Damn right, bring back GB.

Putting 'Wales' forward as a top 4 international side is just a symptom of the fantasy-land approach the RFL have to 'expansion'. At club level we have 10s of thousands of people in Halifax, Cumbria etc. who'd love to have a top flight team, but we seem to think ( or did until it blew up in our faces) that we had more to gain by dragging a few reluctant Welshmen to a new team.

The RFL seem incapable of building from a solid core of the strengths we have and more attracted to ridiculous leaps of fantasy - like a 'Wales' side.

It's no good lobbying these fools. They don't even know what strategy is. The #1 priority for all League fans should be to get Nigel Wood, etc. out. Until then we have no chance of seeing genuine progress. Sure, the odd thing here and there might work out (even idiots are right sometimes), but the game will stagnate.

Too true. I think we need to expand into areas of the North before we start trying to go into areas which don't care about RL.

If the game could pump loads of money into clubs like Halifax, Leigh, Featherstone, Barrow (especially)... then I'm pretty sure they could be really succesful. Pumping money into a club with no historical support in a football or RU based area is just daft.

Lets not also forget that while RU is very strong down south, it has almost nothing up North. Leeds Carnegie will ALWAYS be in the shadow of the Rhinos and Leeds United. Sale RU are really starting to struggle and get shocking crowds, RL has just strengthened in this area with the new Salford stadium. Newcastle are not exactly a big club and are causing no damage in that area, football is the game in Newcastle.

I would love to see some of those clubs I mentioned brought back to life, it is possible. The time is NOW though especially in Yorkshire which has not had a premierleague football team for quite some time now.... we need the young kids growing up to be supporting their local rugby team...

The International game is a whole different story. We would need to turn back time to 80 years ago and realise the importance of it. We needed people with the forsight to have our own national stadium. MAYBE in time England, NZ and Aus can have that kind of support shown at the RUWC.... but we will never see Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France etc. get that kind of support. RU is slowly growing internationally as well, Argentina will now join Aus, NZ and SA in the four nations, I bet their stadium will be full on matchdays. Japan has an ever growing RU game and I'm sure it will take off with the amount of money knocking around. RU has even taken of in the USA. We just can't compete when we have so little to build on.

I wish Aus and NZ would do more to grow our national game, I have no doubt that if they had made the effort the RFL has in trying to expand to other countries then it would have been succesful. PNG could be a huge force in RL, they just need the facilties and financial backing, the fans and player base is already around.

It is a shame we couldn't build on the days of Maurice, its only 15 years ago since we were getting huge crowds at Wembley and Old Trafford. I long for those days to return, I just don't know what the answer is. I would suggest a massive part of it is that we don't have our own National stadium, Tiwckers and the Millenium stadium must make so much money in the UK for RU. If only we had our own National stadium which was owned by the RFL in the North of England.

I believe RL could be a success in the north-east, but the RL side would have to align itself to the football team, along the lines of Barca with its different sports.

Agree with your criticism of the fans, they will make any old excuse about why they don't support the international game.

Your figures are slightly out though. The only test games to get 65k plus at Wembley were World Cup finals, and I don't think we ever got over 50k at OT, but there is a point in what you say.

People say bring back GB as though that will fix the issues, but fans had stopped attending internationals when we did still have GB in there.

I don't necessarily disagree by the way, just that I don't think it would actually make much difference.

Also, people shouldn't overlook the potential in Wales. In the last two World Cups held over here, Swansea and Cardiff have attracted some very good crowds, some of the biggest of the torunament.

But its also got worse since the end of GB.

Wales dont have any fans, Ireland dont, Scotland certainly dont (Ofcourse im exagerating) but they just dont have the fanbase.

The RFL shouldve promoted GB rather than disbanded it. Reverting back to GB needs to be a start.

I remember at the end of every season nipping into JJB sports to get the new GB shirt and looking forward to the upcoming tests. Im English with Irish family so for me GB was an extension of my support for the Rhinos.

Since GB disbanded I can honestly say International RL has lost its appeal massively!

That has been in correlation with the poor quality of the team though. The team has not competed properly since 2006 really.

And yet there is plenty of support for the rumoured Wigan connection to South Wales.

Correct.

Why dont they have a competition every year between the home 4 nations and France. As well as the tri nations with GB, NZ and OZ. Have games played as a double header in a decent stadium. The new Saints, HJ or Salford's new ground. Then have the top 2 face off and have it as a curtain raiser for the final of the tri nations.

Putting Wales in against the 3 top RL international sides is a recipe for disaster and will only lead to severe hammering for us. If the time comes (do not think i will ever though) that Wales or any of the other sides can give the top 3 sides a decent game then have them in the bigger comp. For some reason the RFL is adamant on seperating GB an Ireland sides. RFL is killing Internationl rugby and its not bothered about it i feel.

It's not just the demise of GB - which I would also bring back - but the nature of the competitions played.

There used to be a rhythm to International RL with tours, Ashes series etc, all happening to a regular timeframe. This has been replaced by a 4 nations which always includes at least 1 ludicrously uncompetitive team, and a World Cup which seems to happen when the authorities feel like it, rather than to a schedule.

At the same time, we've gone from big crowds at Wembley/major football stadiums, to using medium sized grounds (DW/KC etc) to now Leigh Sports Village.

While the alignment of the seasons in GB & Aus means tours are now impractical, bringing back the Ashes would be a step forward, as it actually [umeans[/u something.

It's a crying shame - International RL used to be good in the late 80's/90's.

You're right there. Union has come on leaps and bounds. Most of what they are implimenting is copied from RL, which is possibly at the the of it's evolutionary branch. RU is still evolving and we could at some point in the future see an amalgamation, with profesionals playing RL but calling it RU.