28 Oct: Four Nations: Australia v Scotland KO 8pm

[RICHARD OLLETT]

What attendance can we expect for this game - 7K Tops and we have just won the 2021 RL World Cup bid? Need to sort better choice of venues for 2021?

[Chanter]

Just seen a few of the Australian team in the bar here at the team hotel in Hull - bumped into Jonathan Thurston on the stairs.

Should have bought him a few or spiked his brown ale

[Exiled Wiganer]

Our abject failure to sell and appreciate the Kangaroos is one of the most annoying things in the game. For the leaguies of Hull to spend all year every year telling us how they travel further in greater numbers and then not be bothered to cross the road to see Thurston reflects badly on everyone. If I was a Kangaroo I would shake my head at what the UK and its "fans" offer them - rubbish grounds and seeming indifference.

[Crunchers Dad]

tempted to stick a leg out this morning at breakfast as Greg Inglis was getting his toast!!

You could have single-handedly win us the 4 Nations on your own

[faithfulbyname]

just sat in reception listening in to Steve Ganson explaining the refereeing situation to Mal Meninga and his staff.....

[Scubby]

Our abject failure to sell and appreciate the Kangaroos is one of the most annoying things in the game. For the leaguies of Hull to spend all year every year telling us how they travel further in greater numbers and then not be bothered to cross the road to see Thurston reflects badly on everyone. If I was a Kangaroo I would shake my head at what the UK and its "fans" offer them - rubbish grounds and seeming indifference.

 

Thurston isn't playing but I get what you mean.

[roughyedspud]

Yet most of the aussies say they love playing here

[Ant]

just sat in reception listening in to Steve Ganson explaining the refereeing situation to Mal Meninga and his staff.....

Was it "Yes Mal, we'll be miked up so just let us know what call you want us to give"

[westlondonfan]

Luke Douglas on playing for the Thistles: http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/four-nations/playing-league-for-scotland-luke-douglas-revelations-on-tournament-life-for-a-minnow-nation/news-story/186fd2564d658183da52e8566d8ef9cd

"Unavailable outside Australia "!

Not going to be the best match of the tournament Dont think but will be interesting to see Australia. I think I'll watch the highlights of this one.

[Farmduck]

"Unavailable outside Australia "!

 

Just for you, westlondon:

 

WHEN the Four Nations kicks off on Friday night UK time, the incredible gap between the haves and the have nots of international rugby league won’t be lost on Luke Douglas.

After playing in the 2013 World Cup for Scotland, the former Titans star had his eyes opened to life on the road with a rugby league minnow.

Barely could it be further removed from the Kangaroos’ life of luxury, with Mal Meninga’s men based at the England Football Association’s state-of-the-art $170 million St George’s Park training facility for this tournament.

It’s a far cry from how the Scottish prepare, with Douglas rubbing shoulders at training with chimney sweeps moonlighting as footballers at facilities not fit for a professional outfit.

And don’t get him started on the food...

 

This time around Douglas will be joined in the Bravehearts’ line-up by some of the NRL’s top talent, headlined by Cowboys premiership winners Lachlan Coote and Kane Linnett as well as Dragons rising star Euan Aitken and Wests Tigers young gun Tyler Cassel.

But of the locals selected to pull on the navy blue, several are just semi-professional, with day jobs at nuclear plants or cleaning chimneys.

That’s right: apparently the occupation romanticised by movies isn’t reserved for Mary Poppins remakes even in today’s modern world.

 

“There was one guy (in Scotland’s 2013 World Cup squad), I had to laugh, he had to go back to work, so he’d go back to work in the morning and then come to training and then cruise back to work and he was a chimney sweep,” Douglas tells foxsports.com.au.

“I didn’t know they had them still but he cleans out chimneys and makes fireplaces and stuff.

“Josh Barlow was his name and his brother Sam was in the team too, he’s played for Halifax in the Championship.

“So there were a few guys like that and it was really good.”

Neither of the Barlow brothers have made the squad this time but Douglas and his NRL cohorts are still bound to return home armed with more headspinning stories of players balancing a football career with a profession.

