it doesn't have a penny to scratch it's ar$e with.

we don't need to invest we simply need to stop so many overseas players in our game, so many young players are lost to the game because they are thrown on the scrap heap at 18-19 years old, christ some leeds fans already are writing of Lilley Sutcliffe, Golding after a year or two in open age and want to sign an aussie journey man.
all super league clubs across the board need to commit to developing players we already have, and set a proper quota and stick to it and not flex the rules. we also desperately need to enforce the A teams on all super league clubs. christ Salford have already scrapped there academy it will only get worse unless we make some hard changes.
we need to get some like Dave Brailsford from British cycling on board or look at what german football did to turn there team into world champs.

So essentially you want England to be a closed shop?

How can we improve both on the international stage and the domestic one if we don't give more opportunities for other players to play international rugby league? At least the England Knights partially addressed this, but where did that go?

I'm glad you're not representing my country then.

That's complete nonsense. The game as a whole has a turnover of around £120m per year.

We were just saying the same thing. Cameron Smith showed Hodgson how to play No 9 at international level. It was too late to experiment with Brown we thought Williams should have played most of that game. Sam Burgess didn't lift the team as captain, Widdop OK in parts but still can't control a game for any satisfactory level of time.
Until we create a world class 1, 6, 7 and 9 its always going to be groundhog day.

Whats an A team going to do on its own? We have a league of players not good enough for SL, its called the championship and it produces very few elite players.

Dave Brailsford has been able to do what he has done because Team Sky and GB Cycling have invested in everything to give their athletes the best chance to fulfil their potential.

not been impressed with Hodgson at all, everyone been raving about him in Aus, can really ee why hull fans ed that Houghton not given a go.

the experiment of picking every Nrl player available to us as not worked and we are just as far away, cooper is nothing burgess twins poor i'd rather see players like oliver Holmes, Minikin even and raging JJb players that will give everything they've got and show some n venom, than these athletic soft s. (i am really ed off)

Disappointed with the result, but enjoyed the game. England had some chances early on, but the Aussies did their normal thing and ground us down. Would rather have seen the match played in a full stadium with less capacity, rather than somewhere that was always likely to have lots of empty seats. Hope the Kiwis can give the Aussies a good test in the final.

Would you still be taking selfies with Cronk and Inglis??!

No.

Overseas players in Super League isn't the issue. They aren't exactly stopping the next Sam Burgess coming through.....maybe the next Josh Walters or Andrew Dixon getting more game time.....but not International quality players.

On the other side of the coin, are Sam, Tom, George Burgess.....Hodgson, Whitehead stopping a potential Aussie International from game time????

My quote above from the Exchange Rate thread covers some of the issues we have in this country. It's the chicken and egg debate though - It all starts with the amateur game (which is in a complete mess), as we need more juniors playing the game to increase our player pool, but a key thing to achieve that his getting the sport a higher profile and thus more money in the game to improve the amateur game, particularly at junior level.

The amateur game is in a mess - it's fighting itself with the whole summer/winter mess, the level of amateur coaching, particularly at junior level is generally awful. A lack of facilities usually means kids are training in the dark, cold, and wet, the attitude of 'give it to the big kid' and 'smash em in defence' is still prevelant - other than kids who are already from rugby league families, it's hardly a welcoming environment. Throw in then the low profile and therefore lack of star/household 'role models' for the kids to look up to, we're starting well behind the Aussies right from the beginning. They've got their star players as household names/media superstars and the climate to encourage outdoor activities that straight away gets more kids involved, and it all builds from there.

Until we find a way to encourage more kids to play and stay with the game, we're papering over the cracks. We need better facilities, more inclusiveness (how about having both tackle and touch leagues?), better coaching and a change in mindset of what the junior game is about. The only way I can see things getting better is for the professional clubs to take complete ownership of their catchment areas (with non-heartlands then shared out) - they should be responsible for increasing participation numbers, improving facilities (maybe central/shared indoor facilities?), coaching etc.... They're the ones that would ultimately benefit from doing so.

The Aussies have got some natural advantages over us with the climate (and you could even add gene pool with the natural athleticism of Pacific Islanders), plus their existing higher profile and extra money - we have to be creative to overcome this, and it will take a drains up change in approach.

But ultimately, that will all cost money to implement..... back to the chicken and egg...

Just my musings, but I certainly don't see any RFL led initiatives currently in place looking to fix the root cause.

There'll be more ejaculate in the Eve household today than there has been for many a year.

We haven't had a decent English hooker since Martin Dermott, the game has been obsessed over here with scooters from dummy half who lack the ball playing skills of the likes Cameron Smith.