Fell at the final hurdle again! what do we have to do???

Get many more talented youngsters playing the game.
Coach them to a high level throughout their development.
Develop more intense, competitive competitions for them at every stage.
At the top level, increase the quality of coaching our top players get week in week out.
We might then start to genuinely compete after about a decade.

Think we have around 120 overseas players in Superleague, cutting that by half, which was one of the RL main objectives would be a start.

What's the latest NRL deal worth? $1bn AUD? There's the telling difference. We'll always be behind the Aussies. Always always always.

Too many average players in the top division so cut the number of teams to ten. Youngsters need to be playing their rugby in summer not winter. It's no wonder we don't produce any quality backs when they spend their development treading in treacle like mud in November or February. Like it or not but we need more of our players in the NRL. Yes the standard of Super League will suffer at first but it will allow more youngsters to come through the ranks and get invaluable first team experience.

Agree about sending more players to the NRL,intense competition week in week out.

Have to agree with the youngsters playing in the summer as well,this has to be the way forward surely.

So the way most see it as we don't produce enough quality playmakers ? , but then again when you have clubs lumping all the best players in ' Super ' amateur clubs , you have a situation where these young players don't need to learn how to play under pressure , because they have all the best players already in their teams

It's all well and good saying we need more youngsters playing the game. Unfortunately, have you seen many of the young lads of today ? Many are too weedy and most are too interested in 'virtual sport' via their Playstations than competitive sports. Playing rugby is far too brutal for them.

Over the last 20 years our amateur game has shrunk, and with minimal media coverage as we are the illegitimate code of Rugby according to the 'mass media'. we have a major struggle on our hands.

Compare that with Australia where RL is the major sport in their 'capital' city- Sydney. Lads are queuing up to play RL there, due to the glamour and prestige.Their 'mass media' focuses on RL whereas here we are lucky if any daily newspaper gives us any column inches and as far as TV coverage over here ?

To put it mildly, our TV coverage here in the UK is woeful and always has been.

Intensity and competitiveness are crucial. Look at some of the results in the Valvoline competitions, they're embarrassing. When I was home in the summer I managed to catch a Wigan u18 game against Bradford. It was so one-sided the Wigan players were laughing and joking with each other while the Bradford lads were flat and hardly lifted their heads. As Wigan switched off (another problem with a lack of intensity) Bradford ran in some late tries to make it look a lot closer than it really was. Wigan won 64-34.

Australian forwards are so much more agile, fast and skill-full. They are all around a better attacking team.

We need to drill this into our players at a younger age.

I'm sure in some areas of Australia, juniors play tag until they are 12

they could always try to teach tomkins to catch a high ball

Yeah cos that was what cost us the game!

Initial thoughts.

Half backs aren't good enough.
We make stupid mistakes, at important times, graham offloading after the try, Buchanan passing from dummy half, Ellis knocking on with the line in front of him.
Sinfield is not a half back. I don't watch the nrl, but god knows how widdop makes the team, he's not had much game time, but he's done little in the time he had.
Too many stupid penalties at the play the ball.
Mcbanana has to go, poor team selection, and substitutes. Wilkin was having a belter, he brought Wilkin and graham off with 25 to go (still 8 , I don't see what he's done for us

Were still years behind the Aussies, their centres are bigger than our props. Their props are as fast as our wingers.

Still a pleasure to say you've watched lockyer's last game, but if we had a halve as good as lockyer, we wouldn't see another for 20 years. The Aussies have probably three in the wings..

england needed a leader of men controlling the game, it didnt happen tonight and were punished

sadly, we'll have a inquest for a week or two, calling for a reduction in overseas players, do this and that.. then we'll be thinking about our clubs again, and thinking, i'd rather have a 30 odd year old aussie, instead of a 21 year old rookie..

the fact is, we're not producing enough players, especially pacey back and skillfull halves..

another point, i've seen superleague turn into an absolute borefest for the last five years, slowing the play the ball down, in the hope of "making half backs unlock defences" and it's just not working