Remember we've seen State of Origin players come over here and look average. I'm not sure dumping our players over there and hoping for the best is the way forward.

What club will start to blood a youngster knowing he'll be off down under anyway ?

We are worse then the Aussies, so what. As long as Super League (and the lower leagues) play to a good standard I couldn't care less on how we fair up to the Aussies.

Mark Flannagan came of the bench/started his first 16 (I think) NRL games this season, which was a hell of a feat, considering his relative inexperience. As soon as Simon Dwyer started to to make waves, he took Flannagans bench spot and he ended up playing the final third of the season for Balmain Ryde in the NSW cup.

These blokes are talking about sending our blokes over to help them match the intensity of the game in Australia. You have to be playing week in, week out to gain the benifits of that in the NRL.

We would be better off sending a squad of 30 English players to play as a team in the NRL for a couple of seasons. But that aint gonna happen.

Let's start at the beginning.

"This is a RUGBY LEAGUE BALL and this is how you hold it" and from there you progress.

Sadly, it is so obvious that this step has been missed in coaching players.

It was missed until about ten years ago. It's one of the earliest items on the L1 courses now, and also covered further in L2. Of course many fans still don't have a clue.

I played a lot of amateur & a couple of seasons semi-pro. Apart from the head coach at the semi-pro team the coaching was pathetic, with hindsight. Lots of poor fitness work & strength work but virtually no skills or attack/defence patterns. this was in an area where league is not played at schools so most players were new to the game so never had any 'coaching'. I know a few people who coach or help out with amateur teams or juniors now, some in RL hotbed areas, & talking to them they are fairly clueless.They are, to a man, passionate & committed giving their time for free at clubs operating below a shoestring. But we often starting with players 10 years later than in Aus & in far worse conditions.

TBH. Most would end up in NSW or QLD Cup comps. In the same way that people like Keith Mason and going a bit further back, Bobby GOulding and Karle Hammond did.

how is Ryan Tandy getting on?

there are plenty of Super League rejects playing in the NRL that would be nowhere near the England team.

Richie Mathers!

So so true.

I remember a coach stating, at training, that the players should not play with the balls, that is not what they are there for!!! 2 laps round the pitch and 10 press ups.


I really don't think it has improved beyond that

Players like Tandy and Aaron Heremaia, even Flanagan, show that this cannot be treated objectively. We could send 25 down to the NRL but what's the point unless it's something which will improve each one of them individually? Certain players will head down under and prove a real success. Some others will develop better if they stay in SL, probably for reasons away from the pitch as much as anything. As has been mentioned, Richie Mathers' NRL nightmare probably cost England its best full-back since Kris Radlinski. If he stayed put at Leeds, the number 1 jersey would be printed with his name above it before any squad announcement.

So, we make our national team stronger by making our domestic competition weaker... yes, that's a long term strategy that’s bound to work out

A good rule of thumb when working out how to develop the game is to see what Schofield says and then do the opposite!

Ha....its hard enough getting these Northern players to move 200 miles down the M1 to London! They always end up missing their mummy and daddy....only a small handful manage it...can you imagine what it'd be like if they went to the otherside of the world?!!

Sure their lifestyle would probably improve ten fold....but some people seem to like the wind and rain!

Two knee reconstructions probably had more of a detrimental impact on Mathers prospects, rather than just the fact he moved to the NRL.