Alot of that is down to the SL war which completely halted international rugby as well as the 2000 WC which led to a retrenching and we only got back to Wembley last year. I really see 2013 as a chance to get somewhere back to where we were.

Another major reason RL was bigger then is the Union converts - people tuned / attended to watch the likes of Jiffy. The side effect of that was the existing RL players such as Hanley, Offiah and Edwards also became famous off the back of them.

Well, I was slagged off by a lot of people on here last week, over my view that International Rugby League is a waste of time.

I watched the game on TV today, and it only confirmed my opinion.
I predicted to friends pre match that England would score 80 points, and was correct.
The commentators desperately tried to talk the Welsh up, but gave up after half time.
The crowd is listed at 4,014 according to the BBC website, but from what I could see there were more TV presenters and technicians there.

Why did the England team need go to South Africa for altitude training to prepare for that?
They would have still thrashed Wales if they had spent the last week on the lash.
International Rugby League tournaments are flawed, as there are only three teams of a decent standard.
When any team out of the top three plays a team from within, a thrashing ensues.

The money spent on the trip would have been better used in the community game.

In order for any sporting contest to be credible it needs competitive participants, and for the outside observer an element of doubt is usually a good draw.
Rugby League will not draw in outside interest with no contests and lop sided competitions like this, therefore in my opinion, they are a waste of time and money.
The same thing will happen with the World Cup next year, but on a bigger scale.

I really hoped the game would be played in front of a decent crowd and at least be competitive for an hour but yes, it was frankly embarassing in terms of atmosphere, result, attendance, skill levels (on both teams) and presentation by the beeb. At one point I thought Ray French had nodded off, and I wouldn't have blamed him if he had.

Wales, England and the domestic and international game in general gained nothing from that and lost a lot of credibility; the only winners were RU who couldn't have asked for better publicity and ITV1 who probably had people switching over in their droves to watch Star Wars (wish I had).

The world cup can still be a success but the RFL need to wake up and start employing people who can actually market the game.

Back to GB and Tri-Nations please.

how will GB be any better for the tri nations....? There are no Scottish Welsh or Irish players of any note that would get near a GB team, any that were have long since switched allegences anyway.

the only reason for bringing Back GB is if you are going back to a GB v Australia Ashes.

Summer Rugby killed off international Rugby stone dead i'm afraid.

If people think the world club challenge is a "real" event they should have seen a touring Australian National side play against a club side. That was a game they cared about and did not want to lose at any cost...... If I could change the game in any way I would change our Winters to nice sunny days and play winter rugby and then have Autumn internationals that mean something.

so I'm afraid we are stuck with some Realy rank average home nations games.

The thing what seems to get me is when it comes to international RL, everyone seems to be obsessed with what the Australians and the New Zealanders are thinking.

England can lose to Wales or France - People will say "Oh the Aussies and the Kiwi's will be shaking in their boots after that".

England slap Wales for 80 or France for 60 - People will say "Oh, the Aussies and the Kiwi's will be shaking in their boots after that".

England (or previous GB incarnations) can never seem to win when it comes to international RL. As Biscuit said, what is the point of bringing GB back, it's still technically England. They only called it GB & Ireland in the past because Carney was in the side.

I really don't understand this fascination with the Oceania sides. England can beat the Australians, they just need to have the mentality to do it in key matches. They have already showed they can beat the Kiwi's now and again, who to be honest are no great shakes really. Who honestly cares what Australia and New Zealand think. Let them play each other in one off tests.

International RL has never been strong, and there can be one sided thrashings all the time, but that's only because there are 3 teams in the world in the top bracket, and the rest are underneath.

The same thing happens in Rugby Union and football, but yet no-one blinks an eye because there are more than 3 top teams in the highest bracket of each sport, yet because there are more teams to go around, there are far more one sided games in these sports. But, people only ever whine about one sided games in international RL.

But it's just the typical Rugby League fan mentality, whinge whinge whinge about everything in sight.

Excellent post, I'm glad you had the energy because I didn't.

Many RL 'fans' are great at identifying problems, but their only solutions tend to be that we should stop playing rugby at any level, at all. Sad, moaning s.

