4 Nov: England v New Zealand KO 2.30pm (BBC TV)

[17 stone giant]

7 hours ago, DavidM said:

And on top of that the Lions as an entity will also incorporate  Ireland as well 

Excellent. So, some green on the shirt, Soldiers Song or Ireland's call played after God Save The Queen, and a Irish Tricolour or shamrock flag next to the Union Flag when we walk out. Or are we going for the RU Lions approach and not having an anthem at all?

 

[Kiwiling]

On 10/30/2018 at 3:47 PM, Manfred Mann said:

I am predicting that Shaun Johnson, Joseph Manu, and Dallin Watene-Zelesniak will each have brilliant games next Sunday, and allow the Kiwis to win comfortably. That will result in Bennett making some selection changes for game 3.

General consensus down under is they will bloody well need to.

[Kiwiling]

16 hours ago, Mattrhino said:

Right, although all the NZ players play in the NRL and Sutton is an NRL ref so it isn't perfect.

But its better than having an English ref for a England game.

Sutton, like most NRL refs, wouldn't get offered a beer in NZ. Actually he might not in Australia either. However they will be more in tune with NRL ways than English. However some key England forwards are top NRL forwards as well so in theory it shouldn't make any difference, and in the end it might not.

[ghost crayfish]

I think the whole neutral ref obsession is a bit silly. As a sport, we've only got two professional leagues! It's not like there are heaps of options... Just pick the best refs and get on with it. Over the years, I reckon I've seen inexperienced "neutral" refs show much more bias than top refs ever do. It's a natural consequence of feeling overawed and intimidated - favouring the big names under pressure.

As for the game...should be a cracker! I think both teams have improvement in them after last week, so will be great to see them go at it again.

[GeordieSaint]

1 hour ago, ghost crayfish said:

I think the whole neutral ref obsession is a bit silly. As a sport, we've only got two professional leagues! It's not like there are heaps of options...

I disagree - it makes the sport look rank amateur. The only game that’s an issue is Aus vs Eng. Considering we play each other rarely, limited options don’t have much of an impact. There’s no excuse for this current Series not being officiated by Australians and some development staff from other nations as per the European Championship currently being played.

[JohnM]

I disagree with your disagreement.

I reckon the majority of fans, including the million plus peak viewers on Saturday, are not bothered either way.

[MatthewWoody]

2 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

I think the whole neutral ref obsession is a bit silly. As a sport, we've only got two professional leagues! It's not like there are heaps of options... Just pick the best refs and get on with it. Over the years, I reckon I've seen inexperienced "neutral" refs show much more bias than top refs ever do. It's a natural consequence of feeling overawed and intimidated - favouring the big names under pressure.

As for the game...should be a cracker! I think both teams have improvement in them after last week, so will be great to see them go at it again.

Totally agree. 

[GeordieSaint]

26 minutes ago, JohnM said:

I disagree with your disagreement.

I reckon the majority of fans, including the million plus peak viewers on Saturday, are not bothered either way.

The recent poll on here suggests otherwise and we all know this board is a bastion of social understanding and knowledge.

[GeordieSaint]

10 hours ago, Futtocks said:

 

In the main, the responses on that site have been good and respectful. But I loved this one:

[johnh1]

BBC Breakfast have just shown this. They have done it in advance of 'a big rugby league match' at Anfield on Sunday. No mention of who they are playing mind,  or that the game is being covered on the BBC.

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

I'm going to risk the Curse of the Chronicler and say England by 6.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

33 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

BBC Breakfast have just shown this. They have done it in advance of 'a big rugby league match' at Anfield on Sunday. No mention of who they are playing mind,  or that the game is being covered on the BBC.

Hold on, back up! BBC breakfast actually acknowledged the existence of rugby league?? Is that what you're saying to me??

I think it was Friday I was watching that and the sports section, there was about 10 breaking news, end of world stories, about various obscure footballers falling down and getting a bit of mud on their kits, about ten minutes about a friendly England RU are playing this coming weekend and how it is a national scandal that some random player has been dropped, something about some posh blokes smacking a bit of cork around with paddles in Sri Lanka and running away from rain and then right at the end something like, "oh yeah, and BTW, there's a rugby league (said like a swear word) game going on tomorrow..."

