That was in the day when RL players were real men not high paid moaners, just imagine the complaints if they had to spend two months overseas in the close season to play even more games than they do now. Plus with the two competitions in sync now how many teams on both sides of the world would let their players out for the two months for a tour, it just wont wash with the clubs on both sides.

Although I support England when there is a tournament, I just can't get as excited as when it was GB. There is something about seeing the red and blue V going up against the Aussies. I can't usually muster the same enthusiasm for seeing some nasty red and white strip, because the strips usually are quite nasty, worn by people who not long before professed loyalty to a different country (Chase, Carvell, Brough, et al).

The plus is that I don't have to listen to Hemmings waffling on about how Briers should be picked.

I prefer GB as it was what I was used to growing up. I suspect the kids of today will feel the opposite in a few years time.

The 'I won't watch them if they play as England' bits from this thread should be added to the 'If Mateo gets picked for England I'll never watch them again' comments (plus numerous other down the years). Cut and paste them into the "RL vs RU marketing" thread. Then realise they show that some of the most diehard defenders of tradition - RL fans through and through - are one of the biggest things holding back any attempts to make international RL into a big deal.

If we have any hope at all of making international RL into a big spectacle, we all need to start viewing it more as an event, not just a sporting contest. Get excited about it as mugwump said. Enjoy watching the best players in the world play what at its best is the best game in the world.

Oh, and make sure we have neutral refs, even if they are cr*p - and especially if they refuse to referee NRL style.

I'd love to see GB Lions tours to Australia and NZ every 4 years, between world cups. Maybe it's something the new ARL and RFL can work out.

England, Wales, etc for the rest of the time is fine by me.

It's not really an issue, pommy RL fans just like to focus on the negatives no matter what.

Spot on! I refuse to support England. My last jersey I bought is the Gillette GB jersey from a few years back. The RFL cannot even come up with e DECENT England logo ffs!

GB represents me, England doesnt. Try tell the Cornish to support England btw in any sport!

England maybe good for soccer, union, cricket etc, but in RL Great Britain [iis[/i our national identity!

I like the England logo.

I don't get how GB represents someone English, yet England don't.

What have the Cornish got to do with it?

Like someone has already stated, to recieve much needed funding from Sport England, we have to be England instead of GB.

Which players are England missing out on anyway?

Leave it as it is or just play as GB in the Ashes.

Simple as.

Because there are too many players who had previously expressed loyalty to Wales/Scotland/New Zealand, etc?

It isn't helped by the fact that England had been the second string international side recently, playing in tinpot tournaments as GB played elsewhere.

Yes you've been proving for a while now that you are, and i'm not on my own with that.

YES YES YES

why do people continue to peddle the sport england funding bull???


sport england actually said it would'nt matter if we played as england or GB cos either team was be seen as the principle "national team".........also sport england currently funds numerous "GB teams"......not just england teams


and im also pretty damn sure the last GB jerseys had sport england logos on them?

Ill be at the matches supporting our great game and enjoying myself while you sit at home bleating about trivial matters on these forums. I know what situation I would rather be in.

Well done for being self contradictory in a single post. You want to be represented by Great Britain which is a more collective entity than England and then you cite the Cornish example which is regional as some kind of backup for your stance!

As for not supporting England because you don’t like the logo... do you not realise how petty that sounds?

On the actual discussion. One of the main positives (not the driver) for moving to home nations is the Welsh. When they were going North for the cash on a regular basis, they added a huge amount of talent to the GB pool and there is no doubt that GB teams were stronger in past years due to this

Without the financial incentive (no Welsh player at the height of RU career will now come to League), the best route to talent from Wales is for them to strive to play for their national team. In Wales this will be the Welsh brand, not the GB one. It may take a considerable amount of time but we will see this talent arriving and then hopefully the Irish and Scottish talent will follow

I would leave the current structure as it is but (as many have said), I would bring back the Lions to tour Australia and New Zealand. My biggest regret in RL (apart from failing to be become a professional player!) is not being able to follow a Lions tour. Now I am in a position where I can, we don’t do them. Doh!

Was there a reason why you ignored the questions in my post?

Have you ever asked the Irish to support GB by the way?

Basically, the only reason you don't like England is because if the kit and logo. Quite frankly, everything else you've said lacks logic and is either hypocritical or contradictory.

GB for me. More heritage, more history. GB simply has more standing, as someone said it just sounds 'bigger', with more appeal, and even an iconic kit. We all still talk about games involving GB - I rarely hear people talking about England games with much passion. Even the kit is naff.

And I think the RFL's logic is flawed. If they thought moving to Home Nations would strengthen those teams, they're mistaken - England apart. Consider you're a young lad living in Wrexham making your way in RL. Your mother is Welsh; your father English. Early on you get selected for a Wales youth side - you snap it up, chuffed to bits to be representing your nation. You improve and move to a top SL side and secure yourself a first team spot. You now live in England. In the meantime you've played a few small fixtures for Wales against Scotland, Ireland, France and England Knights. Then Steve McNamara comes calling. Suddenly you can be part of a bigger, stronger side that has a reasonable chance against Aus and NZ and a slightly less remote chance of silverware. You're unlikely to be playing what amount to fairly meaningless fixtures in front of a few hundred. So you switch to England (to much derision on RLFans).

The very best players will generally want to be part of the England squad, going head-to-head against Aus and NZ in games they take seriously - not like games against other Home Nations, which are nothing more than trial or warm-up games. That will only ever weaken the other Home Nations. With a GB side in the mix those players still get to play the big games and represent their Home Nation at other times. Cunningham is a good example of how it should work.

A GB side for Ashes tours and Four Nations, the Home Nations for the World Cup. Oh, I'll support England but I can't get as excited about it and probably won't go to every game. GB just stirs something England can't.

Pull ya head in keyboard warrior...there's always one in every forum....... The Cornish DON'T consider themselves "English" yet they arent a country. Ps Dunbell please show me where I said I didn't like the Eng logo muppet!