Great Britain Tour Confirmed

[yanto]

3 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Seems very reasonable for the flights, someone once told me that if you are always travelling in the same direction i.e. clockwise or anticlockwise that is the most cost effective option, it also gives the opportunity for stopovers in the USA, I have never challenged it, have you any advise on this? 

What are the dates of your proposed itinerary and the stopovers?

I just came back from Aussie last week.I have been there four times in the last three years and never went via the USA.Looking at Skyscanner going via the states is difficult to co ordinate. I usually fly China Southern via Beijing /Gaungzhou.This time I have decided to take a faster route via Dubai and with using Quantas for all flights (or Emirates which are  part of the same group) it keeps the cost down.

 

Planning  is in the early stages but this looks like what I am thinking .

19th October fly  Amsterdam to Sydney arriving the night of 20th  via Dubai.

Overnight in Sydney at the Ibis budget hotel near the airport.

Monday 21st head on down to Robertson in the Southern Highlands for 10 days holiday taking in the Aussie v Kiwi game at Woollongong on the 25th.Which is a twenty minute drive down the escarpment.

Thursday 31st Sydney to Auckland arriving mid afternoon.

Saturday 2nd Eden Park for the Kiwi v England game / triple header

Stay around Auckland then fly to Christchurch on Friday the 8th for the second Kiwi game. and Fiji v PNG

Friday 15th November fly Christchurch to Port Moresby for the game on 16th .

Monday 18th fly home to Amsterdam from Port Moresby via Brisbane and Dubai.

As I said I am lucky to have mates in three out of the four venues so accomodation is no problem.For this reason I will not take in the Hamilton game v Tonga but have some sun in Australia 

Looking at hotels in PNG, they are quite expensive for three nights.Plus reading up about Port Moresby it seems like its the type of city to get out of as soon as possible.

But with 2,000 Lion fans  it should be safe enough in a pack 

 

[tuutaisrambo]

9 minutes ago, RP London said:

Its not just a typo... look at the branding all over the releases, the photos of Tom/George Burgess, the only badge is "Great Britain Rugby League".. the only person who says "Great Britain and Ireland" is the Chief of the RLI all the other head honchos just said "Great Britain".. the main sponsors badge (if i were Dacia I would go ape over it) says "Great Britain Tour" on it.. 

As I said its a dogs breakfast of a job... 

all these people should understand the delicacies around the situation in Ireland they are all old enough to remember the 1970s and 80s and some before that.. it may seem like a minor thing to many on this side of the Irish Sea but it really isnt on the other and we should be more sensitive to that and more careful. If we want their buy in we have to accept this.. 

If we dont then fine call it GB but leave the Irish out of it, I dont mind doing that either I really dont just dont do a botch job like they are doing now.. 

I'm well aware.......my wife is from Lisburn

But lets not get too carried away with how offended the Irish will be.........most of them don't even know what Rugby League is.

You are quite correct though it isn't a very professional communication from the RFL and it should be GB & Ireland consistently across the board.   

[RP London]

7 minutes ago, tuutaisrambo said:

I'm well aware.......my wife is from Lisburn

But lets not get too carried away with how offended the Irish will be.........most of them don't even know what Rugby League is.

You are quite correct though it isn't a very professional communication from the RFL and it should be GB & Ireland consistently across the board.   

on the second line.. i do understand what you are saying but equally any that do get interested because of this tour we dont want put off when they see how badly we have branded it or worded it.. 

equally if we were branding it as GB&I Lions we have a chance of accidental "Rugby Fans" who dont really know what is going on and that it isnt union, tune in and enjoy.. because it also represents them.

its not just the insult to the irish but the lost opportunity of potential audience, it could be the thing that kick starts it for them so for the sake of a word here and there and a tweak to badges and branding (navy blue/black with the gold logo would have worked rather than red and blue for example, on the official header) we are missing an opportunity.. to the rest of us it doesnt matter and they will still be colloquially GB and i really couldn't care less about that and will probably do it myself (just not round the wife and kids!) but officially one word could make a lot of difference on all sorts of levels.

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

9 minutes ago, yanto said:

I just came back from Aussie last week.I have been there four times in the last three years and never went via the USA.Looking at Skyscanner going via the states is difficult to co ordinate. I usually fly China Southern via Beijing /Gaungzhou.This time I have decided to take a faster route via Dubai and with using Quantas for all flights (or Emirates which are  part of the same group) it keeps the cost down.

