The Frying Scotsman

I wouldn't be so sure. The performance director for England Touch is an Aussie guy brought in to drive performance. He was interviewed on the Magic Academy sports coaching podcast last year, and I couldn't believe that he didn't mention rugby league once in what was roughly a 1 hour discussion. He mentioned union, and 'contact' rugby several times, but I didn't hear one mention of Rugby League (and I was specifically listening for it). Given that Touch Australia is under the NRL umbrella I could only assume it was a calculated and very deliberate omission, given Australia are as I'm sure you know, serial world champions at almost every grade. He seemed to be really pandering to the union types, talking about how to attract people from union and vice versa. I referee Touch myself, and was fortunate enough to referee at the last European championships. It was a fantastic experience.

I have no idea. I was answering a completely different point.

Why? If countries do not have enough interest to create their own League, they can potentially play cross-border. Countries such as Belgium/Holland for example, this could be the solution needed if 1 or both is unable to create their own League season.

Well, in most minority sports, cross-border competition organised between countries is actively encouraged, as it helps drive playing standards higher, and also means the Euro governing body does not have to fund/organise tournaments themselves if they are unable to. So - what cross-border competitions are being organised by Euro Rugby League that would potentially clash with the Euro XIII?

Edinburgh is 200 miles from York. Glasgow is 204 miles from Wigan. You said " its bonkers that Spain doesn't have a domestic competition particarly with the proximity to Catalans Dragons. " You made no mention of Catalunya. "Main population centres" (your words) Sevilla is 730 miles from Perpignan. Madrid is 500 miles from Perpignan. Valencia is 330 miles from Perpignan. Malaga is 720 miles from Perpignan. Obviously Barcelona is closer. Oh... and Perpignan, is 1 wee town with a Rugby League team. Again - why is it "bonkers" that Spain does not have a domestic Rugby League championship just because a wee town in France has a professional team? It's quite obvious to me, that Spanish people, in the main, have no interest in Rugby League. Or certainly not enough interest to form clubs and organise themselves into a league. If they did, I think they would have one. There is only 1 thing that I can think of that is "bonkers" on this thread.

Exactly. Except even further away.

The only game I am aware of them playing, was played in Vilajoyosa, more than 150km from Valencia. I suspect this 'team' is a long long way from participating in the English leagues.

Why? Scotland doesn't have one either despite being right next to the North of England. (I know they are having one this year, but the last 5 years there have been 2 genuinely active teams... Max). What has the Catalans Dragons presence in France got to do with Spain not having a league?

Currently on this.

Just seeing that list reminds me I played a game for Fife Lions back around 1999. I had completely forgotten about it. Dislocated my shoulder that day too.

good to hear. how was their first training session?

I thought Herring was excellent. Very impressive. As has been mentioned already, Frampton could get nothing out of him. Never really in doubt from Round 1 onwards.

OK. I was talking about far more recently than that. Crowds were nowhere near that level in 2018. I think we are saying (partly) the same thing - "Scotland RL doesn't have a presence" effectively means they have to fill the team with people who are not Scottish, and in the case of foreigners, guys who don't even live here. The net result is the same - a team that nobody identifies with, and nobody cares about. As I said to the Geek chap yesterday: that is fine if all the IRL want is competitive matches. However it will definitely not lead to some kind of renaissance of support from the Scottish public at large. They literally CGAF. That's why national team games are played in wee towns like Gala. I don't buy it that the 4Nations games couldn't have been played in Scotland due to "the RFL organising the tournament, and choosing where games are". That just reinforces what I was saying in fact: that they play in England because that's where they will get a crowd. The RFL could easily have said let's get these games played in Scotland, buy it would have been a tiny crowd rattling about in a small stadium and would have looked terrible on TV. The decision was therefore logically taken to play in England - due to the aforementioned indifference from the public here.

Are you talking about the 2018 game Vs Wales?? You'd be lucky if there was 350 people there. I don't think they have had a game there since? Or are you going back further? To an earlier period?