While the Bravehearts have picked a large majority of players plying their trades in the Super League, semi-professional clubs like Workington Town and the Batley Bulldogs are also represented.

 

 

For Douglas, playing for Scotland is about honouring his heritage and experiencing a lifestyle that would make plenty of NRL players turn up their nose.

Rarely would an Aussie professional sleep with less than four stars over their head or eat food that wasn’t restaurant quality and approved by a nutritionist.

A month with Scotland is a different proposition completely and has closer parallels with a bush footy side in outback NSW or Queensland. All part of the charm for Douglas.

“For some (professional players) it might not be an enjoyable experience because it is a fair step down and it’s a lot different but I’m a country boy and I’ve always played for teams (the Sharks and the Titans) that don’t have the big cash, so you make do with what you’ve got,” Douglas said.

 

 

“It’s a couple of steps backwards from that, but still, I really enjoyed it.”

An old school approach that encourages beers instead of coconut water no doubt plays into that attitude.

“For our sponsors who were on our jerseys it wasn’t a money thing, they’d just chuck a couple of cases of beer at us,” Douglas said.

“And there was an army sort of mob, or the marines — I can’t remember what it was — they had a guy, a general or someone, who came with us the whole time and cooked all our meals.

“So while other teams went to restaurants, we’d go to sports clubs and some of them were pretty dodgy, like old sheds, and he’d just cook us a meal here and there and we sort of made do with what we got.”

 

 

Traditionally, Scotland is the arch-enemy of southern neighbour England, just as it is in the country’s famous pop culture reference, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.

But Douglas reveals his side was given unexpected support from the Cumbrians in northern England at the World Cup, which surfaced at unusual times in unusual places.

No more unusual and no more welcome than when he found himself stranded on the side of a country road in the pouring rain.

“A lot of the Poms don’t really like the Scots but I suppose up there people sort of got on board and it’s not too far from the border,” Douglas said.

“My mate came over with me and there was some pretty nice scenery in the area for us to check out, these lakes and all that sort of stuff, so we went off on a little road trip at one stage and we ran out of petrol.

“It was ####### down rain and we were thinking like, ‘what do we do?’ and we were waiting on the side of the road and we were trying to flag someone down and this young fella pulled over and he actually was a league supporter — they love their footy.

“He pulled over and he says he watches The Footy Show and he’s a Parramatta supporter.

“So sure enough, he took me to his parents’ house and he got a jerry can and came and refuelled the car and I said ‘come via the hotel and I’ll get some training gear from the Titans’.

“A lot of them watch The Footy Show over there and they froth it.”

Douglas wasn’t the only Scottish player during that tournament who was eager to repay the local support, with the whole team mixing with the locals at country pubs between games.

Not only was the veteran forward blown away by the rugby league knowledge many of his drinking buddies possessed, he was taken aback by tales of their on-field exploits.

“We had a fair bit of support and we got into the community in a great little town and had a few beers with the locals after the game and all that sort of stuff,” Douglas said.

“They live and breathe their footy up in that Cumbria way and a lot of them don’t venture out of their area because they’re good players but they work in the nuclear plant and have good jobs so why would they bother chasing the Super League dream?”

 

 

While the Scottish rugby league jersey will never covet the same sense of awe, there are plenty of players willing to bleed for the navy blue as a sign of respect for the proud history of the nation it represents.

Despite growing up an Australian, the family ties Douglas has to Scotland has filled him with a strong desire to pay homage.

“My grandfather moved from Scotland when he was about 29 and he’s a proud Scotsman,” Douglas said.

“He grew up near a small Scottish town called MacLean — he went to school there and all the telegraph polls are painted in the different clans and there’s a Douglas tartan pole.

“That’s my heritage, Pop’s still got a real strong accent and my wife, her father was born and bred in Paisley just out of Glasgow, so that’s the Scottish heritage and I couldn’t be prouder to have the opportunity to represent it.”

[Just Browny]

Come on folk of Hull, get yourselves down there.

