38 replies to this topic

[Wellsy4HullFC]

http://www.dailytele...r-1226522351081

Anthony and Mark Minichiello, Aidan Guerra, Shaun Berrigan, Vic Mauro, Craig Gower, James Tedesco, Anthony Laffranchi, Cameron Ciraldo - and even Kade Snowden and Canberra's Terry Campese

1. Anthony Minichiello
2. James Tedesco
3.
4.
5.
6. Terry Campese
7. Craig Gower
8. Kade Snowden
9. Shaun Berrigan
10. Vic Mauro
11. Anthony Laffranchi
12. Aidan Guerra
13. Cameron Ciraldo

14. Mark Minichiello
15.
16.
17.

If they get a few decent backs then they will be a great bet for the semi finals! Wouldn't mind seeing them play.

That side would have put up a good challenge to England in this European series.

[Lesmets]

I think that team is the prime example of why International RL has problems with credibility ,I don't have any problem with all those guys turning out for Italy ,but that's has to be it they should be committed to Italy for there careers not Just a World Cup cos they arnt good enough for the Kangaroos just makes a mockery of the whole thing.

[Emosi Koloto]

I reckon England would beat that team by 40-50 points, Italy v Wales will be good though and i am pretty sure they are in the same group.

[Wiltshire Rhino]

I think that team is the prime example of why International RL has problems with credibility ,I don't have any problem with all those guys turning out for Italy ,but that's has to be it they should be committed to Italy for there careers not Just a World Cup cos they arnt good enough for the Kangaroos just makes a mockery of the whole thing.

Agreed.

Opening game of the World Cup - Wales vs Italy @ Millenium Stadium

Wales - a team of home grown players committed to their country.

Italy - a team of Aussies (with Italian heritage and not good enough to play for Oz) committed to "their" country for a few weeks.

If Wales played a team of Italians and won their support at the WC would increase. Wales will play a bunch of Aussies, will probably lose and could possibility lose an opportunity to further develop RL in Wales.

Edited by Wiltshire Rhino, 23 November 2012 - 08:32 AM.

[EastLondonMike]

Hopefully the Italians will show favour with the players that got them there.. this world cup was the perfect opportunity for the powers that be to sort out the elligibility mess.

[brooza]

I hope not.

I don't like this wheeling out of Aussies for the big matches

[ShotgunGold]

Italy beat Wales in Wales 6-13 a couple of years ago.

Fair enough it wasn't a full strength Welsh side BUT as far as I know Italy had no heritage players.

I really don't think Italy need heritage players. Plus it ruins credibility.

[terrywebbisgod]

If countries do play heritage players they should have to play an amount of qualifying games first.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

If countries do play heritage players they should have to play an amount of qualifying games first.

Wouldn't that rule out any up and coming players from that year? Completely unworkable.

[terrywebbisgod]

Wouldn't that rule out any up and coming players from that year? Completely unworkable.

do you have a solution that's workable?

[roughyedspud]

I think that team is the prime example of why International RL has problems with credibility ,I don't have any problem with all those guys turning out for Italy ,but that's has to be it they should be committed to Italy for there careers not Just a World Cup cos they arnt good enough for the Kangaroos just makes a mockery of the whole thing.

i came up with a idea,that i emailed to richard lewis..who replied saying it was a very good idea,..............that players..especially heritage players must play for their chosen country in the world cup qaulifiers,european/pacific cup games before being eligible for their chosen nation in 4nations or world cups.......

[Johnoco]

Is this the same team that beat Lebanon in the qualifiers? I suspect not.

Yeah, on one hand they have to play the strongest squad they can muster but surely the overall development of the game is more important, ie the domestic players will be ignored until the next low profile game comes along and the heritage players can't be bothered.

It just makes it look poor and totally bogus if all the interviewed players go 'awww mate, it was great' when he should be saying 'wassa matter you, hey' etc

Edited by Johnoco, 23 November 2012 - 11:44 AM.