Of course not. I never said anything like that. Union is really well marketed here at international level. It is also competitive, so Scotland can win close games against higher ranked countries. Scotland RL is seen as a bunch of English people playing a foreign sport. The union team will never realistically be perceived as that. I know people in Scotland who like Rugby League. They have zero interest though in going to watch 13 guys from Bradford giving it "Eey ooop... Me granny were Scotch... I think." That's why they get 200 people at a home game. I notice you have "geek" in your name, and am not sure if it is that which makes it difficult for you to understand this. Tongan Rugby League players resonate well with the Tongan public on NZ and Tonga, and are a source of national pride. Nobody in Scotland knows or cares who Danny Brough is, or can be bothered to support a bunch of English people playing what they perceive to be an English sport. They could have beaten NZ that night at Workington... And still nobody would have cared. You keep saying it doesn't bother you, yet you keep trying to force your (bizarre) view on the rest of us.

They do really though. Especially if they want a crowd, and don't want it to look ridiculous on TV/to the public. They had about 200 folk watching them at Gala, and the same at Lochinch. They played their 2016 4 Nations games at Whitehaven and Hull KR - and the England game was (correctly) played in England as well. Any "big" games in the UK, they play in England.

No. It's because the majority of us CGAF about a bunch of guys from Yorkshire pretending to be Scottish. Like I said already.

I have no idea about the players' motivations, but there is a massive difference with regard to the fans. The Tongan public accept these guys as Tongans and fully get behind them. Why? Because they "are" Tongan, regardless of birthplace really. By that I mean they speak Tongan, are ethnically Polynesian, and often speak their English with a Tongan accent. Tongan people like their Rugby League, and the team sits well within that public outlook. The Scottish public really CGAF about a bunch of guys from Yorkshire pretending to be Scottish. As you say, it COULD lead to some competitive games if the team is strong enough, but the fact they play home games in England while there are plenty of acceptable Stadia in Scotland 200 miles away says it all really. Nobody in Scotland could care less. Furthermore, Scottish people in England don't live in a recognisable "community" of their own, and don't follow Rugby League in any discernable numbers. Trying to equate the 2 is kind of laughable IMO.

Their fans (4 of them, all wearing club colours) murdered a Polish guy in Glasgow on Sunday, after the Glasgow Derby. Where is the outraged reaction from their fanbase? In fact.... Where is even the mildly annoyed reaction from their fans? The silence from them is deafening. A man is dead, in what is clearly and obviously a racially motivated attack. When their old club was liquidated, the new club had a chance to distance itself from these people. Instead, their board actively chases the orange/unionist pound. "Sectarian"? Call it what it is FFS - it is anti-Irish racism. I am guessing you have never grown up in Scotland? You have never been asked "what school did you go to..." in a really snidey way during a job interview, and then finding that despite being perfectly qualified, you didn't make the cut. Maybe then you would start to equate it a little more closely to a racist comment made to a black person.

It is somewhat that they (the Rangers) had a section of their stadium closed down last season, by UEFA for racism. Fast forward 18 months, the club has done nothing to eradicate these people from its support, but is now screaming from the rooftops about an alleged racist comment. The establishment club, with an incredibly entitled mindset.

I remember John reffing one of the Scotland Students games I played in. Let's just say that instead of calling "Moooove" to the tackler, a barrage of expletives got the message across just as efficiently. Am pretty sure we also slept on the seats of his pub in Cockermouth one night.

No. Would probably be a good starting point for the governing body though. Gaelic football used that route a few years ago, and it allows club teams to further grow out of the university set up.

"A few clubs"? It certainly would be good. Massive in fact, given that there are 4 or 5 in the entire country until now. Is this likely to happen? I haven't heard anything about it at all.

Thanks for this. Good level in those days (some good stuff from both teams). Great to see genuine attacking play straight from a scrum. Those days are long gone!

Bizarre comment ! Do Australian people tend to still read newspapers?