I think this issue is slowly been addressed, with the academy products coming through, although we probably won't be able to receive the benefits for another couple of years. But finally clubs are producing academy products, whereas before you could name the exact GB line-up seven years running.

I'm not getting carried away, Australia are still the best side and better than us. But we are FINALLY heading in the right direction.

Ok so we may have gone backwards from the days of winning the first test yes but now we need to improve and yesterday was improvement on what we have seen for the last few years. Whats the point in pulling them to pieces. We have to start some were again and yesterday was not to bad at all

We've been heading in the right direction since 1980 but they've been heading that way too for most of that time. I don't think we are really any closer than we were in, say, 1982. A golden generation by recent British standards failed to beat them in the early '90s. I don't see this group seriously challenging them, even though Oz aren't as good a team as they were.

I've hardly pulled them to pieces.

I've seen and heard all before about how we are finally closing the gap, it will take a hell of a lot more than yesterday's performance before I start believing it is true.

The truth is we will never be able to compete with the Aussies over a series of matches until our players are exposed to higher level of competition week in, week out and we then have the improved intensity, decision-making and structure in the players who shine that will come that improvement.

I think we will challenge them. Hopefully wewill beat NZ and used this game as motivation for the final. think we've got to remember a lot of our players are very very young and playing against a very experienced Australia team whose backbone Slater, Lockyer Thurston & Smith have played together for years.

On another note the game was a superb spectacle yesterday and any neutrals were may have watched that will have been impressed.

When you say neutrals, I assume you are referring to non-rugby people. If so, I think you under-estimate how negatively the casual spectator sees 5 drives and a kick to be. They can never understand why players seemingly run straight into the defenders rather than evade them. They just see it as silly and pointless.
(NB Even I did for large parts of yesterday as there did not seem to be the usual venom and intensity of a Test match).

I think there was the intensity, that wasn't lacking. As usual in recent years , now we can match them for fitness and intensity, we can't for skill. The Aussies get in our 20 and score almost each time. We could do with some of the players from 20 years ago, but with today's professionalism and fitness levels. We had more skill then, now we mainly rely on quick play the ball and runs from dummy half, which is why most of our half backs are runners and support players not creators.

got to agree with dally on this, the south australian people just see rl as stop start.it was a great game for rl fans but a lot of people just dont seem to get the idea of rl

Has anyone got the stats for the game?

This is why England never win anything. Posts like this saying you played well against a weakened Aussie side (yet still lost comfortably) sum the English attitude up perfectly

Dally/Adelaide

So which of the sports that the neutrals love aren't stop start?

What statistics are you looking for?

Quote: Sheldon "Has anyone got the stats for the game?'" live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match11779.html

Quote: Sheldon "Has anyone got the stats for the game?'" live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match11779.html

Know a lot of these people do you? Shame you seemingly know so little about the game that you can't tell them what's going on.

Cheers mate.