 

Planning  is in the early stages but this looks like what I am thinking .

19th October fly  Amsterdam to Sydney arriving the night of 20th  via Dubai.

Overnight in Sydney at the Ibis budget hotel near the airport.

Monday 21st head on down to Robertson in the Southern Highlands for 10 days holiday taking in the Aussie v Kiwi game at Woollongong on the 25th.Which is a twenty minute drive down the escarpment.

Thursday 31st Sydney to Auckland arriving mid afternoon.

Saturday 2nd Eden Park for the Kiwi v England game / triple header

Stay around Auckland then fly to Christchurch on Friday the 8th for the second Kiwi game. and Fiji v PNG

Friday 15th November fly Christchurch to Port Moresby for the game on 16th .

Monday 18th fly home to Amsterdam from Port Moresby via Brisbane and Dubai.

As I said I am lucky to have mates in three out of the four venues so accomodation is no problem.For this reason I will not take in the Hamilton game v Tonga but have some sun in Australia 

Looking at hotels in PNG, they are quite expensive for three nights.Plus reading up about Port Moresby it seems like its the type of city to get out of as soon as possible.

But with 2,000 Lion fans  it should be safe enough in a pack 

 

Sounds like a hell of a trip, I'm well jealous. Hope you enjoy it immensely. 

[yanto]

Well to be fair its being branded  as Great Britain Rugby League Lions Tour.

Since the Irish will be playing World Cup qualifiers at the same time the problem of leaving  Ireland out of the title /badge/anthem will not arise as all their players will be in Italy or Spain. 

It is Great Britain Rugby League Lions with no Irishmen in the squad so why the mass hysteria 

[RP London]

4 minutes ago, yanto said:

Well to be fair its being branded  as Great Britain Rugby League Lions Tour.

Since the Irish will be playing World Cup qualifiers at the same time the problem of leaving  Ireland out of the title /badge/anthem will not arise as all their players will be in Italy or Spain. 

It is Great Britain Rugby League Lions with no Irishmen in the squad so why the mass histeria 

Ok so why do they get the RLI chief to praise it and look forward to the GB&I tour.. 

Leave Ireland out of it and call it GB that is 100% fine.. 

but dont then call it GB and claim the Irish have some sort of involvement and wheel out the RLI chief to justify the Irish role in the "team"

They are the issues... it either is or it isnt GB&I... make your mind up RFL et al but once you do stick with it and brand it consistently so as not to alienate part of your target audience through sheer laziness/stupidity/ignorance.

That is my position in a nutshell

 

[yanto]

1 hour ago, RP London said:

Ok so why do they get the RLI chief to praise it and look forward to the GB&I tour.. 

Leave Ireland out of it and call it GB that is 100% fine.. 

but dont then call it GB and claim the Irish have some sort of involvement and wheel out the RLI chief to justify the Irish role in the "team"

They are the issues... it either is or it isnt GB&I... make your mind up RFL et al but once you do stick with it and brand it consistently so as not to alienate part of your target audience through sheer laziness/stupidity/ignorance.

That is my position in a nutshell

 

Well for one Im sure I read somewhere the RLI chief is a new guy....and no one else has mentioned Ireland as its not been branded GB & I .

As Ireland are playing world cup games at the same time MAYBE the  Irish guy has got it wrong ???

Just think .......he RFL knew  the Irish players were tied up during October/November and therefore not available for selection, so they decided to go with the "Great Britain Lions".

Then the new Irish chief didnt realise this and called it Great Britain  & Ireland by mistake.

No off course this could never be the reason as only the RFL f***ck up all the time.

I will say again a lot of hysteria over someone's error and as its never been called GB & I in ANY media I have seen ,apart from the Irish chiefs quote, who is to say he didnt make a genuine mistake ??

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Why would the Irish guy be commenting on the return of GB at all if it had nothing to do with Ireland?? 

[deluded pom?]

2 hours ago, yanto said:

But with 2,000 Lion fans  it should be safe enough in a pack 

The pack will be a lot smaller than that by the time you hit Port Moresby IMO.

