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WN83

Coach
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Everything posted by WN83

  1. It’s something we can be very proud of. England vs Samoa, NZ vs Samoa or similar, in Australia and you’re looking at sub 20-25k.
  2. Absolutely correct. Wanes teams don’t get ahead of themselves and this one simply panicked in a tight game because they weren’t used to that situation.
  3. I’m with you but ultimately they have been made and we can’t change that now. If the next person can’t use our last 2 home world cups and 2017, to formulate a World Cup we’d all class as our best ever, then they’d have to be a total moron. Pulling all the good bits from those 3 comps should be easy work.
  4. I didn’t think it was complacency at all, I felt we were totally switched on for the Semi but we panicked. Not having a test beforehand hurt us but the main disadvantage is our lads not having that week to week, high quality league to play in, where the big games are as tight as a drum. The best NRL lads then get to perfect that in Origin games. In that game last week we dug ourselves out of a hole and got it to 20-20 and simply needed to play basic, error free, rugby league but we couldn’t do it. That was not complacency at all IMO, it was a team not conditioned for those circumstances. We have some lads in the NRL but obviously none in Origin and very very few playing at the best clubs.
  5. High-being at the wheelchair final last night. An honour and a privilege and comfortably the best game I’ve seen across the tournaments. Low-probably sitting at Old Trafford tonight listening to the buzz in the crowd, the excitement when Samoa got near the line, the roars when they scored but all the while thinking ‘this place would’ve been an absolute cauldron had England been here’
  6. A mixture of very good, some bad and some ugly. There are some really big lessons to take from the tournament. The next person in line to plan a World Cup here should be in a privileged position. I think they could pull bits from 2013 and from 2022, find a middle ground, throw in the fabulous new parts, that are the womens and wheelchair comps and come up with an amazing tournament.
  7. Looked and felt great in the ground. Lesson to be learned from the tournament-you can charge a decent premium for big events like an opener, semis and a final but currently, the game is in a position where everything in between needs to be affordable and aimed at getting new eyes in the grounds. Ultimately I think I’d file the whole tournament under a heading of ‘acceptable’, it could’ve been worse but it also could’ve been far better.
  8. I watch many sports and have done for 30+ years and I’ve never seen anything like it. What a disgraceful bloke he was. He shouid not be allowed near the sport again. I thought he was really disrespectful to both sets of players because they don’t deserve antics like that, at a time when they’re finally in the spotlight and their sport is being lauded.
  9. Feel privileged to have been there tonight. The venue, the atmosphere, the game, the French loon and the win. It must’ve been so emotional for the players to see the place packed out and both sides served up an absolute treat. Here’s to the the future of the sport.
  10. Every time I go to London for an international I feel the locals put us to shame tbh. We can split hairs over the actual crowd today all we want but at worst there were 32-35k in there and that’s a big uplift on what we got in the heartlands last week. It felt like 80% of the crowd today were non RL fans and were just there to support their country at a sport. I think they’ll have enjoyed the day and would come back but if there are no games here next year, what are they meant to do? We don’t build any momentum from any game. We get a decent crowd on, the players put on a show and then the administrators pee it down the drain. It’s rinse and repeat!
  11. Best side won today. Who is the better side overall is up for debate I’d say. If it were a boxing match, you want a trilogy and why can’t we have it? If this were a three game series people would be buzzing for a third test. A hiding, followed by a classic and then followed by a decider. International Rugby League needs to become a planned norm.
  12. I’m keeping everything crossed. I was at Warrington last Sunday and in London today and who wouldn’t want more of that? I’m just shy of 40, I’ve watched Wigan win everything a few times over and I’m ready to watch more games like those two and the game last night. It’s just the best IMO.
  13. Sometimes you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I’m gutted, I wanted our big day out next Saturday but I’ve been in Leeds and London in the last 36 hours, I’ve seen two incredible games and I feel privileged to watch the Sport. We need more of this, we deserve more and hopefully we’ll get more.
