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Lions tour 2019 (Merged Threads)


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2 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

I have only seen 'Catalan Tours' asking for registrations for those people who are interested in making the trip, has any one seen any other or know of any other tour operators running tours?

Cheaper to do it yourself, no?

I know a lad that did the World Cup that didn’t bother with any tour operators and it come in much cheaper than any of the organised tours and meant he wasn’t stuck to a schedule. 

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22 minutes ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Cheaper to do it yourself, no?

I know a lad that did the World Cup that didn’t bother with any tour operators and it come in much cheaper than any of the organised tours and meant he wasn’t stuck to a schedule. 

Depends when the itinery is finally published Oliver, was it a lot more cost effective for your mate?

If the tour companies are able to make "block" bookings for Flights, Hotels, Tranfers etc they should be getting them at a better price than individuals can, it all depends on how much commission they want to make from each booking, and also up to the individual if they think paying someone else to do all the logistics is worth it.

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Just now, Harry Stottle said:

Depends when the itinery is finally published Oliver, was it a lot more cost effective for your mate?

If the tour companies are able to make "block" bookings for Flights, Hotels, Tranfers etc they should be getting them at a better price than individuals can, it all depends on how much commission they want to make from each booking, and also up to the individual if they think paying someone else to do all the logistics is worth it.

In fairness, he stayed in Sydney because that’s where England were playing at the time. It was cost effective for him definitely. 

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1 hour ago, Oliver Clothesoff said:

Cheaper to do it yourself, no?

I know a lad that did the World Cup that didn’t bother with any tour operators and it come in much cheaper than any of the organised tours and meant he wasn’t stuck to a schedule. 

I did a few price ups for the WC as was thinking of going until our lass told me we were expecting, which stopped that idea. But I could of done the trip for about half the price of the agents were asking.

But some people just don't want to book stuff themselves.

I spent my 20's travelling and working so I'm experienced in getting around some people need travel agents, You'd think they would have been ditched as soon as the internet booking stuff came in but there you go.

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On 7/31/2018 at 2:21 AM, jim_57 said:

Fri - PNG V GB - Port Moresby

Tue - Tonga V GB - Mt Smart

Sat - NZ V GB - Auckland/Christchurch

Wed - Fiji V GB - Suva or Sydney

Sat - Australia V GB (Ashes) - Newcastle

Wed - Aboriginal All Stars V GB - Townsville

Sun - Ashes 2 - Perth

Wed - Samoa V GB - Penrith

Sun - Ashes 3 - Brisbane

Christ, what kind of state will the GB players be in by the time the first Aussie test comes around. Fair few bumps and bruises to be picked up in those first four games.

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20 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

Christ, what kind of state will the GB players be in by the time the first Aussie test comes around. Fair few bumps and bruises to be picked up in those first four games.

The amount of flying in between will be enough to see a few off.

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Are we definitely going to play three times against Australia for The Ashes? I keep seeing people talking about it and I'd be buzzing if it happened. I don't want to end up being disappointed when we only play one match against Australia. They need to make this happen, and then we need to take them on again for The Ashes in 2020. I wish all the other teams well and I'm happy for England/GB to play them occasionally if and when we can, but for me the biggest thing in international RL is The Ashes. It's about a three test series, England/GB against Australia. It needs to be the central point of the tour next year. By all means play warm ups or midweek matches against PNG, Tonga, New Zealand, etc., but The Ashes has to happen.

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2 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

Tour is supposed to be a challenge.

If we are just having an ashes series England should be playing. They can wear a GB jersey and call it a retro kit for nostalgia if they want.

Tours down under are always tough without playing internationals Wed/Sat  for a month.

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20 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Tours down under are always tough without playing internationals Wed/Sat  for a month.

Wouldn't it be a bit like the RU Lions though in terms of having a test team and midweek team? Albeit that in this case the Saturday team would play against Australia and the midweek team would play against Tonga, PNG, etc.

