Keith989

I presume this is the start and the end of kearys International career then.

Watching the mid season pacific series used to be really entertaining and what actually got me into league... That's gone now of course.

Interested to see how Michael goes, delighted to see he's getting game time. Hopefully off the ball do another interview with him when he gets home.

I hope you also pointed out on the Great Britain Rugby league team social media, how the flag (and name) didn't represent us either... Micheal should have gotten game time against Jamaica at least, can't understand why he wasn't played.

They could host one in Treviso, they are rugby mad there and have recently renovated the stadium.

Not sure why Ireland are always excluded in the guaranteed teams in reduced world cups. Okay we're a heritage team, but it's a fully pro, somewhat competitive one. There is domestic activity here and there were plenty of Irish fans in for the game against Jamaica

Why do you keep saying this? The Jaguarese made the SR final in 2019 and had an over all record of played 66, wins 33, losses 33 in super rugby. In their first rugby championship season Argentina drew against South Africa and ran Aus extremely close both home and away.

Isn't this what all the tier 1 v tier 2 games would look like if it wasn't for heritage players?

Their super rugby team were always competitive. They only joined super rugby in 2016 and had already made the final by 2019. Argentina were also competitive long before they had professional club sides. They came third in the 2007 world Cup for example.

You could tell he was a class or two above every player on the pitch. The quality of the opposition has probably kept him under the radar though.

Luke Keary.

I don't think an Emerging nations world Cup gets the coverage from mainstream sports sites, like the wc has here in Ireland.

Did having three 4 nations tournaments before the 2013 World cup help sell tickets? The lack of international matches each season means its hard for casuals to really get behind a team.

Yeah I feel for Ronan, he may not get a game at all now in this world cup which is a big shame. Its been very enjoyable watching Keary, the Lebanon game will be very interesting.

Realistically what can we expect from a team that hasn't played a single game together? I expressed my concern over the lack of warm up games numerous time, its extremely annoying.

Best of luck to all the teams. Really looking forward to this now!

Why are Ireland your second team out of curiosity?

What was the idea behind playing England v Aus in Cardiff?

I agree 100%, I was just referring to this particular game. The organisation is simply not good enough, for comparison England RU have ALREADY confirmed 3 of their 4 warm up matches for the next world cup, almost a year out! These will attract sell out crowds and are full test matches. There is so little space in league put out for international games, you can't waste games like this. These games can be important full test matches in their own right, just like in union.

Ok?...

Its Scotland v England B in a hastily arranged warm up match, what exactly do you expect? I'm on this forum a lot and I still had no idea this game was going on, let alone the general public.

I'll give Ireland a watch this time, interested to see how Keary goes. Hopefully Micheal gets a few games and isn't just taken for the sake of it like Casey Dunne.

Ideally at least three like in Union, its not like the teams have been together much since the last World cup either. I know that's not feasible, we're lucky to be getting one in neutral grounds.

The fact that teams are only getting one warm up game is an issue nobody is really talking about. No real chance for teams to test squad depth and try things before the World Cup. Everyone is going in cold.

I'm sorry this targeting Lebanese and Fijian communities for games in England needs to stop. It's nonsense and incredibly small time. You're realistically targeting a few hundred people at max.