  14. I think we’d love that but will the NRL allow it? They call the shots and want To’o, Luai, Taumalolo and co well rested.
  15. Jeez, I’m sick of Welsby winning big games here but he’s proper rattled you. We’re masters in our game at crucifying young players. Yes the lad has an attitude but it’s what helps set him apart. Sam Tomkins has had to put up with British RL fans BS for over a decade and Welsby is next in line it would seem. At club level I can’t stand the kid but I wish we had a dozen of him. He deserves better from fans of the game here.
  16. Left the house at 7am and got back about half an hour ago. What can you say?! We just put ourselves in a bad spot and couldn’t quite pull it back. We should’ve won the game, even playing like that but we just couldn’t settle and find the patience needed. What I hate on days like today is how the fingers start pointing, based on your club loyalties-It’s Watkins fault, Wanes fault, Tomkins and Micky Macs fault, Welsby’s fault, Whiteheads fault, Radleys fault, a mixture of them all and everything in between. It was the teams fault, not any individuals. We started slowly and got no intensity going until the last 15 mins and even then, we couldn’t stop panicking. Pretty gutted tbh, I thought we’d at least get a day out next Saturday. In the main the players and coaching staff have been great in the tournament. We need more internationals and we personally need to regroup and come again. I think we’ve a very decent side forming, with some big players to come back in and young lads to break through. It’s tough to keep putting these disappointments behind us but I’ve seen 2 amazing games in the last couple of days and I want more of it.
  17. Thought it might be a few more sat in there but 28k is a good effort. I’d love to see Elland Road developed. It’s an uncomfortable dump (sat here with a stiff knee and back from being squashed in to the point of not being able to get my right leg down on the ground) but we draw good crowds there and it’s a good atmosphere.
  18. The easy schedule thing is brilliant. We’re in to our third game the ‘experts’ down under predict we could lose. The Aussies and Kiwis play their first one tonight.
  19. Marty Taupau has pulled out of the Samoa squad. Not sure if it’s injury or another reason. He’s been replaced by Connelly Lemuelu.
  20. The issue we have with saying we'll play other teams is that the NRL call the tune for all the sides we'd want to play. They want guys like Taumalolo, Paulo, Sua'ali'i, To'o, Coates, Luai, Kikau etc to get as much rest as possible, so they're flying for the NRL season and in some cases, when they play Origin. International Rugby League is a huge inconvenience for them and that doesn't just apply to the Australian team.
  21. Well, I watched him in the Press conference on Wednesday and he looks as happy as a pig in you know what to be over here representing his country. It looked much the same for Victor Radley as well. I don't blame the players, not even the Australian ones in the main, I blame the officials in Australia. The NRL wants to protect it's product and I'm sure if you asked the guys at the top of the NRL if they wanted Internationals canning altogether, they'd probably say yes (in private). They can tow the party line all they like about wanting to come up with an international calendar going forward but the proof will be in the pudding. Let's put it this way, I won't hold my breath when it comes to the Australian team playing more fixtures in the next decade, then they have in the last. I won't hold out much hope that teams like Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG etc will get regular fixtures either. I hope I end up being wrong but we'll see.
  22. Well that’s true enough in terms of it probably not being as many as 23,000 odd (whatever was given). I was in the South Stand and would’ve guessed around 20-21 ish from my experience of big crowds in the ground.
  23. Cheers for the replies. All we can ask is they give it a good go and try and overcome some of the advantages these players have. It’s developing the game over here for the woman and it’ll take time. I’m convinced some of our side will cause either of these issues though, even if we don’t get the win. I’ve been really impressed with a couple of our props especially.
  24. Ignoring what I presume is an Aussie looking for a rise, are we a chance against these 2? I’m not close enough to the woman’s game to know. I’ve been hugely impressed with some of our players, like Goldthorpe, Winfield-Hill, Hoyle and Whitfield but tough to make out where we’re at against lesser sides and with my limited knowledge.
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