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Sorry mate, I hate these made-up exhibition teams. The international game has suffered enough with State Of Origin in Australia, the All Stars games and the ###### exiles stuff. Play full internationals as per rules state from the IRL or just don't do it. They are worthless.

Clever move by Salford with the Salford City Council elections due to 6th May 2021 as it puts pressure on the politicians who own 50% of the stadium to block a sale and helop out the club with rent. I would strongly advise any Salford fans to question candidates in the upcoming elections as to what their position is on the AJ Bell stadium situation and hold their feet to the fire so to speak.

Throw it out there... Eastern European’s and Turks don’t usually get on to well...something to do with history!

Bloody ridiculous. Makes a mockery of the competition. If its unsafe... abandon the competition. If its safe... London should have a points deduction.

I think that this is a very important point. The assumption we make in this country is that the faster we make the game but the more entertaining it will become... and if we can advantage the attacking team then the attack will be better. But this is counterintuitive. Attack only needs to become better when defences become more difficult to unlock. If you can roll downfield with momentum from scoots or drives then you don't need to look beyond this for advantage. I would argue that the slower the tackle, the more set the defensive line is then the more inventive the attack has to

The RFL needs to re-think it's decision for three reasons: Firstly, it does discrimate against full-time clubs in the championship, if there is a requirement for then to go to France and not part-time clubs. You can make the same argument about the private jet.for a part-time club as well and although a quarantine period affects part-time players with employment elsewhere individually, a full time club is as much affected by not bering able to train during quarantine as a part-time one is. Secondly, the decision was made in March, it's now April and while the UK is headng towards her

Not fair on Toulouse and puts then at a disadvantage coz I think they could've potentially beat them by twice that amount

I've no issue with that..... if you want to comment on that feel.free on that thread. This thread is about London broncos owd cock

Didn't Leeds do it last year with Catalans and get away with it? I said at the time that set a dangerous precedent and would encourage others.

No-one said any of this was easy. But it'll be a whole lot worse if you do owt with a knife, so don't do that. Take as many deep breaths as you need. Realise that even if it's only some blokes on a messageboard that there are people who want you to keep going and hear what you say. I know sometimes it's hard and sometimes you can only see and hear the negative things that happen or that people say. But that's not everything and it's not everyone. Keep going.

http://everythingrugbyleague.com/no-sleep-till-brooklyn-goes-professional/

It would be good for the development of the international game if, in the time between now and when France and PNG have become competitive international teams, we could devise some new international team formations. I would propose a team comprised of people of Eastern European and Turkish heritage to play against Australia, New Zealand and England. Some of these players (e.g. both Albanians) were actually born in the countries mentioned. As you know Albania is a predominantly Muslim country in the southern Balkans, which makes it a natural fit with Turkey. There are currently

I decided to join Red Star's facebook group when offered to a couple of years ago. Just to say that they have popped up on my feed tonight offering a free stream of their quarter final Serbian Cup match against Dorcol Tigers this coming Sunday at 4 pm. I thought I'd post to point this out in case anyone wants to use their facebook page to find the link and support their viewing figures. Cheers. Edit, I hope this works as the link:- https://www.sportsflickglobal.com/products/serbian-rugby-league-2021-april?fbclid=IwAR3YPd6QnikaI8Y-KrT2g_xkOJnjiPFHXMKL7VY0Rq7wUJIxJDodju69qZI Second

Could Salford not move in with the football team? It's a smaller ground and they'd probably appreciate the financial support!

Toulouse pays them a private plane way and back in the same day, plus Covid test for all that cost a lot for the club. Definitly chickens....

Coqs, surely?

Even if we assume that to be true, DR players don't tend to play cup games to avoid being Cup tied. Given Fev have recruited in the knowledge of no DR all sesson, that would make them stronger than last year for cup games.

