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damp squib

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damp squib last won the day on November 9 2019

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  1. Fan of Catalans and Toulouse but more of an overall fan of the game since 2012 when I accidentally watched a challenge cup semi final on TV. First live game was watching Ireland get destroyed 50-0 by Australia in the 2013 RLWC in the ####### rain in a Limerick stadium that ran out of beer at half time.
  2. Whatever the attendance was the stadium looks so much better on TV than Ealing Trailfinders.
  3. Quote from Matty Johns in the article: “Let’s imagine the Roosters are faced with a scenario where they allow Joey Manu to go to French rugby or we let him go and have a stint at Castleford. That’s the opportunity for players to really optimise their income while they’re in the game.” This feels like a sarcastic joke at Castleford's expense.
  4. My wife is Lebanese and I'm Irish so I can make an attempt at explaining the differences as I understand them. Lebanon and Ireland are the two perfect examples of why there is no one size fits all solution to the problem of heritage players in international rugby league. The Lebanese diaspora in Australia are far more "fresh off the boat" than the Irish diaspora in the North of England which ceased to be a significant destination for Irish emigrants decades ago. This means that in general the links are far stronger and more meaningful between Lebanese and Lebanese-Australians than for Irish and British-Irish. Lebanese people tend to see their diaspora as more "authentic" than the Irish people. I also got this impression from the media output of both sets of players during the last two world cups - the Aussie-Lebanese players would talk about their parents hometown in Lebanon whereas the British-Irish players media content was far more superficial (players drinking Guinness, Micky McIllorum posting the Ivory Coast flag etc.) I'm far from an expert on Rugby League in either Ireland or Lebanon but having followed both for years I would say that overall domestic Rugby League in Lebanon has mostly benefited from the heritage involvement whereas in Ireland I think it's been hugely detrimental to the development of the sport here.
  5. Each individual will be different but in my experience the connections are far weaker than they were a generation ago. It wasn't uncommon for people to be born and live there whole lives in England and yet identify exclusively as Irish e.g. Jack Grealish's dad. That's far less common with the younger generation e.g. Jack Grealish. IMO the end of the troubles made being Irish in England a much less unpleasant experience which made it easier for people of Irish descent to fully accept an English identity. There's also very little Irish emigration to the north of England any more so maintain the connection. It also means the heritage player pool will run dry pretty soon I imagine
  6. That's interesting. I remember a few years ago Richard Egan (I think) announced a new policy that guaranteed a significant minimum quota of domestic players in international squads. Liam Finn (I think) and a few other heritage players and staff publicly criticized the policy and it was immediately dropped and never mentioned again. It convinced me that the Ireland based staff were token figureheads and that the the Ireland national team was being run from England for the benefit of heritage players and staff. I completely agree that this situation is actively harmful to the development of rugby league both in Ireland and elsewhere, as we potentially take tournament places away from countries where genuine development is happening. I feel no connection to the Irish national team in rugby league and haven't for years.
  7. Out of interest wast the person you spoke to Irish? From the outside it has always seemed to me that RLI is almost entirely run by people from the north of England with a few token Irish without any real power.
  8. I can see why you would think that but it is more complicated than that. In my experience the degree to which a person is genuinely connected to their heritage generally correlates to how well the population of that heritage has integrated into the new country, or, to put it more bluntly, how much discrimination they experience in the new country because of their heritage. I see a noticeable difference between people of Irish heritage born and raised in Britain up to around the 70s and early 80s and how their relationship to Britain was affected by discrimination to the point where they solely or primarily identified as Irish, compared to the next generation who are primarily British-identifying and have a more superficial relationship to their Irish heritage. People of Tongan heritage in Australia are no doubt raised with constant reminders of their “Tonganess” by Australian society in a way that people with Scottish heritage don’t experience in England. That creates a much stronger and more genuine connection for better or worse.
  9. I'd be very curious to see how many Australians qualify for Ireland. The Irish RL set up is very England focused and I can't help but think we must be missing out on some gems down under. It's hard to believe that Luke Keary only pulled out of the 2017 WC squad at the last minute. If Ireland are planning to stick with the heritage route they should really be looking at emigration trends for the last 20 years. That points to Australia, not the North of England.
  10. This is the only way to determine true eligibility. We need all nations to declare war on each other and see who the players fight for. Blake Austin needs to form a British Expeditionary Force to take NSW by sea or he's cut. If Micky McIlorum hasn't joined an IRA active service unit within 24hrs he never gets to pull on a green jersey again.
  11. I have to admit I had my doubts about whether Bateman would make it in the NRL but I've been well and truly proved wrong. I really hope English backs start to have similar success soon...
  12. Is the night visit set in stone? I think I remember reading that one of the conditions of the 3-day visa free thing is that you need to book an "official tour" (which is maybe what your hermitage tour is) but apparently you don't actually have to go on it. If so you could skip it and go on your own during the day and free up the one night for a show in the Mariinsky Theatre. I could be wrong on that but it might be worth looking into. I'd also recommend doing the sightseeing boat tour rather than an open top bus tour if you were planning that. You see all the major sights and the canals are beautiful.
  13. That was a huge thing for me for years and as a result I convinced myself that I only enjoyed technically excellent classical art as at least I understood that "it looks like the thing it's supposed to look like"! I'm almost the opposite now in that I find a lot of the typical big landscapes/renaissance religious scenes boring in spite of their technical brilliance and I prefer more modern stuff that makes me think a bit or is aesthetically pleasing in an abstract way.
  14. I went two years ago for my honeymoon. I'd recommend planning before hand what you'd like to see as it's too big to visit everything. Most importantly - BOOK ONLINE! There are always massive queues at the ticket booths but we had our printout and went straight through a side door. I couldn't believe it. How late is the night visit? I highly recommend Yat nearby on the canal for dinner. Try their home-made Kvass and the Schchi soup. Mains are hefty. Are you doing the three day visa-free cruise thing?
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