I'd quite happily give him a bat...

[size=59around his face[/size

Going to England is all about funding. Sport England won't fund a project for GB. RL is now the 3rd highest funded sport and by changing the brand its brought the money which funds grassroots work and elite pathways.

When Brough went to Scotland he was at York and possibly didnt think he would get as far as he did?

The key is working to build a structure where players are encouraged to play for Celtic nations as they will have the same opportunities as England. A long road, but the one we should be going down.

Now there's loads of cash in rugby union, I don't see Scotland, Wales or Ireland ever producing enough players to be able to perform to a level where they can give the Aussies a game. Not that England can, mind you.

Wales beat Australia in the Autumn at the Millenium Stadium!

I meant in rugby league. I should have been a bit clearer there! There's no longer the cash incentive to leave union for league.

Thats why the solution will take many years. But a proper fixture list would encourage the likes of Calderwood and Brough to stick with Scotland.

The swapping makes international look very fake indeed, which is damaging to the game.

Its a case of making a long term plan and going with it. RL just seems to do what will "look" the bast at the time the decision is made.

just after a WC is the time to push on, but can anyone tell me the fixture list for Ireland, Scotland and Wales for the next 12 months? No, and thats the issue

The internationals have never been a big part of Rugby League, unlike Union where it totally dominates the sport. It's always been largely a club based sport with internationals as the odd special occasion.

If it brings in cash from Sport England for grass roots RL, then it's worth having the four nations, but don't expect it to actually go anywhere meaningful.

the thing that made me laugh was Danny's last line "It's a no brainer..."

I'll resist the impulse to state the obvious

Sport England don't demand a four nations, but they do fund "England" projects hence GB cannot be part of that. We need to tap into Sport Scotland etc... for funding for the Celtic nations but given it is such a minority sport there and their pot is much smaller than Sport England that is a problem.

COULD BE WORSE!!

Scotland have mcormack in charge of their country lol.. At least we have a good manager in smith

Im sometimes amazed people think Smith is a great coach, he was rubbish at Huddersfield for years and regulary finished bottom of the league. He then somehow got the Leeds job who already had a very good team. He's now England coach and picks garbage like Ade Gardner etc to represent this country.

He wasn't "rubbish" at Huddersfield for years. Admittedly, he took over in the year they were finally relegated and was unable to prevent this. (They did show a marked improvement that year under him but there proved too much to do). He then went through their NL season unbeaten to take them straight back up. (Something SM was unable to do when we were relegated).

Huddersfield then produced a good first season back up. At Leeds he inherited a side of nearly men and turned them into the most succesful Leeds team in decades. Something people like Graham Murray, Dean Lance and even Doug Laughton had failed to do previously, despite the advantages in resources that Leeds have always had.

I agree with you that his tenure as England coach has been disappointing but I wouldn't denigrate his previous achievements.