Quote: northernbloke "Nad, take it yr not a fan of a touring GB team then. Not sure why its aging fans issue though'"
I posted the following on another forum the day the tour details were announced back in March. Sorry for repeating it all here, but it still stands. Hopefully answers your questions on my attitude to this tour.
So, a quick recap of what we already know...
We have a badge that says' Great Britain Rugby League', so no mention of Ireland whatsoever
The kit is being manufactured by Hummel, so likely wrapped up in the RFL deal for England kits and therefore little or no extra income or outreach generated by this 'iconic brand'
The tour sponsors are Dacia and Ronseal, both of whom are already RFL sponsors, so no new companies are being brought into the sport by this 'iconic brand'
Lots of social media surrounding the tour this morning, although all of it also includes the Oceania Cup, so the return of an 'iconic brand' for a 'historic tour' is sharing the limelight with a brand new tournament that will be running alongside and perhaps overshadowing it
All the above social media referred to GBRL, no mention of Ireland
All of the above social media included the @England_RL handle because there isn't one for GBRL
In it's announcement yesterday, the RFL started talking about the importance of the England team halfway through!
The RFL (note it's them and not a combination of the four NGBs) continually repeat the 'iconic jersey' refrain in every statement but are unable to show us this jersey even in a mock up form
Ireland and Scotland will be playing RLWC Qualifiers at the same time as this tour takes place, so either none of their players will be available for this tour or they will be in New Zealand while their teammates are playing games that actually count for something
Wales don't have any games planned, but realistically only have two players capable of making the squad (Knowles and Grace) neither of whom are likely to make the 17 - and there's a good chance the Dragons will be going into hibernation for the year
Ditto England - after 13 years building the brand, we've put them into a cupboard for 24 months so that some old timers can reminisce about the good old days (which weren't that good) when we beat Australia (not that often, and who we're not playing on this tour anyway) in a nice-looking jersey (yes, it is very nice looking - at least some of the old ones were, some certainly weren't, and we don't know what this one looks like), most of whom had a seizure when Withers and Fa'asavalu were selected in the past and will do likewise if they see some Scottish-Australians playing on this tour
We still don't know what flag will be flown or if GSTQ will be played - anyone else remember cringing with embarrassment watching Brian Carney being placed in such an awkward position?
In fact, we still don't really know the name of this touring team, and who they are supposed to represent. Not that that's a big deal or anything, for an international sporting event
We've left the whole thing so late that almost nobody - even those who've long supported the return of this 'iconic brand/badge/jersey' - will be able to go on this tour. That's despite knowing that it's been on the agenda for several years now.
And this 'iconic brand/badge/jersey' is so highly revered, by the way, that the team wearing it is being used as a warm up act in at least 1 of the 4 games it's playing!
And to cap it all, some genius has decided to host the main event - the triple header - on the same day as the RUWC final! In the only country in the whole world where RU is the national sport, and where that nation is almost certainly going to be playing in said final?
And that lot's just off the top of my head! As things stand, it's not off to a great start is it?