As much as I hate the rule changes, let's get a grip. 35-6 in a match between one of the form sides (playing at home) and one of the bottom sides is a perfectly normal scoreline. It is NOT a blowout. NRL needs to accept that this is a reality of sport. You cannot play God and control every outcome. Although they have quite successfully done it to an extent with the introduction of the salary cap.

Featherstone are much weaker this year without the Leeds players on dual registration. I expect Hull to win by 40-50 points.

You're still here though, so that's a good thing. Have you been to your GP about this? (Apologies if you've said and I missed it.) There's no shame in doing so and no one will either laugh at you or think less of you for doing it. They can help. Like so much in this country it's not perfect and it is slow but, you can trust me on this, it's better than not going to your GP at all.

For me the interminable ruck is allowed for by the authorities in order to keep the game recognisable as RL irrespective of what it says in the rulebook. If the tacklers release the ball carrier as per the rules then most of the defence will be deeply offside at the ptb. The attack will find a retreating defence as a regular occurrence most every ptb. Or a penalty for not retreating in time. OK, the quick release could be insisted upon and then the defence can't commit across the field knowing it can't get back onside more times than not. Either way it is a big change in the cha

Why is James Graham not on the list? He is regarded very highly by Australian commentators. According to Phil Gould, James Graham revolutionized the way that prop forwards play the game. The fact that there are only three players on the list who played in the NRL points to a political or cultural bias by the thread creator. James Graham, John Bateman, Gareth Widdop, and Sam Tomkins all should be on the list. John Bateman even won the Dally M second rower of the year in 2019! It is those four, along with Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis, and Adrian Morley (all NRL champions), plus Keiron Cunning

So another Lancashire clubs looks likely to fade away because they believed unless they got a new ground they would be kicked out of the top flight. They should have just followed the same model as Wakefield and Cas and just put all the sky money into half decent antipodeans and salary cap cast offs from other clubs, rather than try to bring then game into the 21st Century.

There is currently a 3rd wave in France and a 6pm curfew. Ridiculous that London or anyone else is expected to travel to France.

Absolutely. I have to say I have started to enjoy the NRL more than Super League (for reasons that I won't bore you with) but I really enjoy Super League as well... and Challenge Cup and Championship and everything else. It is Rugby League fans refusing to watch a Rugby League comp that I can't wrap my head around.

You know what made me lose any sympathy for them was the "level playing field" bit. They chose to have a full time squad. Calling for part timers to quarratine for 5 days!!!!? If the have aspirations of a super league return then they should act like it.

Some complain about over-the-hill Aussies coming to the UK, but this is an example where it could help. They'd be playing at a far less demanding level than SL, and their experience would be invaluable for a competition with many new players.

Can`t think of anywhere else to post this little nugget of info gleaned from the NSWRL site. Tumut Blues will play Gundagai Tigers on Saturday for the Maher Cup. The game will be played at the "Twickenham Rugby League Complex".

This year is the perfect year to develop, blood American and Canadian players, and grow. That will then give them a much stronger, more stable base going forward. The teams shouldn't really even be considering imports in my opinion, bar those who already have links there.

You are showing a distinct lack of knowledge of the current situation.... OR you are posting in another ridiculous infantile attempt to draw another reaction....

Yes, this is happening, and is always going to be the result of introducing dumb and untrialled rule changes. Go back to penalties for ruck infringements, far better for the game and also actually speed the ruck up and incentivise more positive play. The effective impact of the set restart is actually they've reduced the punishment for a ruck infringement - this is why the most successful teams in the NRL last year were also the teams who gave away the most ruck infringements. This was despite them 1) making less tackles as stronger teams have more of the ball 2) typically losing less ruc

Looking at both squads, think the Knights will be lucky to come second.

