Jump to content

Lions tour 2019 (Merged Threads)


Recommended Posts

20 minutes ago, Keith989 said:

Gosh that's depressing to see. He really is alone in this battle, as you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Ireland that wants Irish players in a team called GB. The Lions in union are still to this day called the British lions by some quarters in the British media, so how he thinks there is a chance of getting the Ireland name tacked onto this is beyond me. Not that he should be even trying to in the first place.

The difference is that in Union that's the exception. The team is almost always referred to as "The British and Irish Lions" or just "The Lions", certainly in any official capacity, and the jersey and anthem are neutral.

But this isn't because they're more enlightened, it's because the Irish contingent insisted on it if the team was to continue. The Irish representation in GB RL Lions are all born and raised in Britain and don't understand or care, and the one player who was from actually from Ireland (Carney) was completely ignored when he raised objections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 1.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
18 minutes ago, damp squib said:

The difference is that in Union that's the exception. The team is almost always referred to as "The British and Irish Lions" or just "The Lions", certainly in any official capacity, and the jersey and anthem are neutral.

But this isn't because they're more enlightened, it's because the Irish contingent insisted on it if the team was to continue. The Irish representation in GB RL Lions are all born and raised in Britain and don't understand or care, and the one player who was from actually from Ireland (Carney) was completely ignored when he raised objections.

Yeah good points, any small minute chance this team had in respresting Ireland will always be squashed by the British media, who have always disrespected Irish sports teams and stars by claiming them as "British" (see Katie Taylor, Shane Lowry, Conor McGregor etc). The BBC and sky sports have been pulled up on this so many times now, I genuinely think they do it for click bait at this stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, damp squib said:

The difference is that in Union that's the exception. The team is almost always referred to as "The British and Irish Lions" or just "The Lions", certainly in any official capacity, and the jersey and anthem are neutral.

But this isn't because they're more enlightened, it's because the Irish contingent insisted on it if the team was to continue. The Irish representation in GB RL Lions are all born and raised in Britain and don't understand or care, and the one player who was from actually from Ireland (Carney) was completely ignored when he raised objections.

Ouch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Keith989 said:

Yeah good points, any small minute chance this team had in respresting Ireland will always be squashed by the British media, who have always disrespected Irish sports teams and stars by claiming them as "British" (see Katie Taylor, Shane Lowry, Conor McGregor etc). The BBC and sky sports have been pulled up on this so many times now, I genuinely think they do it for click bait at this stage.

I don't think they do it on purpose, we're not that important. There's just widespread ignorance (deliberately cultivated) about the relationship and history between Britain and Ireland. Mostly it just comes from a well meaning but deeply misguided belief that Ireland is part of the "British Family of Nations", rather than a former British colony, and therefore they have no idea why wrapping Ireland up in British symbols is controversial, to put it mildly. This is why the response to pointing these things out to many British people is usually defensiveness as it challenges long held world views and makes people uncomfortable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, damp squib said:

When and where? Absolutely everything to do with the team is referred to as "Great Britain RL Lions". That's their official name.

I said it was, not it is. I've never heard the phrase "Great Britain Rugby League Lions" before this tour. It seems to be on everything this time, including the scoreboard initials: GBRLL. It looks unnecessary. They're playing rugby league. It's not the NZRLK. 

Lions in the monicker. GB is the area represented. RL is the sport. Don't overcomplicate it by putting everything in!

Speaking of the area represented...

49 minutes ago, damp squib said:

It goes far beyond the name though. It's a red, white and blue jersey with a Union flag on it and they sing the British anthem for God's sake!

So why do they selected Irish players and have an Irish badge on the Lions coat of arms? It IS intended to represent Ireland too. It's either an afterthought or complete ignorance.

Great-Britain-RL.jpg.15e2ef3359b3abbdce30172de7730a3f.jpg

eng_pl_GREAT-BRITAIN-RUGBY-RL-PUMA-SHIRT-XL-41313_1.thumb.jpg.20515ec178934a4969ce0adf986e9da3.jpg

0413b_qB3PaEVLDQytPExAfwd9oEAL.jpeg.thumb.jpg.dcdb2c6de77d1950fa328abdd3d7617a.jpg

It even says "British Isles XIII" on the badge.

If it's meant to be the same team, the equivalent now is including Remi Casty in the GB team at the moment. Like Ireland, France isn't mentioned in the team name or the national anthem (at least they have the right colours though!).

I genuinely am beginning to think that the powers that be simply don't know that Great Britain and the United Kingdom are 2 different things.

53 minutes ago, damp squib said:

The ridiculous thing is that I don't even want them to change anything. Anyone who wants the team back wants "Great Britain RL", the "iconic" red, white and blue jersey and the bloody anthem. I just want them to stop claiming it represents Ireland!

Well I think that's what they've tried to do this year, like I said. They've dropped the only link to Ireland (the coat of arms). But the Lions I grew up with DID represent Ireland too. It very much had Cork-born Carney playing for it, with an Irish badge on the coat of arms. I'm beginning to think that he only played on residency now and no one told us (and him)!

So not only is this a terrible nostalgia tour, it's a bloody inaccurate one.

Wells%20Motors%20(Signature)_zps67e534e4.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we're mostly in agreement Wellsy.

I would say though that regardless of whether "& Ireland" was previously in the official team, it was never referred to as such in the media or by the players or the RL public. And an Ireland badge on an otherwise entirely British-themed Jersey with a British anthem is not adequate representation for a team made up of two different countries. It treats Ireland as a whole as if it is a constituent country of the UK.

Quote

I genuinely am beginning to think that the powers that be simply don't know that Great Britain and the United Kingdom are 2 different things.

Not just that, they don't know that Great Britain, the United Kingdom and Ireland are 3 different things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't see why GB doesn't need more backs on this tour. The forwards have been very good but the backs are uniformly AWFUL. None of them could hold down a regular first grade spot in the NRL. I fear my Canberra Raiders will deeply regret buying George Williams. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
1 hour ago, Madgicsh said:

Okay OKAY! I take it back! George Williams is very much a great halfback, even better than his "brother" Sam!

I feel sorry for George being stuck in a small isolated place like Canberra with not much to do.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.