How many players are we likely to take in the squad? It's a difficult one because it would be nice to play tests against PNG and Tonga etc. with a full strength side, but you can't expect the first choice XIII to play against those teams as well as three times against Australia. Not forgetting that to do that you'd have to tour for a lot longer than you'd like. On the flip side, if you play a 2nd XIII against the likes of PNG and Tonga, that might be seen as being disrespectful and devaluing the fixture. I'll be interested to see what they come up with.

 

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7 minutes ago, 17 stone giant said:

Wouldn't it be a bit like the RU Lions though in terms of having a test team and midweek team? Albeit that in this case the Saturday team would play against Australia and the midweek team would play against Tonga, PNG, etc.

How many players are we likely to take in the squad? It's a difficult one because it would be nice to play tests against PNG and Tonga etc. with a full strength side, but you can't expect the first choice XIII to play against those teams as well as three times against Australia. Not forgetting that to do that you'd have to tour for a lot longer than you'd like. On the flip side, if you play a 2nd XIII against the likes of PNG and Tonga, that might be seen as being disrespectful and devaluing the fixture. I'll be interested to see what they come up with.

 

Depends if you don't mind losing,playing Tonga,Fiji,PNG in the Southern Hemisphere is a tough job for a first choice GB team,expecting the midweek 2nd string to beat them is unrealistic given the lack of depth we have at present.

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16 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

Depends if you don't mind losing,playing Tonga,Fiji,PNG in the Southern Hemisphere is a tough job for a first choice GB team,expecting the midweek 2nd string to beat them is unrealistic given the lack of depth we have at present.

Im not sure. I think there are alot of good players in SL. Tonga with all the NRL talent will be very tough midweek however PNG and Fiji would probably loose to a good SL team let alone England second team. 

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6 minutes ago, scotchy1 said:

Playing three tests and a warm up isnt a tour. Its a series.

Who said anything about playing only 3 tests and a warm up,by the way playing 3 tests against Australia is a series,maybe not a tour but it is a series.

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22 hours ago, scotchy1 said:

To the point where rather than remove the I from the gb&I lions I'd remove the GB)&I and have lions as an NH touring side going against a real 8 week southern hemisphere challenge. 

If England is my national side, why can't The Lions include France or Italy or Jamaica or the US? 

People will dismiss this but it actually makes a lot of sense. There are only two countries in the NH who have a pool of professional players - England and France. It also means you can keep the classic jersey as it is representative of both countries. It would be a much more genuine multi-national representative RL team in every meaningful sense.

Entente Cordiale Lions anyone?

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16 minutes ago, damp squib said:

People will dismiss this but it actually makes a lot of sense. There are only two countries in the NH who have a pool of professional players - England and France. It also means you can keep the classic jersey as it is representative of both countries. It would be a much more genuine multi-national representative RL team in every meaningful sense.

Entente Cordiale Lions anyone?

Red white and blue or blue white and red?

Sacré bleu that would be a hard sell to some.

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Plus La Marseillaise is way better than GSTQ. Let's do it.

On second thoughts, let's just play as England and put loads of our spare money into developing France so that hopefully in the future we can have a competitive three match series against them, and they can also tour the southern hemisphere at the same time as  England do. That way we could have Aus v Eng and then NZ v France on the same day.

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1 minute ago, scotchy1 said:

Thats kind of the point, if we are going an Ashes series, send England.

If we are doing a proper Lions tour, make it a proper tour with a Rep side lets make it one with a real differentiator, something unique. A proper lions tour has to be unique or its pointless.

I agree. Sadly, I just can't imagine Scotland, Wales and Ireland ever producing enough quality players for a RU style Lions tour to ever work. When is it going to happen? If anything, we've gone backwards in that respect since RU went professional and the flow of talent from amateur RU to professional RL has dried up, and probably now even reversed. It wouldn't surprise me at all that if Regan Grace developed into a great player that the Welsh RFU would come knocking at the door with a bag of money. I don't know the guy or how he thinks, but I again wouldn't be surprised if he saw the money and the possibility of representing Wales RU in front of 75000 and switched codes.

