who thought of the bright idea to put it on the same day as SOO3 really made it look even duller especially as i watched the full match of SOO3 before the exiles match and probably made a dull game even duller!

one bright point was ratch got the opportunity to show what he can do shame he shares the position with ratboy! however from the showing he gave last night he deserves a shot in his more comfortable position in the halves.

and i must say i am intrigued by the elite vs knights concept could be similar to what NSW use the city vs country game for and would have at least a little competition IF they knew it was genuinely used to pick players for the world cups 4nations etc

It doesn’t work! There’s no passion for the players or the fans. Ditch it, as a bad idea, for a start it’s a crap time to have the games, just before the CC semi-finals, and at a critical time for the play-off standings. Why not have the games after the GF, it could be the battle of the coaches, The winning coach from the GF gets to pick a side from all SL players available, Steve Smacknamara picks his England side, and the other chooses his from what’s left. The GF coach’s team gets the support from that coach’s following plus the ones who don’t like McNamara. It also puts pressure on McNamara to prove what a great coach he is!

Rock 'n' Roll.

I am here on holidays from Australia and I actually enjoyed the experience. No the standard was not good but I am glad I went for several reasons. It was good to see Beaver go around one more time even if he is 38 and well past it.

Joel Monhagan is still a quality winger and would make it into most NRL sides.

I don't understand why, after promoting the game as a serious competition, the English Rugby League then fiddled around with selections instead of picking their best team and going all out to win. Surely that sent sent the message to the English players that it was more of a selection trial.

IMO the only way this thing will work is if the fans know it is going to be a fair dinkum game and not an exhibition match. That would have to start with picking the most competetive English team possible and making this series a priority over club matches. If that can't be done then it won't work.

I would have thought losing that game was worse for English rugby league than any benifits in blooding young players. Surely it is a game England could have won with their best players totally motivated.

It took an Australian to state the problem with this. Everything MeatyMeaty says is true. It is marketed as a big deal but England play a second rate side. It is the second game of a 2 game series. Whats the point? Surely you need to have a 1 or 3 game series? Then you can guarantee that someone will actually bloody win the thing.

Jackpot. Can we get you to write a letter to the RFL?