[roughyedspud]

if anyone is wondering about kade snowden............his mum is italian...........we just have to forget he played for NSW & AUS in the past couple of years lol

[shrek]

Is this the same team that beat Lebanon in the qualifiers?

Teams are on the Rugby League Project

Edited by shrek, 23 November 2012 - 12:52 PM.

[gingerjon]

do you have a solution that's workable?

Ban players from transferring international allegiances.

[Dave T]

Ban players from transferring international allegiances.

In principle I agree with you, but I do wonder if there's a middle-ground solution here.

We need to acknowledge that we are a developing international sport and that we either accept that we have possibly an 8 team WC with 3 strong teams, or we embrace this kind of thing but in a more transparent way.

Isn't it cricket that have different grades for their international teams, for example I know some players have played for Ireland and England?

Without a full international structure we won;t get players to commit to the country of their ancestors for their whole career. Some would say that is a good thing, but then we have to accept that staging a competitive World Cup and other major tournaments is a good way off.

[DugSWRLgan]

A Joke simple as that

[Johnoco]

In principle I agree with you, but I do wonder if there's a middle-ground solution here.

We need to acknowledge that we are a developing international sport and that we either accept that we have possibly an 8 team WC with 3 strong teams, or we embrace this kind of thing but in a more transparent way.

Isn't it cricket that have different grades for their international teams, for example I know some players have played for Ireland and England?

Without a full international structure we won;t get players to commit to the country of their ancestors for their whole career. Some would say that is a good thing, but then we have to accept that staging a competitive World Cup and other major tournaments is a good way off.

Good point there. I don't want players jumping ship willy nilly but we do need to have a decent WC at the same time....not easy to get it right.

[keighley]

Agreed.

Opening game of the World Cup - Wales vs Italy @ Millenium Stadium

Wales - a team of home grown players committed to their country.

Italy - a team of Aussies (with Italian heritage and not good enough to play for Oz) committed to "their" country for a few weeks.

If Wales played a team of Italians and won their support at the WC would increase. Wales will play a bunch of Aussies, will probably lose and could possibility lose an opportunity to further develop RL in Wales.

1. Wales have had many many players who have been English or Australian but with some Welsh ancestry, Yestyn Harris, Anthony Sullivan, Lennon, Lee Briers and many others so we are being a little hypocritical here. I think the Italians will include some Italian based players. The Scots are exactly the same.

2. You are correct that Wales will probably have a hard time qualifying against that likely Italian team. It's a question of what you want. Do you want Wales to thrash a weak domestic based Italian lineup or do you want a competitive game against the Italians with their Aussie imports before a large crowd at the Welsh national stadium.

I think we need as many competitive games as possible. To do this at this stage of their development the Italians need heritage players. Even England are using them.

3. This Italian is not the second coming of the Kangaroos. As you say they are not good enough to be Kangaroos. It is up to the Welsh to raise their game to be able to beat them. After all they are at home with the crowd behind them.

Nothing is worse than huge blow out scores. For instance I think Ireland v Australia will be a cricket score. What good does that do for the game in Ireland?

I think the big three plus Italy,France, Wales, PNG, Fiji and maybe the other pacific nations will be competitive, leaving only Scotland, Ireland, USA as complete also rans. The Irish could also drastically improve if they use heritage Australian or English players and I am betting they will.

The Italian league is up and running and if it continues to progress will eventually produce domestic players. For now a good performance from the Italian team with heritage Australians will do more for the game in Italy than some 80 to 10 blowout because their domestic players are not yet up to scratch.

[Johnoco]

Fair point keighley, sounds reasonable. The problem comes when the time comes to actually stop relying on heritage players....there's always a major game to win where you could think, 'just this one more tournament'...

As for the Ireland game, I'm not sure a defeat will be as disastrous as you make out. Don't forget, these people support the RU team in big numbers against the All Blacks despite never ever beating them. I think the neutrals can just enjoy seeing class players like Thurston et al without declaring it pointless or a joke. I'm hoping to be at that game anyway.