One of the nobheads above seems to be accusing the RFL of being unable to 'market' the game (an expression often used by people who know nothing about it) despite he/she already being of the view that everything is crap. Well, marketing something that even the supposed supporters of the product actively despise and run down is some task.

Incidentally, the World Cup is being 'marketed' extremely well if the amount of email traffic I'm getting and first-day sales are anything to go by.

The thing is, Marco-Van-B will complain about the RLWC up to the point that it is on, yet he will no doubt watch every single tournament match, no doubt just to complain about the one sidedness of the games in question.

Hence why RL doesn't need him as a fan. He is the epitome of the whiney Rugby League fan with an immense chip on their shoulder.

Exactly what I was thinking.

I've seen numerous stories on BBC Sport website about the upcoming World Cup, apparently over 50,000 tickets have already been sold and there are still 12 months left to go.

I know they're marketing it very well to the current RL fan but have you seen any advertisement outside the usual RL "circles"? Such as national/regional TV campaigns? It's hard for me to judge because I'm always in earshot of anything rugby league. Maybe it's a question for the non-RL fan which won't be answered on here unless anyone knows specific examples?

There was 10 minute feature on BBC Breakfast the other morning, with the world cup itself in the studio. I heard a piece about it being a year to go on 5Live on Friday too.

Pieces in the Guardian, BBC News, Independent, Daily Star etc, as well as the usual RL press.

Still - and to recycle a line I used on the VT - many RL fans will wilfully ignore all of this stuff, claim there's been 'no marketing' and start whining if Sam Tomkins doesn't come around to their house in person.

the main benefit of bringing GB back would be that there would be a bigger goal than england so may stop defecting therefore you would have the likes of Bridge, harrison, etc still playing for ireland. rhys evans, carvell? etc for wales. brough, ian henderson etc for scotland. therefor strengthening the home nations for world cups and giving us the lions tours again

IMO, the RFL need to make a definitive decision where their priorities are, re International RL.

We simply don't have the quality at Super League level, to REGULARLY compete with the Aussies and Kiwis. Our SL sides are using the rules (legitimately), by cramming their sides full of overseas players (residency, passports of convenience, natural quota etc).
so, do we
a) carry on regardless, and watch a lot of overseas talent, take up squad places which could be taken by young British talent. We'll have a great product to watch on telly and through the turnstiles, but Internationally, we'll just "keep on, keeping on"

or b) drastically reduce the number of overseas players (a set number, no catagories. This can be done by a player declaring his nationality when he first plays professional rugby, AND IT DOES NOT CHANGE). Fair enough, the quality of SL may dip for a few seasons (less "stars" coming over), but subsequently, we may not see potential youngsters (who could have made it big) getting disillusioned because an Aussie has taken his place, so the youngster goes to a worse club, thus his chances to shine are diminished.

With regards to GB, I'm sorry, but calling it GB doesn't wash, anymore. "Scotsmen", "Welshmen" and "Irishmen" will get their ego massaged by playing in a World Cup for their "country", get their bottoms handed to them in that World Cup, and then, want to play for England, (they all change their alliegancies .... Harrison, Evans, Bridge, anyone), because the majority of their original nation's side, is made up with players from the lower leagues. If Carvell is still Welsh (I honestly don't know), he's the only non Englishman who'd get anywhere near a GB jersey.

Yesterday, well I'm perplexed by these internationals.
SL finished 3 weeks ago, all of these players should be on a beach by now, having a well deserved break, after having their bodies battered since early February. RL has a busy 2013, and our players should be given chance to fully recover for that season, not stagnate for 3 weeks, and then play some games which we all know the outcome of. A nice long break would have been ideal.

Waiting to hear from Marco Van B regarding the England Knights v Scotland game in the Alitalia Cup this afternoon and wondering if the Aussies and Kiwi's were watching it and shaking in their boots.....

There has been radio adverts, and the trophy tour is well under way.

As for the original post, I have waxed lyrical all week so won't bore people any more. I will add though that last year Warrington beat Keighley Cougars and Swinton Lions 80-0 and 112-0 respectively. Both clubs went on to get promoted and have done themselves proud this year. Based on your logic, I presume you would have abolished both clubs and the Challenge Cup there and then?