unapologetic pedant

2025 RFL - "we now have a benchmark and know what we need to do to close the gap with the Jillaroos" 2017 Australia 38 England 0

Courtesy of "The Home of Rugby League" - "On International Women's Day 2025, the Rugby Football League proudly celebrates the achievements of women in Rugby League and reaffirms its commitment to creating opportunities for women and girls at every level of the game. This year's theme is "Accelerate Action". Whilst we are proud of the progress made, we know there is always more to do. Rugby League is a sport for all and we remain dedicated to ensuring that women have the space to excel within the sport." Continues in similar LP spin-doctor vein with a series of bullet points. Most reassuring. Can't wait to see what "Accelerate Action" involves.

Not much he or the RFL could say in the immediate aftermath. I remain wholly unaware of Stuart Barrow's credentials. His predecessor was filmed by the BBC telling England players that "it's a real simple game". Would be helpful, in the coming months, to get some inkling that the current coach sees Rugby League in a different light.

According to one cult TV bloke on YouTube, a newly-discovered clip from a series 1 episode of AOW will be shown at a fan event later this month. Michael MacKenzie and Petra Markham will be in attendance. Remnants of 60s and 70s TV shows are now treated like Saxon treasure. Emblematic of erstwhile wanton neglect.

World of difference between "Ding-a-Dong" and "Ding Dong". Leslie Phillips should have trademarked "Ding Dong".

50th anniversary of "Ding-a-Dong" by Teach-In. For me, the quintessential Eurovision winner. "When you're feeling alright, everything is uptight Try to sing a song that goes ding ding-a-dong There will be no sorrow when you sing tomorrow And you walk along with your ding-dang-dong Ding-a-dong every hour, when you pick a flower Even when your lover is gone gone gone Ding-a-dong listen to it, maybe it's a big hit Even when your lover is gone gone gone Sing ding-ding-dong" Edwyn Collins recorded a fine cover version.

Welter of doom-laden headlines and thumbnails in recent weeks. Toyed with posting, but all included the word "woke". Discretion is the better part of valour. What happened to the brave new world of reinvigorating Disney investment?

Been some conjecture that our poor performance puts the proposed Jillaroos test series in greater jeopardy. The RFL statement alluded to "playing the right opposition more regularly at international level". Stu Barrow said "The more we play Southern Hemisphere opposition, the better we will get as a nation". Reading between the lines, we probably would derive more benefit from playing Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG. But who would fund these tours? Another option is England participation in the Pacific Championships. Are the RFL able and willing to defray the cost of those trips? Jillaroos v England broke TV viewership records - "Most watched women's international match of all time" according to ratings sources. Women's internationals can reach audiences hitherto inaccessible to RL. Lopsided score-lines are not necessarily the big turn-off regular NRL and SL viewers would presume. By the same token, a Jillaroos visit to England would likely generate considerable interest beyond traditional RL demographics. We therefore have every incentive to bite the bullet. Play the Jillaroos as often as affordable. What is the alternative? The perils of isolation were writ large in Vegas. Coaches and players must be given the chance to improve over the course of a 3-game series.

Same here. We all knew England would lose by a substantial margin. Should acknowledge too the perennial truth that when a game gets away, there is no hiding place in RL. That said, it's worth looking at some of the detail of how this particular game got away. One other proviso - references to WSL are to games between top-4 sides. Promising opening 5 minutes. I believe that pattern could have held to at least the 20-minute mark with better defensive decision-making. First try lead-up, Tamika Upton collects a kick and sends Jakiya Whitfeld down the right. Reminded me of Beri Salihi linking up with Grace Banks when both were at Wigan. Ambitious back-3 expansion is something kick-chasers rarely have to contend with in WSL where fullbacks simply secure the ball, hit it up, take the tackle, set up for play 2. Beri seems to have fallen into this mode at Saints. Second try lead-up, Kezie Apps break after Olivia Higgins jumps out of dummy-half on tackle 5, is caught by the marker and immediately seeks to offload. I suspect a big hole opened up behind the ruck because our girls briefly switched off and were mentally preparing to defend the kick on the next play. They weren't expecting Olivia to part with the football since, as Craig Richards would say, "there's no need to get an offload, just hold the ball". Tamika Upton's hat-trick try later in the first half also deserves attention. The way Julia Robinson quickly spun out of Eboni Partington's ill-advised challenge undoubtedly required athleticism. More significantly, it shows that counterattack was on her mind as she took possession. In WSL, the winger's focus would be to catch the ball, surrender in the tackle, set up for play 2. Stu Barrow stresses the need to match the Jillaroos in physical intensity. We could accomplish this goal and still be comprehensively outplayed. If WSL coaches persist with "complete-your-sets, get-to-your-kick" dogma, our players will 1) Fail to develop their attacking skill sets. 2) Never learn how to defend against players who have developed their attacking skill sets.

Matter-of-fact statement plus single exclamation mark. Nice balance. Tactical and tactful.