I remember when the world Cup final day came round that daft naga woman spent the whole time the bloke was trying to talk about it basically just making derogatory comments and taking the wee wee. And what is it with the BBC and their obsession with athletics?? 

[Rupert Prince]

37 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

BBC Breakfast have just shown this. They have done it in advance of 'a big rugby league match' at Anfield on Sunday. No mention of who they are playing mind,  or that the game is being covered on the BBC.

With the greatest respect and the most exhaustive humility which I can muster, anybody who watches BBC Breakfast Time (and The One Show) should have their heads amputated.

[ivans82]

England by about 6 .Defense  and discipline to win out again . As for neutral refs not bothered either way .

[DavidM]

18 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Hold on, back up! BBC breakfast actually acknowledged the existence of rugby league?? Is that what you're saying to me??

I think it was Friday I was watching that and the sports section, there was about 10 breaking news, end of world stories, about various obscure footballers falling down and getting a bit of mud on their kits, about ten minutes about a friendly England RU are playing this coming weekend and how it is a national scandal that some random player has been dropped, something about some posh blokes smacking a bit of cork around with paddles in Sri Lanka and running away from rain and then right at the end something like, "oh yeah, and BTW, there's a rugby league (said like a swear word) game going on tomorrow..."

I remember when the world Cup final day came round that daft naga woman spent the whole time the bloke was trying to talk about it basically just making derogatory comments and taking the wee wee. And what is it with the BBC and their obsession with athletics?? 

Yeh I’m shocked it got a mention . I caught the start of one of their sports bulletins yesterday and the main headline was the England woman’s football squad announcement for a friendly 

[dunno much]

Kiwis by 10

[Kenilworth Tiger]

Can we discuss the actual game FFS!!

 

I think Kiwis will come back in this one and win by 12 -14 setting up a cracking decider next week

[Dunbar]

In our last 9 matches England have conceded less than 12 points a game on average and that includes two games against Australia and two against New Zealand.

Kiwis by 10+ or 14+ would require a huge turnaround in form.

[DavidM]

Not a clue who’s gonna win between these two , which is the main reason it’s so interesting 

[MatthewWoody]

When Italy is not playing, I always support England in sports. So I want them to just win at Anfield and finish the job. But God, it would be terrific to have a series decider in the 3rd game. 
Losing 3-0 would make Kiwis' International season a real disaster (it would mean 4-0 to England including the American test) and would just belittle (it's that the word?) their win v the Kangaroos. 
By the way I rate this touring team higher than the one who lost the series 2-1 in 2015.
So Go England of course but NZ can win this. 

[Dunbar]

I've suffered too much as a Great Britain/England Rugby League fan to start worrying too much about how a 3-0 defeat (and 4-0 in the year) will effect the Kiwis.  They beat Australia and if we beat them in this series it will be a great year for England.

They have won enough 4 Nations and World Cups.  It's ok for us to be a little selfish isn't it?

[Forever Trinity]

Anybody know if you can pay on the day, I booked for Hull 2 tickets but was charged £8 postage £4 each ticket that came in one envelope I will not fall for that one again absolute rip off!

[wackojacko]

Lockers ruled out through a calf injury so we'll definitely see changes.

[Dunbar]

5 minutes ago, wackojacko said:

Lockers ruled out through a calf injury so we'll definitely see changes.

I've suggested moving Bateman to 13 and bringing in Greenwood on the left edge.  But on reflection I'd keep Bateman and Whitehead in the second row and move Thompson to 13 for three big middles and bring Greenwood on to the bench.

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

17 minutes ago, wackojacko said:

Lockers ruled out through a calf injury so we'll definitely see changes.

Got to be Graham for captain surely?

14 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I've suggested moving Bateman to 13 and bringing in Greenwood on the left edge.  But on reflection I'd keep Bateman and Whitehead in the second row and move Thompson to 13 for three big middles and bring Greenwood on to the bench.

I'd go with that too I think