Who knew about those fixtures outside of the M62?

Therefore who knew of the players?

They weren't participants in a proper Kangaroo or Lions Tour were they?

Super League summer rugby ensured the demise of those proper tours.

And the game you allude to above was broadcast on Sky in front of less than 100k viewers on a Saturday morning, UK time.

Enjoy your Super League.

I'm sure you believe it was all worth it for the greater good.

Meanwhile, in front of a two-thirds empty stadium in Coventry.....

Surely the whole country knew didn't they as the GB name, team and shirt was so iconic apparently.

You forgot the muddy pitches, Hovis bread theme tune, Up and Under, Eddie Waring, pot-bellied forwards, winter, Brrrrr, scarves, icicles, snow drifts, bovril, Yooorrrrkshire Cup, cigs and beer sponsorship, black and white telly, this sporting life, Frank Machin...

Enjoy your Coventry spectacle.

Cheers I will watch something actually happening in the present unlike yourself spending your time mourning and yearning for something from a long time ago like some love struck loser still pining for the girl that dumped him many years ago to return.

You let yourself down every time with the ad hominem.

Can't help yourself, can you?

Here's a tip.

When you lose the argument, retire gracefully.

90% of what you write is aimed at insulting posters so don't embarrasss yourself with the hypocrisy.

Also very deluded (again) to think you've won any argument here by just doing a lot of whining.

The irony of dumping the GB concept is that it could in reality weaken 'home' nation development.

If the only international options are England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, which team do you think the majority will want to aim for? If I'm an up and coming player with some vague Welsh/Scottish/Irish ancestry but a realistic possibility of playing for England, I'm more likely to pin my colours to the red & white flag. Multiply that across our very small elite playing pool and it very soon begins to bite.

Whereas if the possibility of playing a Great Britain team exists ALONGSIDE the home nations, I might reconsider my options. I might choose to pin on my Great-Granny's home flag for the World Cup happy in the knowledge I have a shot at a GB place in the Four Nations or (please god ) an Ashes Tour. As a result, the smaller home nations could see more elite players willing to commit themselves.

In the same vein, let's say a great Welsh player breaks through. What a waste. He'll get a go in the World Cup but will we ever see him take on the Aussies alongside our best? Nope. He'll be playing alongside second-tier Welsh and vaguely Welsh lads and perhaps beating Lebanon and Italy.

Great Britain RL was iconic. All the great international moments from our heritage come in the red & blue V. I have precisely NO fond memories of the England RL concept, just terrible shirts. As for those condemning the 90's, I guess you're not old enough to remember the amazing Ashes tours of '90 and '94. The club game might have been in mixed health but the international game was outstanding.

As for tonight's event at Coventry...I think the less said the better. Genuinely I switched over to Ireland vs All Blacks with about 15 minutes to go. A close game but a boring, soulless atmosphere. Love it when an international tournament finally comes around and the RFL stick games in pointless stadiums nowhere near the core support.

He doesn't like ruby league, its nothing to do with old or new or whatever.
He comes on here because he is bored, I just hope that he finds a hobby.
Its not like I read his posts most of the time, buts its like the equivalent of having a pop up add every few posts.

International has on the whole never been that popular - it had a brief growth in popularity in the 90s before SL. The crowds at both Coventry and Huddersfield were greater than those that turned up to watch the 82 Aussie tourist possibly the greatest side ever to play the game.

I don't see all the hankering to see a series of meaningless mid week walk overs - even RU have on the whole ditched that idea

Agreed. I want to see more tests played out between the big teams. Playing once against Australia ( which is likely to be the case now barring a miracle at the weekend), from 2014 to the 2017 is not enough for me.

On crowds - we did get very good crowds from the 86 tour to 94 but that was our most competitive period since the early 70's. Still, even then we didn't quite fill old wembley, it was around 50k for the OT tests and 30k for the Elland road ones so not astronomically bigger than these days. We got 40k for NZ in london last year and i remember Elland road being full house for that Four Nations final in 2011.Also 44K at Wembley against the Aussies that same year although that looks bad in that huge new Wembley.

Add to that we always tend to pretty much fill the 25k club grounds like Huddersfield last week. Could of course be better, but it's not bad imo. I reckon if England made this final we would fill Anfield but that looks a long shot now.

The problem is nothing to do with the success of Scotland, Wales or Ireland presently. In the current international climate, they have very little opportunity to to compete at the top level.

Our elite level of rugby league consists only of Four Nations x2, the World Cup and a last minute tour. Which players are going to want to pin their colours to anyone other than the Big 3 if they're the only ones guaranteed to be playing big comps?

Hopefully the new Confed Cup tournament will help attract the NRL and SL players to put their hands up more regularly for other nations and build their competitiveness and brand. More games of importance is what the other home nations (and every other nation) need.

England are doing fine. Crowds are better than GBs of the 2000s that preceded them. All signs are they're going to get better.

The country I live in is called Great Britain anyway. Which is part of the United Kingdom of the two countries Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Not the United Kingdom of four countries England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland. The nationality on my passport is British, not English.

If it means we can have Lachlan Coote at fullback then I'm all for it.

Funny that because Great Britian isn't actually a country.