[Farmduck]

For Aus TV viewers:

 

AUS v Scotland 6.00am Saturday on GEM (NSW Time)

ENG v NZ midnight Saturday night on GEM (NSW Time)

[GaryO]

For Aus TV viewers:

 

AUS v Scotland 6.00am Saturday on GEM (NSW Time)

ENG v NZ midnight Saturday night on GEM (NSW Time)

Is there much of an interest in these games Ducky or is RL now in shut down for the cricket season, we have been informed the Aussie sporting public are very seasonal in their choice of sport.

[Farmduck]

I'm a recluse so I'm not a good judge of public anything. I think you're right about the "seasonality" though. Cricket hasn't quite kicked off yet, just the domestic season, which often doesn't involve many of the Test squad. Tennis and Golf have very short seasons - to fit in with World Tours - although Tennis is a big TV hit, it's usually late Dec-Jan so it doesn't hit RL. Ditto for golf.

 

I am just guessing here but if you put these international replays on at 4pm Sunday, I think you might get more viewers.

[roughyedspud]

Is there much of an interest in these games Ducky or is RL now in shut down for the cricket season, we have been informed the Aussie sporting public are very seasonal in their choice of sport.

I was listening to talkin sport on 2sm in sydney early this morning..and not one mention of it in the 2hours i listened.

[Allora]

Was it "Yes Mal, we'll be miked up so just let us know what call you want us to give"

This is what undermines the game in this Country.

Maybe..... just maybe he was explaining the different interpretations that the International game has compared to the NRL and the totally different style of refereeing in SL?

 

You may have been tongue in cheek but I see no indication of that and your recent posts suggest that the game is bent towards the Aussies.

Once we lose confidence in the officials and their unbiased officiating of our great game what is left?

No wonder its hard to get new fans on board when we spin this sort of stuff, not only do Australia get their own Refs but when they don't they tell our officials how they would like it and they say yes Sir....

[Ant]

It's because it is bent towards the Aussies, the ARL have made sure of that since 1990 at least that they dictate the selection of referees and how the game is played

The ARL is so indifferent to international rugby that they don't care how it's viewed outside Australia, just so long as the Kangaroos don't lose

The decision to not use neutral refs is a farce

[Allora]

It's because it is bent towards the Aussies, the ARL have made sure of that since 1990 at least that they dictate the selection of referees and how the game is played

The ARL is so indifferent to international rugby that they don't care how it's viewed outside Australia, just so long as the Kangaroos don't lose

The decision to not use neutral refs is a farce

 

I thought it came down to a committee on who should officiate a Game.

The voters being England, Australia and New Zealand.

Guess what, Australia and New Zealand are biased towards the rulings they get every week in the NRL.

Our first game against New Zealand has an English Ref... outrage, why was it not an Australian?  Look it up.

[John Rhino]

They aren't daft. They save the pressure for when it matters.

Fancy a fiver on who refs the final?

[Futtocks]

I'd fancy a fiver on a press release about how the Kangaroos' management "want to make sure the referees are up to speed on international rules and their interpretations". Sometime between the Scotland match (which they expect to win easily) and next weekend (when they've had a look at how England and the Kiwis are playing).

 

Bozo or Arko would have done it as a matter of course, and I doubt anything's changed since their day.

[thehullram]

I'd say about 1000 in so far! Hope it fills up more

[MZH]

I think people are underestimating the Scots a bit. The Aussies will win but I expect them to get a decent test. Aus 34 v 12 Scotland

[THE RED ROOSTER]

Anyone remember that world cup game at Huddersfield between Wales and Australia when Lee Briers inspired Wales to an epic performance from fullback?

I am hoping for a repeat of that

I was there and Kieran Cunningham had a retty good game as well IIRC - Fun for 60 mins..

 

Hoping for a respectable scoreline as a blow out damages the credibility of the tournament.

 

Commentary on 5 Live Sports Extra

[thehullram]

Probably 3k in now

[Futtocks]

Hoping for a respectable scoreline as a blow out damages the credibility of the tournament.

Sadly, some RL fans are hoping for the opposite, entirely because it will damage the credibility of the tournament.