Sat 26 Oct: Lions Tour: Tongan Invitational XIII v Great Britain (BBC)

[John Drake 5,177]

Discuss the Lions Tour game, Tongan Invitational XIII v Great Britain at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, here. 

The match will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC Two (07.30)

[Hughsehhh 132]

C'mon the lions. 

Naysayers can bore off. 

[MattSantos 709]

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

[Hughsehhh 132]

2 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

Can't be helped now, let's just enjoy it.

People moan enough about a lack of internationals, here's a nice little tour to get your teeth into. 

[Dunbar 6,501]

This game will be a real test of how much influence a good half back pairing can have on a game.

In the backs and the forward pack you would have to say these teams are either even or perhaps edging towards Tonga but the British half backs are significantly better.  Let's see if they can execute a kicking game and game plan to suppress the dangers the Tongans bring.

Very tough game to call this one... I will go for Great Britain for the half back reason.

[Mr Frisky 579]

33 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

Why, are Tongas RU team playing?

[Tex Evans Thigh 822]

Is this game being shown on international TV? I highly doubt it but one can hope.

[GeordieSaint 5,640]

GB will be up for this game. 7-12pts win.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield 1,125]

1 hour ago, MattSantos said:

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

A simple solution would be to bring our kick off time forward 1 hour 

[Dunbar 6,501]

Getting up early on a Saturday morning to watch Great Britain live down under on the BBC.

Enough to make you feel like a kid again!

[Mr Frisky 579]

42 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Getting up early on a Saturday morning to watch Great Britain live down under on the BBC.

Enough to make you feel like a kid again!

Yep, absolutly love it!

[Gerrumonside ref 1,716]

Looking forward to the game despite everything

[southwalesrabbitoh 138]

Possible side :-

Full-back - L Coote

Wings - J McGillvary, R Hall

Centres - Z Hardaker, J Connor

Half-backs - G Widdop, J Hastings

Front-rowers - C Hill, L Thompson

Hooker - J Hodgson

Second-rowers - E Whitehead, J Bateman

Loose-forward - J Graham(c)

Interchange - J Lomax, A Walmsley, T Burgess, J Jones

Edited October 22, 2019 by southwalesrabbitoh

[17 stone giant 1,029]

Come on GB! I've optimistically gone for a 7-12 point win.

I shall watch the 1st half, then the RU, and then the 2nd half. Not ideal, but I like a lot of sports, so I'm used to having to juggle things a bit.

[Gray1967 235]

Despite peoples grumbling, im well looking foward to this tour....finish work at 7 Sat morn, home and GB....cant wait. Only decision is which retro GB shirt to wear

 

[burnleywelsh 462]

6 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

I know what I’ll be watching ....

[MattSantos 709]

8 hours ago, Hughsehhh said:

Can't be helped now, let's just enjoy it.

People moan enough about a lack of internationals, here's a nice little tour to get your teeth into. 

I cant though. Its not on tele

[saintspete83 390]

 

Reports of only 6k ticket sales. This wont look good on tv. Hopefully these reports are wrong. 

Edited October 23, 2019 by saintspete83

[Dunbar 6,501]

14 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

I shall watch the 1st half, then the RU, and then the 2nd half

I shall not be doing that.

[tuutaisrambo 575]

15 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

I shall watch the 1st half, then the RU, and then the 2nd half. 

Ditto.........the crowd will be poor cos all of NZ will be at home watching the All blacks on the TV.

Brilliant weekend of rugby across both codes starting on friday morning with the Kangaroos v Kiwis 

[Mushy 328]

The team selection for GB will be fascinating. Seeing Oz and NZ not frightened to pick players out of position I wonder if we might do the same to cover some areas. 
Widdop back to fullback with Williams and Hastings at halfback, for instance? Will there be a place for Austin, at half or on the bench or somewhere else in the lineup?

[hunsletgreenandgold 1,046]

54 minutes ago, Mushy said:

The team selection for GB will be fascinating. Seeing Oz and NZ not frightened to pick players out of position I wonder if we might do the same to cover some areas. 
Widdop back to fullback with Williams and Hastings at halfback, for instance? Will there be a place for Austin, at half or on the bench or somewhere else in the lineup?

The provisional team has already been announced. So in answer to your questions, Hardaker looks like the only one playing out of his normal position, Widdop is at 6 with Coote at fullback and no it doesn't appear Austin will be playing this one. 

 

Great Britain RL Lions:

1. Lachlan Coote (Windsor Wolves, St Helens)

2. Jermaine McGillvary (Deighton Juniors, Huddersfield Giants)

3. Zak Hardaker (Featherstone Lions, Wigan Warriors)

4. Oliver Gildart (Wigan St Patricks, Wigan Warriors)

5. Ryan Hall (Oulton Raiders, Sydney Roosters)

6. Gareth Widdop (Kings Cross, St George Illawarra Dragons)

7. Jackson Hastings (Western Suburbs Red Devils, Salford Red Devils)

8. Chris Hill (New Springs Lions, Warrington Wolves)

9. Josh Hodgson (East Hull, Canberra Raiders)

10. Luke Thompson (Bold Miners, St Helens)

11. John Bateman (Bradford Dudley Hill, Canberra Raiders)

12. Elliott Whitehead (West Bowling, Canberra Raiders)

13. James Graham (c) (Thatto Heath, St George Illawarra Dragons)

14. Josh Jones (Blackbrook, Salford Red Devils)

15. Tom Burgess (Dewsbury Moor, South Sydney Rabbitohs)

16. Jonny Lomax (Orrell St James, St Helens)

17. Alex Walmsley (Dewsbury Celtic, St Helens)

 

There is an extended reserve bench made up of Connor, Hughes, Williams and Clark. