bamfordsbeans

Unless a financial backer potentially willing to lose millions comes forward the UK and Australia are the only realistic options. OK we can tag on France and NZ for certain games,but unfortunately the game in those countries has not kicked on as we would have hoped. I find it very encouraging that the game is now played in over 50 countries(figures we could only have dreamed about 20 years ago) but if we are honest with ourselves not one of the new countries is even in a position to get a true semi-pro competition in place let alone a fulltime one.

Anybody else had any issues with deliveries?

About 20 years ago I recall Open Rugby as it was then, publishing combined attendances for SL and the union equivalent. From memory 8 of the top 10 were league clubs with only Leicester and 1 other from union.I haven't checked but I would imagine those numbers are now reversed.

Less reserve teams,less teams in Division 1,less amateur teams.There seems to be a common theme and their doesn't seem to be anybody out there who can do anything about it.

One other rule they forgot to mention. All SL clubs can now only sell Fosters and Castlemaine XXXX as their preferred lagers.

I believe this format is the best way to go. It is a statement of intent that we are not having to manufacture fixtures and we have a vibrant and emerging international game. The biggest issue overall is how the Aussies refuse to play certain years and have such a strong hand over countries like NZ,Tonga,Samoa etc. To have a gap of 3 years (and even 2020 isn't confirmed) when the 2 biggest countries in the game don't play each other is extremely harmful to all aspects of the game.

Got to be a good idea.In this day and age its the only way clubs like Widnes,Fev and Fax can play at Wembley. Realistically I believe this would add 10,000 onto the Final crowd and I haven't seen any other suggestions that would get anywhere near that. The only issue I have is how the extra fixtures can be fitted in.

Since the decline of the French national side we have waited about 40 years for a genuine 4th nation. Now that one has emerged (Tonga) we decide to scrap the 4 Nations.

It seems like England are getting shafted.Seems to be a lot of emphasis on the Oceanic Cup and upto England to try and engineer a meaningful European Championship, More Wednesday nights in Leigh then to transform us.

Listening to the Hawksby and Jacobs this afternoon on Talksport,Andy Jacobs came out with a statement that 2 of the major England teams were coached by Aussies. He was corrected by the chap in the studio they were interviewing (an Aussie) who said 3 because of RL.Jacobs then said he did not class League as a major sport like "rugby" and cricket. One could reply by saying that Talksport is not a major radio station and as 90% of its coverage is about soccer it is wrongly named. When their presenters have to talk about anything other than soccer (even then they struggle out of their comfort zone) they are clueless. Whilst I would argue about this statement till the cows come home, it shows how a full Anfield last Sunday would greatly help our cause.

Where do we stand at present with England/GB for next year? Are the Lions definitely touring and if so who are they playing? To not have this in place with less than 12 months to go is very damaging to the development of the game. Other sports are so well organised, for example the venue for the 2036 Ryder Cup has just been announced(18 years in advance and we can't even manage 12 months.) The late announcement and change of date for the present series is just another example of decisions that is costing the game money they can't afford. If the Aussies are coming over in 2020 they need to announce the dates and venues by the middle of next year.

If Rimmer has refused an interview,why not devote a page with the heading and leave the rest blank. That would start people talking.

BBC have not even got the team news on their website yet. Even the Halifax Courier have managed that.

Only one team from the stronghold of the game in the west?

The way things are going we are not far away from a two and a half hour game.Yesterdays final took two and a quarter hours and that was without any major injuries or too many video calls. We pride ourselves as a game on non stop action but the stoppages at times is farcical.The time taken for scrums yesterday was far too long and Hicks did nothing about it. At times the drink carriers were coming on that often I thought we were going to need a drinks break for them. As well as becoming less of a spectators attraction,it also has a knock on effect as players get more time to recover.One of the features of the game in the past was which team was the fittest.