Bring back the Clashes for the Ashes?

[John Drake]

2012 is the year the Olympics come to London, but ANTHONY REYNOLDS argues it is also the perfect opportunity to revive another great sporting event: Rugby League

[boxhead]

I would love to see it but I doubt Australians are that motivated by the idea.

[Simon Hall]

For me, seeing Great Britain win the Ashes in a 3 match series against Australia would be right up there with anything. I'd much rather have that than England win a tri-nations or World Cup for example.

[tag]

the ashes must come back,they also need to be on terrestrial tv!give the whole nation a chance to see some great games and not just people with sky tv!

[boxhead]

For me, seeing Great Britain win the Ashes in a 3 match series against Australia would be right up there with anything. I'd much rather have that than England win a tri-nations or World Cup for example.

Thats the problem though, the chances of Great Britain winning two from three has not happened in a very long time and that was with arguably far more competitive teams than now.

Australians expect to beat England/GB and do not see such a series as a yardstick, England/GB has to do far better in this years 4 Nations and position themselves as challengers to attract the interest.

Great Britain beating Oz is seen as the second coming of Christ, its rated far less in the reverse by Australians.

[no13benny]

^ Far better than reaching the final? So that would be, slightly better, and winning it?

[roughyedspud]

why have 17 englishman playing as GB when we could be playing as england..?

GB should only return when the side reflects and represents Great Britain...ie with england,scots and welsh players playing for the team...

also australia does'nt want to play anyone post 2012 season....

the RFL & NZRL have already put the feelers out about playing a series against each other in 2012..either in england or down in NZ...

[tonyXIII]

This needs a lot more thought than just a few dozen posters on a fans forum. If we just reintroduce the Ashes, it will bomb due to a lack of interest. As a properly scheduled international competition, with the Australians fully behind it, and huge promotion and on terrestrial TV, it could work. It would fit in the calendar quite well - year 1, World Cup; year 2, 4 Nations; year 3, Ashes; year 4, 4 Nations. (or similar)

At 57, I have never seen us win a series against the Aussies (I didn't turn on and tune in to RL until 1976). I would love to see it happen. I don't suppose I will.

[Wendall]

why have 17 englishman playing as GB when we could be playing as england..?

GB should only return when the side reflects and represents Great Britain...ie with england,scots and welsh players playing for the team...

also australia does'nt want to play anyone post 2012 season....

the RFL & NZRL have already put the feelers out about playing a series against each other in 2012..either in england or down in NZ...

It doesn't matter it should be the best 17 players in the British Isles.

[clement]

2012 is the year the Olympics come to London, but ANTHONY REYNOLDS argues it is also the perfect opportunity to revive another great sporting event: Rugby League’s Ashes series.

Read the full article on the RLW Blog

First published in Rugby League World Issue 353 (Sept 2010)

Now tell us what you think! Do you want to see an Ashes revival in 2012? What are your favourite memories of previous encounters? Email feedback@rugbyleagueworld.net with your views and we’ll publish a selection of the best in the next issue.

There's only Rugby League daft enough to do away with them in the first place.Of course they should be brought back.

[Wendall]

There's only Rugby League daft enough to do away with them in the first place.Of course they should be brought back.

Exactly.

As if Union would scrap its 4 yearly Lions Tours!!!!

Union now has a successful cycle of World Cup's and British Lions Tours that keep interest high along with the annual 6 Nations and Tri Nations.

In RL all we have in representative terms is State Of Origin, 4 Nations and thrown in one off Tests and a World Cup played at irregular intervals. We need something else and the Ashes is something that RU don't have.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Wendall

[hunsletgiant]

It doesn't matter it should be the best 17 players in the British Isles.

Like who? I cant think of a non-english player good enough to play for GB

[Richard de la Riviere]

Like who? I cant think of a non-english player good enough to play for GB

They might be soon. If he gets a regular run, who's to say Elliot Kear couldn't get up to that standard quickly?

If GB hadn't been scrapped, we wouldn't have had the PR own goals of Danny Brough, Chris Bridge, Ban Harrison, Garreth Carvell and a few others turning their backs on the Celtic nations in order to make themselves available for England. Scotland, Ireland and Wales have been weakened by GB being scrapped.

GB should be the top tier of the international game with regular annual European Cup tournaments involving England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and anyone else deemed good enough happening at the same time.

[Wendall]

Like who? I cant think of a non-english player good enough to play for GB

Patrick Richards.

[deluded pom?]

As a properly scheduled international competition, with the Australians fully behind it, and huge promotion and on terrestrial TV, it could work. It would fit in the calendar quite well - year 1, World Cup; year 2, 4 Nations; year 3, Ashes; year 4, 4 Nations. (or similar)

Sorry tony I know it's only a rough guide but to sandwich the Ashes series in the middle of two 4Ns is overkill. Familiarity breeds contempt and that for me is one of the contributing factors to why we seldom sell out even 25,000 seater stadia when we play the Aussies. Since 2000 we must have played Australia virtually every season (without checking the records). Gone are the days when the Aussies would only appear on British grounds once every four years and vice versa for GB on Australian soil. The Aussies are just too well known to British RL fans and the air of anticipation I used to have about seeing players I'd only ever seen on TV before has disappeared.

[roughyedspud]

Patrick Richards.

pat richard is "irish" and the RLi want nothing to do with GB...the RLi want to go it alone and rightly so..

so again...whats the point of 17 englishmen playing as GB when they can play as england

Edited August 20, 2010 by roughyedspud

[tonyXIII]

Sorry tony I know it's only a rough guide but to sandwich the Ashes series in the middle of two 4Ns is overkill. Familiarity breeds contempt and that for me is one of the contributing factors to why we seldom sell out even 25,000 seater stadia when we play the Aussies. Since 2000 we must have played Australia virtually every season (without checking the records). Gone are the days when the Aussies would only appear on British grounds once every four years and vice versa for GB on Australian soil. The Aussies are just too well known to British RL fans and the air of anticipation I used to have about seeing players I'd only ever seen on TV before has disappeared.

