AB90

Very interesting game and tough to predict! I very slightly lean towards Tonga as they are a more settled side whilst England is brand new team, new coach, worse preparation with the travel, have to adapt to NRL rules etc. Tonga will also be rusty as first game of the tournament however I feel they will be able to rely on their power game which you naturally don't need too much preparation to have the game plan 'click'. I also think England may struggle to match the Tongan physicality across the park. Should be a cracking game!

I think it is a really good result for France if they can keep it within 30 points. If it's a good dry track, then I predict Samoa by 50 plus. France just won't be able to handle the Samoan power game.

I think it's more so tied to the NRL Players Association that has a pre-agreed off-season length with the players. A 7-week tournament would finish in early December so i assume it's a non-starter. I'm sure the NRL would prefer more matches right.........more income for them!

You really think so? Imo that Lebanon squad superior to the French squad. The bookies have France at a +49 underdog against Samoa in the first game so there is little to no chance of them getting anywhere close Samoa or England.

I get what you're saying.......fact are facts! But I would say, playing the big polynesian teams in the southern hemisphere on the flatter, harder, faster surfaces in the Aussie spring under NRL rules is a very very very different proposition to playing them during the colder October/November months on the slower, damper tracks in the north of England! The last time England/Great Britian played in the Southern Hemisphere was in 2019 when they lost all four touring games including to NZ x2, Tonga & PNG. The bookies have Tonga as very slight favourites so if you 'not worried' about Tonga hammer that bet!

Good squad as always by the Aussies! I probably would have selected another out and out winger though instead of Staggs. Starting 17 i would go with: 1.Walsh 2.Bostock 3.Mitchell 4.Best 5.Trbojevic 6.Munster 7.Walker 8.Fa'asuamaleaui 9.Grant 10.Kolomatangi 11.Martin 12.Preston 13.Yeo Subs: Collins, Carrighan, Cotter, Deardon

The two different leagues have different standards. NSW Cup functions more directly as traditional reserve grade where teams are tied closer to single NRL clubs. Talent tends to be more concentrated per team. 14 NSW Cup teams serve 12 NRL club feeder competion so more concentrated talent meaning much more talent team for team. QLD Cup is more your typical league features Queensland-based NRL players split across multiple independent feeder clubs, diluting top-tier concentration but creating a fierce, standalone club culture. QLD Cup has 15 teams serving only 5 NRL clubs so talent is more stretched than NSW Cup (plus QLD has half the population of NSW). In my opinion, top end NSW Cup teams would better than the bottom tier of SL but not as consistently good as say the big 7 SL clubs (Wigan, Leeds, Saints, Warrington, KR, Wakefield, Leigh). The reality is that most SL players would be playing NSW/QLD Cup if they moved to Australia (i.e Lewis Dodd, Morgan Gannon etc).

Bump Murray or Cotter to 13 (with the other on the bench).

Id go with (noting the Hudson Young injury): 1.Walsh 2.Cobbo 3.Mitchell 4.Best 5.Jenkins 6.Munster 7.Cleary 8.Tino 9.Grant 10.Barnett 11.Preston 12.Martin 13.Yeo Subs: Flegler, Carrigan, Cotter, Deardon (with Jackson Ford, Cam Murray, Blake Brailey, Sam Walker, Jack Bostock, Hammer in the wider squad)

I think a 2-prong hooker approach is best for England with Litten off the bench (starting with O'Neill). Playing 80 minutes against the vert physical Australia, Tonga, New Zealand, Samoa etc on the hard fast southern hemisphere tracks, under NRL rules (faster play the balls) in the warmer spring October/November months is a very different proposition to playing 80 minutes in SL.

Potentially money. This may sound backwards but in a lot of cases SL clubs offer more money for players. Why do we think NRL players sign for SL clubs............it's because for the most part they get offered more money (or more years) than they can earn in the NRL. I also just don't think a lot of NRL clubs even consider SL for players. Australia can be pretty insular in the respect and the NRL can be even more insular. I wouldn't say current Wallaby internationals are at risk. It is more so the youngster coming though who play both league and union growing up will now just all go league. Yes, some Wallaby players may look to jump but only really players that have a league background (Joseph Suaalii will be back after the 2027 world cup imo).

I personally wouldn't be designing a team to specifically beat 'the Aussies'. We aren't even in the same pool as Australia and there is a decent chance we won't even play them. I would be focusing on picking the best team available and beating Tonga in the opening game because if we lose that then it's potentially world cup over for England.

Yeah, that's my position on it. Yes, there will likely be more British players moving to the NRL but as you mention, at the moment any NRL team can outbid a SL club for a player if they really want them as the NRL salary cap is currently triple SL. There are currently 510 available 'top 30' full-time NRL slots available to which circa 8 of them are taken by British players. Sure, that may push to 20 or maybe even 30 when the new cap kicks in and the 19th team is introduced but it is still a very small % of the overall player pool over there.

It is going to be very interesting to see the impact this new TV deal will have on the NRL salary cap from 2028 onwards as it will also have significant impact on the game in the UK as well. As NRL salary cap is tied to a % of the TV deal which is essentially being increased from $400m to $700m annually (+75% increase in TV revenue) that potentially means the NRL salary cap will increase from circa $12.5m to $22m (GBP 11.5m). We are potentially going to have $3m a year players with each team having circa 10 players earning $1m+. The impact on the player market will be massive and change the game forever. The highest paid rugby players in either code will be NRL players! Can't tell if this is going to be a positive or negative for the game in the UK though.

The NRL will still need to add/finalise the NZ TV deal on top of this. Should add another $200m to $300m depending on the amount of years.