[BringbackGB]

The return of GB is the best sporting news in years.  Fantastic that it was the lead sports item on BBC Radio 2 news bulletin on Tuesday afternoon.  Nothing like the atmosphere at a GB Lions game.  C'mon RFL please lets have a home Ashes series for the Lions in the future.  The the return of GB isn't detrimental to the individual Home Nations; it gives those players fortunate enough to be representing their countries the chance to aspire to the ultimate representative honour.  When they're wearing that iconic jersey they represent us wherever we live in the UK and Ireland.
     

[Keith989]

36 minutes ago, BringbackGB said:

The return of GB is the best sporting news in years.  Fantastic that it was the lead sports item on BBC Radio 2 news bulletin on Tuesday afternoon.  Nothing like the atmosphere at a GB Lions game.  C'mon RFL please lets have a home Ashes series for the Lions in the future.  The the return of GB isn't detrimental to the individual Home Nations; it gives those players fortunate enough to be representing their countries the chance to aspire to the ultimate representative honour.  When they're wearing that iconic jersey they represent us wherever we live in the UK and Ireland.
     

It doesn't represent Ireland at all though does it. Sticking a token shamrock on the badge and expecting people here to support this team is really quite arrogant, I just can't get my head around how some on here think this is a good thing. Comparing this the union Lions is laughable to say the least.

[Southerner80]

43 minutes ago, BringbackGB said:

The return of GB is the best sporting news in years.  Fantastic that it was the lead sports item on BBC Radio 2 news bulletin on Tuesday afternoon.  Nothing like the atmosphere at a GB Lions game.  C'mon RFL please lets have a home Ashes series for the Lions in the future.  The the return of GB isn't detrimental to the individual Home Nations; it gives those players fortunate enough to be representing their countries the chance to aspire to the ultimate representative honour.  When they're wearing that iconic jersey they represent us wherever we live in the UK and Ireland.
     

The problem GB has today is without the stream of Union converts that were a big part of the Lions pre 1995, there is not really many or any non English players who would make the 17. Hence its not what it was in the past. 

I wish this wasn't the case however while the likes of Grace, Knowles and Flowers are good SL players they aren't quite up to The standard of the best English players.

However I would not be against picking 2 of em and giving them a game v PNG as long as the squad is a decent size say 26.

Further, 2 heritage Players is not terrible either, Hastings may well make a good case for himself here. 

All this  being said, if the shirt gets the general public watching, it will be great for RL in the UK. 

[Oliver Clothesoff]

I’d be more open to Welsh, Irish and Scottish players being selected if, like what they have in Union, we were playing a lot more games over a select period and had things like midweek games but given we don’t, I want the side to be selected of ability and form first and foremost and nationality the very last. So if that means we don’t have a Welsh born player or someone who played for Ireland in the last World Cup, so be it. 

Would love to see us host a Tour as GB and to have a bigger calendar so that we could potentially take a game to Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Would be great to have more games (so a bigger squad) and see GB v France in say Cardiff or Belfast or even one of the big tests against Australia or New Zealand. 

[17 stone giant]

7 hours ago, roughyedspud said:

All the more reason to bin it until we can select a legitimate GB team...

As I've said before I live for the day when we can pick a proper GB team.....cos it means the home nations are where they need to be.. 

When were the home nations ever where we needed/wanted them to be? Unless I'm mistaken - and people please correct me if I'm wrong - rugby league has never been well established in Scotland, Wales, or Ireland. All that was happening was that players who were brought up playing rugby union (e.g. Johnathan Davies, Scott Gibbs), would switch to rugby league for financial reasons. In other words, they weren't a product of Welsh rugby league, in the same way that Jason Robinson wasn't a product of English rugby union.

The point is that by having a Great Britain team, you then have a team (that plays big matches in front of big crowds) for Welsh and Scottish kids to aspire to play for, as well as offering established Welsh and Scottish rugby union internationals the opportunity to switch to rugby league and still play some big international matches.

[17 stone giant]

14 hours ago, roughyedspud said:

Also..Wales,Scotland and Ireland have played more RL internationals in recent history than Australia and the pacific island nations...so to say the are non-entities and hardly play...is just effing ignorant..

Yes, rubbish matches that nobody cares about. I watched Scotland v Wales on Our League at there was hardly anyone there. Besides, far from me being anti those teams, one of the reasons I believe GB should be brought back is to help those nations.

