Let's be realistic, lads. The days of 6-8 week tours have finished, since we moved to a similar RL calendar as Down Under. They are not so much impractical as impossible. How could the midweek games be practical. You'd be asking some teams to finish their SL season, then have no game for a month, then finish again for good, and be back in training for the following season, a couple of weeks later.

For me, the best we can do internationally is
Year 1. 3 Tests v Aussies
Year 2. 3 Tests v N.Z.
Year 3. 4 Nations
Year 4 World Cup

Repeat, ad infinitum

Whilst years 1&2 are in progress, the "lesser nations" go into a two year "round Robin" to qualify for 4 nations, the next year.

If we're to have a mid season Test. SL needs a 2 week shutdown. We can't just down tools on a Sunday night,fly out Monday, play Saturday, fly home Sunday. We need a pre Test game, before hand.

This.

The only way we can grow international rugby league is by reverting back to winter rugby so that international competitions happen in Summer when there's nothing else on.

If you look at some of the pre SL matches with their contested scrums, 5m rule and muddy pitches etc, there wasn't too much wrong with the product. In fact I'd say it was superior to what we have today.

Wasn't it as close as 3 yards at one time at the ptb? The tackled player could play the ball to himself & the marker could play at the ball with his foot.

Me thinks 'rose tinted spectacles' silver2.

I do think that the 5m rule could be a good move though simply because the impacts these days are so much greater than they used to be, and it makes sense for player welfare.
Having said that there are now far less head high shots than in the 70s - watch the Wire v Fev final in '73. Ouch.

Contested scrums is also something that could be looked at but I don't have the answer about how to make them less of a melee like they became.

The game has progressed beyond contested scrums,reverting back to that takes the game a step backwards.Todays scrum is used for reformation of places and taking advantage if possible.A return to contested would actually see a scrum half having to do his/her job.Not many could these days.

The Kiwis haven't done a single thing right yet in this game!

Well they found their way to the ground

Aussie kit looks great with no sponsors

Dave Woods talks !

I believe Wigan overcame adversity to win the GF.


Meanwhile, Australia gave a good example of the importance of supporting the ball carrier. England could easily have been in that final with better team selection by Wayne Bennett against NZ in our first game.

I think that Australia didn't do anything particularly special this tournament. They did basic stuff very well like accurate passing not only from dummy half but along the line also. They took very few risks and backed themselves in defence when required.

I feel a little less optimist about our chances in the world cup, reaching the final should be the goal. On a positive note there will be some younger players who wave had some valuable international experience and will have another year in SL under their belt too.

I don't think we necessarily need a mid season into company but the England squad should be made available for group training sessions throughout the year. The core of the Australian team play some form of rugby together throughout the year we need the England team to get as much time training and running plays and defensive sets together not just thrown together after the gf.

Their pack is very one dimensional and not very skillful at all, and they played boring simple rugby. But they are clinical in passing and defending. There are no balls dipping down to knees or over head height (never mind too far forward or back and certainly no stray balls flying to nowhere), they run lines where everyone knows what the players around them are doing and they don't knock the ball on. In defence they are water tight.

I think we have some brilliant players in the pack [iand [/ibacks, so much so it should see us closer to them, but the amount of times passes aren't passed [iexactly[/i where they should be, or the amount of balls that go to ground and the amount of times a weak tackle is put in by our lads sets the difference between the two teams.

We need crisper passing and tighter defending and we'd stand a great chance of winning. You'd think, "well that's easy", but to be honest it's huge and isn't something that changes over night, it's something that players need to get right over a prolonged period of time playing together and our players just don't play together enough whereas Cronk and Smith play together every week, add in Thurston who plays in SOO high pressure games with those two every year, and they're the three who run the game for Aus. We didn't name the same half back pairing in any consecutive games and we didn't use England's best asset which is Hooker where we are strongest (not using Clark at the right times or even at all was a criminal mistake from Bennett) and even if we did none of them play together at an Origin high pressure level nor for clubs.

On the defensive side our SL players don't play at a high enough intensity week-in-week-out and they aren't battle hardened in defence.