Point taken, but union play them every year now, don't they? Sell-out crowds at Twickers for the autumn games against Oz, NZ, SA plus the spring games against 5 european nations.

Furthermore, the World Cup is surely a moveable feast (alternating between northern and southern hemispheres) and one of the 4N series is down under, so it's not as if the Aussies would play here every year.

Moreover, one of the arguments for how GB can improve is to play Oz more often.

So, play them every year and try to catch up or keep it as a rare treat? (I know GB isn't England, but in effect, the difference is in name only)

[FlattenedbyWard]

Give me Great Britain Lions anyday of the week.

Give me a 3 Test tour with the Aussies 2nd string playing say teams outside of the play offs mid week- they need the financial support, never mind Leeds etc.

Vice versa if we're Down Under give me the GB Lions playing 3 tests vs the Aussies followed by 3 tests against the Kiwis with perhaps an U23's side playing mid week games against the NRL sides supplemented by the players not selected for the tests.

We've got the International game off life support with a great World Cup and a promising 4-nations last year, preceded by slowly building it back up with the Tri-nations Concept.

Now's the time to put a plan in place to put it in rude health- bring back the Ashes, bring back "Tour" games, keep the World Cup in it's regular place and have a Tri-Nations.

2013- World Cup

2014- Aussies/GB Tour to NZ- 4-Nations plus extra Test for Ashes between GB and Aus.

2015- Kiwis/ GB Tour to Aus- 4-Nations plus Aussies and Kiwi's play extra Test for Trans-Tasman Trophy.

2016- Aussies/ Kiwi's Tour to GB- 4-Nations plus extra Test between GB and Aus for Ashes

2017- World Cup

4th Nation place to be played off for- out of winner of Northern hemisphere sides and Southern hemisphere sides the week before main KO. That way one of say PNG/ Samoa/ Fiji etc. get to Tour Europe and one of France/ Wales/ Scotland/ Ireland get to tour down Under for at least a game perhaps play in a secondary 4 Nations tournament. These games could be played as curtain raisers to the "main event" after them.

I don't think we're far off getting something that can be grown TBH.

[deluded pom?]

Point taken, but union play them every year now, don't they? Sell-out crowds at Twickers for the autumn games against Oz, NZ, SA plus the spring games against 5 european nations.

But as we know the rugby league fan is a different beast compared to his/her rugby union counterpart.

So, play them every year and try to catch up or keep it as a rare treat? (I know GB isn't England, but in effect, the difference is in name only)

We don't appear to be making great strides in closing the gap so it may as well be a rare treat for me.

[PaulHHZ]

As an RL fan of the past 20 years, I much preferred the old Kangaroo tours to the the 3/4 nations that we've had in recent years. For me, the game can have both. The tours had a certain magic to me, that the 4 nations lack. I loved watching the Kangaroos playing our club teams before taking on Great Britain.

Year 1: World Cup (Northern Hemisphere)

Year 2: Lions Tour (Southern Hemisphere) - GB Playing 3 tests against Australia, 1 test against New Zealand, plus warm-up matches against PNG, Queensland, New South Wales or the NRL Grand Finalists.

Year 3: 4 Nations (Northern Hemisphere)

Year 4 Kiwi Tour (Northern Hemisphere) - NZ Playing 3 tests against Great Britain, 1 test against France, plus warm-up matches against the top 3 or 4 SL sides or Wales.

Year 5: World Cup (Southern Hemisphere)

Year 6: Kangaroos Tour (Northern Hemisphere) - NZ Playing 3 tests against Great Britain, 1 test against France, plus warm-up matches against the top 3 or 4 SL sides or Wales.

Year 7: 4 Nations (Southern Hemisphere)

Year 8: Lions Tour against the Kiwis.

At the same time, if GB are playing Australia, France or Wales could have tests against New Zealand or Papua New Guinea.

Repeat for ever and ever amen.

[thirteenthman]

Have to agree with PaulHHZ that the 4 nations should be cut back to every 4 years. It's a bit unnecessary, as the it's more or less the same as the WC once you get to the semis. So here's what I would go with:-

2013 WC Eng

2014 GB tour Aus

Pacific / Euro Cup (4N Qualifiers)

2015 4N Eng

2016 NZ tour GB

Pacific / Euro Cup (WC Qualifiers)

2017 WC Aus & NZ

2018 Aus tour GB

Pacific / Euro Cup (4N Qualifiers)

2019 4N Aus

2020 GB tour NZ & PNG

Pacific / Euro Cup (WC Qualifiers)

2021 WC Eng & France

So GB play Aus and NZ every 4 years, but splitting GB tours between Aus and NZ makes the tour shorter, which would be the main objection to a full blown Lions Tour. England could carry on playing in the 4N and WC, but we'd get GB back for the tours. At present this wouldn't make much difference, but with developments in Wales a GB side could look different from an England side in years to come. Also the Aussies get a year off, which is why there's no chance of an Ashes series for 2012. The RFL and the NZRFL don't seem quite as concerned.

The only problem would be the Home Nations playing in a Euro Cup at the same time as GB are playing, but you could get round that by playing the Euro Cup games mid-season.

The most important thing about it is that the RFL start giving the internationals the importance they deserve. If we bring back GB don't hide them away in the North, but take them to Cardiff or Wembley. And then give the matches the hard sell.