For example, as I said elsewhere, I would play GB v Australia for The Ashes next year, and one test would be in Cardiff at the Principality Stadium. It would be a double header with Wales v France or Scotland played immediately before GB v Aus. The Wales team would effectively be piggy backing on GB so that they could play at a major stadium with hopefully more fans than they would ever get playing independently. The message to Welsh youngsters would be that if they want to play rugby league, there will be a Wales team and a Great Britain team to aim for. For players already in the Wales team, they would have the carrot of a GB shirt if they managed to progress. At the moment there is a glass ceiling where they can't go any higher than playing for Wales in mostly small stadiums and in front of very few fans. No wonder the best ones start looking enviously at rugby union and what that can offer them in terms of international matches.

[welshmagpie]

I’ve just noticed that on the same day as GB vs Tonga, Scotland and Ireland are also playing.

What a joke. 

[Gorbals]

23 hours ago, roughyedspud said:

We don't have to pay that $20k..the ARLC pays it..how the Aussie's split up their cut of the tour revenue is down to them....plus let's not forget the Aussie game just announced a record $40m plus profit..

Also test matches are far more profitable here so don't worry,we will be hosting a proper 3 test series in 2020

Is that how it works? Surely the players are guaranteed their fee before any profits are divvied out?

Even so, if they're getting $20k x 3 and there's 20 players, that's only about £600k ($=£0.53). Maybe about £1m including all staff and all costs???

150k tickets at £25 a head average would generate £3.75m, less the costs of hiring stadiums etc. Then there's TV and a little bit of merchandise

Seems too easy I'm probably missing stuff out!

[RP London]

5 hours ago, yanto said:

Well for one Im sure I read somewhere the RLI chief is a new guy....and no one else has mentioned Ireland as its not been branded GB & I .

As Ireland are playing world cup games at the same time MAYBE the  Irish guy has got it wrong ???

Just think .......he RFL knew  the Irish players were tied up during October/November and therefore not available for selection, so they decided to go with the "Great Britain Lions".

Then the new Irish chief didnt realise this and called it Great Britain  & Ireland by mistake.

No off course this could never be the reason as only the RFL f***ck up all the time.

I will say again a lot of hysteria over someone's error and as its never been called GB & I in ANY media I have seen ,apart from the Irish chiefs quote, who is to say he didnt make a genuine mistake ??

I'd be happy to be told it was a mistake by the RLI chairman.. at the moment though I've got to say I doubt it.. no one has announced that this time Irish players are not eligible (as it is the lions are back.. one would assume it is the same as before which includes the irish). Everyone is saying "the home nations" Ireland is normally covered in that description in pretty much every other sport. For the RLI chairman  to be quoted on the official release on the rugby-league site talking about a return and involving Ireland I'm gonna say all evidence is pointing away from what you suggest. You talk of Ireland having matches.. so do Scotland but they are involved...

As I have said before on other threads I don't see the point of bagging the rfl when it isn't their fault but I think this one is at their door... if I am proven wrong I would happily accept that too, but so far I find that unlikely. (Even on these two threads I start by assuming it's a slip of the tongue by rimmer but then with all the branding see that it is not just that) 

I would, as previously stated, happily have gb and it not involve Ireland and just called gb.. doesn't bother me at all it's the utter ineptitude.. 

Your excuses just don't add up as far as I can see. 

[roughyedspud]

4 hours ago, Gorbals said:

Is that how it works? Surely the players are guaranteed their fee before any profits are divvied out?

Even so, if they're getting $20k x 3 and there's 20 players, that's only about £600k ($=£0.53). Maybe about £1m including all staff and all costs???

150k tickets at £25 a head average would generate £3.75m, less the costs of hiring stadiums etc. Then there's TV and a little bit of merchandise

Seems too easy I'm probably missing stuff out!

It'll be agreed beforehand between the RFL & ARLC what the split will be of the profits..50/50,60/40...whatever..and out of the ARLC split they pay their players..

Quite simple really..

On a side note.....the reason the Aussie's & kiwis used to play dozens of tour games is cos they used to get a cut of the gate...in the book "kangaroos,kiwis & roughyeds" there a copy of a receipt from a oldham v NZ game in 1955..it's shows the gate money was just under £1600,that would have bought you a house back then, and I imagine the kiwis go half of that £1600.. times that by a dozen tour games...that's where they made their money...even recently..in 2015 NZ opted to play Leeds in a warm up to the series with England because it paid better than playing Wales,Scotland etc..

