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Great Britain squad

Mr Plow

By Mr Plow
in The General Rugby League Forum

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Damien

Damien

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If it was simply a case of picking the best players then it would be the England team and squad for me. There isn't a single player from the other countries that I would select. That won't happen though because it would just further show the lunacy of this GB tour.

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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5 minutes ago, Damien said:

If it was simply a case of picking the best players then it would be the England team and squad for me. There isn't a single player from the other countries that I would select. That won't happen though because it would just further show the lunacy of this GB tour.

You have to view it through the prism of the NRL’s Pacific strategy, not England & the RFL. Then it makes some sense.

 

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Damien

Damien

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1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

You have to view it through the prism of the NRL’s Pacific strategy, not England & the RFL. Then it makes some sense.

 

Its the RFL that want this tour and who have instigated it. The NRL don't to the extent that they don't even want Australia to play GB. As such whatever strategy they may have is completely irrelevant and of course I'm sure the NRL aren't going to fund any losses that it may incur.

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Mr Plow

Mr Plow

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21 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

It’s a tour to play Tier 1 and 2 nations so I would imagine there will be more non-England players than some may assume.

I quite like the idea Phil Caplin has on Forty20, have Ireland V Scotland and Wales V England before the squad is announced 

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Man of Kent

Man of Kent

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1 minute ago, Damien said:

Its the RFL that want this tour and who have instigated it. The NRL don't to the extent that they don't even want Australia to play GB. As such whatever strategy they may have is completely irrelevant and of course I'm sure the NRL aren't going to fund any losses that it may incur.

We don’t yet know who will cover the costs and the players’ union may have blocked Kangaroos games for all we know.

What’s the alternative? France at LSV?

 

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nadera78

nadera78

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Anyone who gets picked from Scotland and one of Wales/Ireland will go on this tour and leave their countrymen behind to try and qualify for the RLWC without them. Nice work.

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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17 stone giant

17 stone giant

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So, if everything goes ahead as planned, Great Britain and Ireland will play New Zealand, Tonga, PNG, Fiji, and Samoa. That's five tests. Would I be right to assume that there is also likely to be four or five matches against club teams?

What size squad are we likely to need for this tour, and what is likely to be the breakdown of players from each of the four countries?

Are we likely to try and put out our strongest 13 or so players for all of the tests, and then maybe use the less good players for the matches against the club teams?

Or are we going to mix it up a bit for the tests too, and have maybe three or four non-English players in those matches? In other words, don't select purely on merit, but instead play about with the line-up a bit, so that it doesn't just look like England in a different shirt, and also gives the opposition more of a chance, because we wouldn't be at full strength.

I'm curious to know exactly how things will be done.

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B rad

B rad

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Guys like Coote, Aitken and Linnett could be in the running. I think for those guys to play for GB they should have made themselves available for the European Championship. If NRL and Super League guys are going to put their hands up for these nations in big games like 4 nations and world cups they should have to play the lessor tournaments as  well. 

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JM2010

JM2010

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5 hours ago, B rad said:

Guys like Coote, Aitken and Linnett could be in the running. I think for those guys to play for GB they should have made themselves available for the European Championship. If NRL and Super League guys are going to put their hands up for these nations in big games like 4 nations and world cups they should have to play the lessor tournaments as  well. 

I hope they don't select any heritage players. I don't think I could even watch it if they do

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winnyason

winnyason

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They won't cheapen jumper with aussie heritage scots or Irish imo. I think you find blokes like grace, knowles, flower will go and play in games v pacific nations. Look maybe Lms and mcllolum with the Irish playing days might get jumper. 

Another interesting point steve mascord stated france are touring pacific in 2020. So they not playing aussies by looks of it. 

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Dunbar

Dunbar

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We have an England team striving to place itself at the top of the world rankings.  We have other home nations battling for World Cup qualification - a tournament that is guaranteed to provide some much needed exposure for the sport in these countries.  I see little point in taking these initiatives and throwing Great Britain into the mix simply because some people miss the name.

If this were a Great Britain tour to play a three match test series against the Kangaroos then maybe it would be ok.  It would provide a bit of nostalgia I guess and it would allow some history of great ashes series to be remembered.  Personally, I think a three test series for England would be just as good.

What I would hate to see is a squad picked on some kind of rule where each home nation needs to be represented.  Surely the whole point of representative football is for the best available players to be picked as reward and recognition.

If England toured Australia for a three test series I would travel to Australia and follow the series live.  If a pseudo Great Britain team travelled I would probably watch the games on tv but with little enthusiasm.

This whole concept just feels like a backward step from where we are today.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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JM2010

JM2010

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17 minutes ago, winnyason said:

They won't cheapen jumper with aussie heritage scots or Irish imo. I think you find blokes like grace, knowles, flower will go and play in games v pacific nations. Look maybe Lms and mcllolum with the Irish playing days might get jumper. 

Another interesting point steve mascord stated france are touring pacific in 2020. So they not playing aussies by looks of it. 

I thought they'd be involved in the European Championships in 2020.

Who would France play next year?

Everyone is involved in WC qualifiers, Americas and MEA Championships, GB tour etc.

Who could France play?

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Scubby

Scubby

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7 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

We have an England team striving to place itself at the top of the world rankings.  We have other home nations battling for World Cup qualification - a tournament that is guaranteed to provide some much needed exposure for the sport in these countries.  I see little point in taking these initiatives and throwing Great Britain into the mix simply because some people miss the name.

If this were a Great Britain tour to play a three match test series against the Kangaroos then maybe it would be ok.  It would provide a bit of nostalgia I guess and it would allow some history of great ashes series to be remembered.  Personally, I think a three test series for England would be just as good.

What I would hate to see is a squad picked on some kind of rule where each home nation needs to be represented.  Surely the whole point of representative football is for the best available players to be picked as reward and recognition.

If England toured Australia for a three test series I would travel to Australia and follow the series live.  If a pseudo Great Britain team travelled I would probably watch the games on tv but with little enthusiasm.

This whole concept just feels like a backward step from where we are today.

That was the idea and Wood/Rimmer are now just trying to save face. Honestly, how many fans from the UK are going to travel to follow them? Many can barely afford a ticket to Liverpool never mind NZ and the Pacific Islands.

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Oliver Clothesoff

Oliver Clothesoff

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If they do actually play New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and PNG, they’d need a rather large squad to do so. After a year of Super League and NRL, it would be irresponsible to take a small squad, I think they’d have to look at around 30 players, maybe more. 

As a result, we may see a few token inclusions but I’d largely expect it to be 95%+ England and England Knights players. 

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