Exiled Wiganer

SL players have come up against NRL players on 3 occasions this year: Saints played the “mighty” Penrith away, and England have played the Tonga “NRL superstars” twice. We have been better on each occasion. How difficult is the NRL? Well, Sutton is earning a living there. There are probably 100 SL players who could get into squads over there. The NRL is stronger, but there is no chasm between us and them.

I think you have problems, and channel them through abuse directed in random directions. I think you should seek help. This particular comment was vile.

I read an interview with Peet where he expressed enthusiasm about playing against Penrith over there.

There are a few factors which I think will make a difference. Home advantage, and having had such a hard match last week. Their destruction of Samoa meant they were under cooked. My money is on them winning the tournament in glorious fashion.

I think that the hardest game of the 3 this week end for England will be the wheelchair one. All of them are extremely watchable, as are the 2 Pacific Cup finals. Popcorn and slippers for me.

This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, or our game, however I will bite. As to your assertions here - the fact is that worldwide more players are playing than ever, in more countries than ever. We are clearly the dominant football code in Australasian and the South Pacific, with daylight second. The vichies are no threat to that, and we will continue to have the pick of the north, an area with 10s of millions of people. Not because we’re clever, or have infinite resources and certainly not because of any establishment favours. We just happen to have the greatest game.

You can prove anything with facts! So, there should be a market for them. That surprises me somewhat. I wonder where they live, and will check the NZ census figures as well. I have laws thought that Fiji seem far too much of an afterthought for our game, internationally, nd never understood it. Their results in the last 20 years have often been superb. I wonder whether they need a Kristian Wolfe to drive them onwards…

Is an issue with Fiji that they don’t have the second and third generation support in places like Sydney and Auckland, so that there isn’t a home from home area, outside of Fiji itself. Whereas there are far more tongans and samoans outside their islands, meaning their games in exile are events? The lesser code can bring good money and is far easier to play so some people will always choose it, but if we get the pathway right we can get the cream of the crops.

Slava Ukraini!

As a sign of how well we are doing, I was musing on what an alternative England 13 might look like, with none of today’s team in it. Any help with filling in the gaps v welcome (and apologies for a Wigan bias)… I think that back line looks particularly potent: 1 Farnworth 2 Makinson 3 Wardle 4 Percival 5 Young 6 Williams 7 ? (Dodd) 8 Walmsley 9 ? (Walker/Ackers?) 10 Havard (maybe early, but he looks the real deal to me) 11 KPP (as above) 12 Knowles 13 Thompson

Glad it went well. It’s somewhat off topic, but are WIre fans looking forward to seeing King back? He looks good to me, completely at home at this level. I am not sure how he ended on the outer there. If you want rid, I am sure lots of Wiganers would be happy to see him.

I have taken over 100 newbies to league games down south over the years and could count the ones who did not enjoy it (and didn’t come back for more) on the fingers of one hand. As it happens, they were 2 died in the wool push over try nutters, and 2 from Melbourne.

There are a lot of eligible England players, and emerging talents, to add to the squad which have seen off Tonga. I must confess to having had my doubts about Wane as England coach, but he has got a lot out of this new team. Good times.

Err, but NRL!!! These are super humans! Does not compute. Does not compute…

I am sorry you didn’t enjoy it. I thought that the game reflected the conditions and what England needed to do to beat strong opponents. I watch a lot of sport, and find there is more skill and excitement in any of our games than in any other sport.

I am not sure whose post you are responding to. I enjoyed the game, particularly given how this is a brand new England team. It also makes me smile when the NRL = gods fetishisists are put temporarily back in their box. The post I was responding to was one dismissing the absolute quality of the 2 teams. I hold a different opinion, based on the results when these teams have actually played each other.

Our game now. We have played the conditions superbly. Our discipline and defence have been world class. For a new team, we have performed superbly these last 2 weeks. Harry Smith’s performance was the best by a half back out of the 4 we have seen today.

Phew! Lewis won that one. Just what we needed. Dig deep, boys!

Smith a month ago would be 50:50 to kick this.

I disagree, and time will tell. How have New Zealand got on against Tonga in the last few years? How did England get on the last time we played a series against them? There is nothing to suggest that any of the 4 teams are miles ahead of any of the others. The 2 games have certain similarities - our spine and our structure are better than the Kiwis, who relied on the same attributes Tonga are relying on: power and pace.

Not sure I agree with any of that. Tonga are a very good side, who are being out played. That’s how our game works. A good side gets to determine how the opposition plays.

I completely agree that the SL players have shown themselves to be more intelligent footballers and more adaptable in this series so far. We downplay how many superb players we produce and watch every week.

We score next, we win this. Smith has been particularly superb, and our defensive discipline has been on since minute 1. We look like a side which knows what it is doing. Come on England, bring this home.

Get in! Fine work from Lewis and Ashton. With our defence playing superbly, we can afford to let Lewis do what he likes. He makes a difference.

That was close… I like what england are trying to do, though. Wane has done a good job with a rebuilt side.