It's all about money..

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

9 hours ago, Gorbals said:

Is that how it works? Surely the players are guaranteed their fee before any profits are divvied out?

Even so, if they're getting $20k x 3 and there's 20 players, that's only about £600k ($=£0.53). Maybe about £1m including all staff and all costs???

150k tickets at £25 a head average would generate £3.75m, less the costs of hiring stadiums etc. Then there's TV and a little bit of merchandise

Seems too easy I'm probably missing stuff out!

Do you really think we will average 50,000 a game. At last year’s test series against New Zealand we got KC Hull 17,649, Anfield 26,234 and Elland Road 32,186. 

Your £1m estimate is probably fair for Australia’s costs, we then have to pay the England players match fees and other costs.

If we are going for big attendance figures it would need to be 3 large football grounds, they are not cheap to rent. 

[RP London]

13 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Why would the Irish guy be commenting on the return of GB at all if it had nothing to do with Ireland?? 

on the RFL official Rugby-league article too.... 

[RP London]

10 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Yes, rubbish matches that nobody cares about. I watched Scotland v Wales on Our League at there was hardly anyone there. Besides, far from me being anti those teams, one of the reasons I believe GB should be brought back is to help those nations.

For example, as I said elsewhere, I would play GB v Australia for The Ashes next year, and one test would be in Cardiff at the Principality Stadium. It would be a double header with Wales v France or Scotland played immediately before GB v Aus. The Wales team would effectively be piggy backing on GB so that they could play at a major stadium with hopefully more fans than they would ever get playing independently. The message to Welsh youngsters would be that if they want to play rugby league, there will be a Wales team and a Great Britain team to aim for. For players already in the Wales team, they would have the carrot of a GB shirt if they managed to progress. At the moment there is a glass ceiling where they can't go any higher than playing for Wales in mostly small stadiums and in front of very few fans. No wonder the best ones start looking enviously at rugby union and what that can offer them in terms of international matches.

But that did used to happen (not the game in cardiff granted) but a european cup was played while GB were playing either in the UK or Touring, we then split for the world cup... the Welsh development has come on leaps and bounds since GB wasnt the main team.. by all means keep it for a one off tour every 4 years or so but we cannot muddle this up into the mess it was before. 

[yanto]

12 hours ago, deluded pom? said:

The pack will be a lot smaller than that by the time you hit Port Moresby IMO.

Maybe there will be a lot less before the tour  even hits Hamilton going my the enthusiasm shown by RL fans on this messsage board .

After crying out for years for more International fixtures and for the Aussies to do more to assist the PI development ,2019 is seeing just that and yet the majority of the posters on here are still not happy.

October / November 2019 Fiji,Tonga,Samoa,PNG,New Zealand,Australia,Great Britain,Scotland,Ireland,Italy,Spain,Russia and either Norway or Greece will all be playing in organised competitions or tour games.

Ten years ago who would have thought it !!!

But no, the main discussion is about the branding ,badge,legitimacy of the GB team and why no Aussie game.

Gotta love it

The only shirt I can find with a Great Britain and Ireland logo on it (in modern times) is the 1999/2000  Patrick shirt . Every other shirt has "British Isles XIII" under the four nations crests.

According to wiki (ok not 100%) the "Ireland" was dropped from the name in 2004 when Brian Noble was in charge and  the side reverted to Great Britain.This despite Brian Carney being in the team !!!

So again maybe the Irish cheif made an honest mistake in calling it Great Britain and Ireland  because that is the ONLY time I have seen it referred to as such.

 

 

 

[yanto]

15 hours ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Sounds like a hell of a trip, I'm well jealous. Hope you enjoy it immensely. 

Mitch and Peter Gorley have been in touch saying they fancy it .Could be at least three West Cumbrians shouting for the Great Britain Lions

[nadera78]

I've just seen a clip of Brian Carney correcting a Sky Sports presenter on the name of this team, and about Irish sovereignty. I suppose he's got it wrong as well, has he?

This whole thing's beyond a joke, either Ireland are included in this team or they're not. If I was the RLI I'd issue a statement saying they're having nothing to do with "Great Britain Rugby League" and any player who takes part won't be picked by them again in the future. Bet they haven't got the balls to do it though.