That hasn`t changed. What has is defenders` ability to hold the player above ground more often. I take the polar opposite view to you. I think refs in recent years particularly in Aus have been calling "Held" too early, turning it into Touch Football with big initial contact. When officials negate good defence, it merely rewards and encourages dull attacking play. Cheap metres can be made with minimal ball movement. There`s been a discernible change in the first few NRL rounds this year. Refs appear to be allowing more time for tackles to develop. The consequence has been more late o

RL fans seem to go out of their way not to watch RL. I find that really weird

I much prefer the way it was, with refs calling held when momentum had stopped, and penalising the defenders if they didn't release the player with the ball. It created far more open play and players playing what was in front of them. The game has become sterile, and pretty much degenerated in to a war of attrition, with 17 big blokes running in to each other to simply tire each other out. A lot of the guile and skill has gone out of the game. I find it quite sad, no disrespect intended but, a team like Wigan as an example, with all of the money and resources they have, instead of pl

As woeful ideas go, this one is up there.

Why don't we just concentrate on developing Greece instead of making teams up, you know seen as Greece are qualifying for world cups now and are from the region you talk of?

Today's MM brain f@rt is a pearler...

I endured the 2015 season at Barnet, the 300 fans rattling around at the end of that season (I attended all the games). I really do not intend to endure Barnet 2 which this I am worried will turn into. This has all Barnet 2 written over it again, I really hope I am wrong in which case you will see us back in 2022.

The reasons for Farnworth's potential selection are only partially related to the fact that he plays in the NRL. His size, speed, skill and athleticism are the main reasons. It's simply a bonus that he faces high-quality opposition most weeks. If lads were being suggested for England just for playing in the NRL, Dom Young would have been suggested. Nobody, at this stage of his career, is suggesting that.

Here is the TOXIII's club president's take on the matter: Le Président du Toulouse Olympique XIII Bernard SARRAZAIN s’est exprimé sur le sujet : ” Cela fait plus d’un an que nous n’avons pas évolué à domicile, nous attendions ce rendez-vous avec impatience, tout était en place, aussi nous sommes très déçus par cette décision et son timing, à seulement 10 jours du match, que nous ne comprenons pas. En effet, nous avons tout mis en œuvre pour que Londres soit dans les meilleures conditions possibles, autant sur le plan sportif que sanitaire, en finançant nous-mêmes un avion affr

Wasn't there an interview a few days ago where the coach Dan Ward said he was up for playing in France regardless. So why the contradictions?

Do they need Visas? Can't they just climb the wall? It could be part of their pre-season training

It's interesting how the game has evolved. The 10m offered more space between the attacking and defending teams and yet for a while the game was infested with dummy half scoots and drives with quick play the balls as that 10 metres was just so easy to find and teams simply rolled downfield. The wrestling at the tackle was introduced by coaches to counter these metres so that defences could set and a fast line could squeeze the attack. The modern ruck is a consequence of coaches needing to slow the play the ball down which is consequence of the easy metres available from the 10m law.

Whats Steve Anderson up to these days. He always seemed like a man with a plan and had Warrington travelling in the right direction.

I have read comments on this thread about the $300k per team and some posters have queried as to how can clubs be ‘professional’ based on this amount having to be spread between so many players etc. But surely some of the clubs that have been around for some years must have brought in some income to make them sustainable. So I assume that these clubs will already have sponsorship and no doubt the new entities will be reaching out to prospective sponsors so each team will have the $300k plus additional income. Is it realistic to expect some clubs may have $400k for this first season?

I do also think it's a gamble to give somebody their first Head Coach gig at one of the biggest club roles in the UK. I think he needs to learn what he is all about as a Head Coach and you won't do that as an assistant. He needs to do what Sean Long is doing really, getting out there and getting experience and learnign.

After the next round we'll be even higher.

I notice from the NRL Tracker that Farnworth hit a top speed in this week's round that would have made him the fastest man in the NRL last year... only Addo-Carr and Xavier Coates have notched faster speeds this year. https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/04/07/stat-attack-foxx-on-the-run-a-sight-to-behold/ Farnworth is big, athletic and fast. Just the kind of centre we have been missing in recent years. He is also showing good instincts in attack setting up his winger and is strong in defence. He is well worth his spot in the England squad.