RL administrators need to stop making decisions on what they wish the situation was, and starting making them based on what the real situation is.

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6 minutes ago, londonrlfan said:

PNG - Port Moresby

Australia - Melbourne

Australia - Perth

Australia - Brisbane

Tonga/Samoa/Fiji - Sydney

Rather play actual internationals than "all star" teams or representative teams. 

I like the look of that. Maybe Tonga in Auckland again. I'm sure they'd be up for a revenge match after feeling hard done by at the world cup. Would definitely play PNG too. They get a great crowd and they have potential to grow given their population size. Samoa and Fiji I would only play if it could be done with a 2nd XIII. I'd also play one match against New Zealand. Can't really go all that way - especially if you're playing Tonga in Auckland - and not play NZ.

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Just now, 17 stone giant said:

I like the look of that. Maybe Tonga in Auckland again. I'm sure they'd be up for a revenge match after feeling hard done by at the world cup. Would definitely play PNG too. They get a great crowd and they have potential to grow given their population size. Samoa and Fiji I would only play if it could be done with a 2nd XIII. I'd also play one match against New Zealand. Can't really go all that way - especially if you're playing Tonga in Auckland - and not play NZ.

That's why I'd rather have a tournament than a test series. Seems such a waste to only face the Australians and one or two "warm ups". Could have easily had a 6 Nations/insert other name with Aus, NZ, Tonga, PNG and Fiji instead. 

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16 hours ago, Davo5 said:

Tours down under are always tough without playing internationals Wed/Sat  for a month.

Thats why they always took a squad big enough to formulate 2 teams, basically an initial 'test' and a 'midweek' team, but that was not set in stone, players who performed well 'midweek' would/could be promoted, or those from the strongest selection who's form was not desirable could/would be dropped, it is the best way of touring.

Many times those selected as part of the strongest line up's have been displaced, best example I can recall is the team which became known as "The Invincibles" the 1982 Kangaroo's, Wally Lewis and Steve Mortimer were selected as the first choice 6 & 7, but such was the form of the expected second string Brett Kenny(6) and Peter Sterling(7) in the games prior to the first test at Boothferry Park, Hull, they gained selection and never lost it being the pairing for all 3 tests.

The more games they can put into the schedule is fine just as long as they take a big enough squad, AND have player's back home under instruction to keep themselves fit and ready should they be called upon to travel at quick notice as replacements for injured players.

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1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Thats why they always took a squad big enough to formulate 2 teams, basically an initial 'test' and a 'midweek' team, but that was not set in stone, players who performed well 'midweek' would/could be promoted, or those from the strongest selection who's form was not desirable could/would be dropped, it is the best way of touring.

Many times those selected as part of the strongest line up's have been displaced, best example I can recall is the team which became known as "The Invincibles" the 1982 Kangaroo's, Wally Lewis and Steve Mortimer were selected as the first choice 6 & 7, but such was the form of the expected second string Brett Kenny(6) and Peter Sterling(7) in the games prior to the first test at Boothferry Park, Hull, they gained selection and never lost it being the pairing for all 3 tests.

The more games they can put into the schedule is fine just as long as they take a big enough squad, AND have player's back home under instruction to keep themselves fit and ready should they be called upon to travel at quick notice as replacements for injured players.

Playing Tonga,Fiji,Samoa etc midweek is totally different to playing the likes of Northern Territories,Burleigh Bears or a 2nd string NRL team which previous tours have done and our 2nd string will be of a lot less quality than the 82 invincibles 

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1 hour ago, scotchy1 said:

GB and a random nation that doesnt really play RL. Brilliant

GB and the random nation that doesnt really play RL plus another random nation that does. Terrible.

Strange lot RL fans. Pick an awful lot of strange hills to fight on.

It's a project entirely based on nostalgia. If it doesn't match up perfectly with that childhood memory then it has no purpose. I'm not in favour of bringing back GB or GB&I or whatever else, but I can see how it could work by making a few changes (such as your suggestions) to more accurately reflect the current RL World we live in. But that would defeat the purpose for most of it's supporters.

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