These half-assed post-War of the Roses versions of Lancashire v Yorkshire were Stu Barrow's best attempt to "replicate the intensity" seen in NRLW videos.

Digging up these posts in light of Stu Barrow's comment from the presser that, "we tried to replicate the intensity in training and in manufactured Lancashire/Yorkshire Origins". The 2020 games were played behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions. Was any reason given for thereafter ditching the War of the Roses concept? As a stepping stone to Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns, Lancashire v Yorkshire is a far more meaningful rep fixture than England v Wales or France. Reducing it to the status of training-ground exercise was downright perverse.

That's "Peacock Pie", another good AOW story from the third series. I reckon the Brian Wilde role most startlingly at variance with Mr. Barrowclough is as a patient in the grip of catatonic possession in Night of the Demon (1957).

I'd never seen Ace of Wands. Have now watched all of the third series. This final story is my favourite. Can't help thinking the writer must have had some unhappy encounters with hippies. Type of militant bohemians who ruined Peter Green's mental health or joined the Baader-Meinhof gang. Pity the proposed fourth series was canned. The way "The Beautiful People" ended seemed pregnant with possibilities. Even more of a pity that the tapes of the first two series were wiped.

There was a clear disparity between top 4 and bottom 4 in WSL last year. York, Saints, Leeds, Wigan competed in a de facto 4-team 6-game regular season, interspersed with lower-intensity fixtures. No great difference in that balance from the overall seasons experienced by players in the first year of NRLW. Doubt many more than the current 4 English players would be offered NRLW contracts. Stacks of talent coming through NSW and QLD junior reps. These girls have played right through the grades. They're alarmingly good.

"All sorts" was in the same hyperbolic vein as the piece in terms of specifics. Along with Jasmin Strange, it names Keilee Joseph and Kirra Dibb. Would assume both are ineligible. According to Stu Barrow: "I've been contacted by several agents regarding heritage players". If we select 2 or 3 to be a bit more competitive, why not 4 or 5 to be even more competitive? England v Australia with 5 Aussies in the England team isn't really England v Australia.

I got an impression our passing during the game was below par. Will have to watch again to confirm. Keara Bennett wasn't her usual proficient self at dummy-half. Maybe they were all so severely rattled that core skills began to break down? Timing could be offered as a mitigating factor in the magnitude of the blowout. Both squads hadn't played for months. One had been training through an Australian summer, the other through an English winter. This doesn't detract from your general strictures regarding junior RL in England.

You sound like one of the touchies who try to ruin WSL games.

One bit of good news - "Whitfield is now back at the hotel with the team and is doing well"

@BroncoFan may not be a keen Stu Barrow fan but, judging from a piece on NRL.com, the England coach is coming round to embracing the former's enthusiasm for heritage players. All sorts of names being bandied around.

The 4-team NRLW was the culmination of a decade of investment. Icing on the cake. Virtually all those involved were playing in high-standard State comps for the bulk of the football season. If we cut WSL to 4 teams, playing a 3-game regular season, what would our players be doing the rest of the year? Worth mentioning that in 2013, England were still reasonably competitive. Writing was on the wall, RFL chose not to notice. Mea Culpa: I didn't either. Significant interest in women's RL began for me in 2017.

Women's RL progress in Oz doesn't date from the 4-team NRLW comp in 2018. The Aussies got serious round about the time they reversed the colours of the Jillaroos jersey i.e. between 2008 and 2013. Jillaroos were beaten 34-0 by Kiwi Ferns in the 2008 WC final. Won the 2013 final 22-12. NSWRL had been running targeted grass roots female participation programmes based initially on League Tag.

Our inadequacies are patently fundamental. Long-term investment is the only solution. Couple of matters not necessarily determined by superior finances might be worth considering - It was clear in the period when the Jillaroos were scoring back-to-back in the first half that fitness levels had become an issue quite early on. Some posters in the General Forum say the Aussies are full-time. I have yet to see evidence that NRLW players are full-time professionals as we would understand the term from men's RL. If they are, the label would presumably apply as much to Georgia Roche as any of the Jillaroos. So why such a palpable contrast between Georgia and Tarryn Aiken? From the article - "Robinson's hat-trick try was absolutely superb. Joseph found Aiken who handed on to Sergis. Her offload to the tryscorer was sublime, but Robinson still had to beat several defenders to score". A poster in the match thread said forward passes were let go. Would guess the above-mentioned offload is one that he had in mind. I believe this punitive instinct is a major problem for RL in England. Especially women's RL. All too often creative attacking play is rubbed out by officials or depicted as suspect by fans. Skill levels are consequently stunted. Why coach players to produce slick intricate moves when such play risks turning the ball over if a touchie thinks he might have seen a forward pass or a ref thinks he might have seen an obstruction? The effects were manifest at the top end of WSL last year. York were able to win the comp with no-frills tactics.

We were in agreement over a certain problem on a thread in the women's section. If anything, seems to have got worse.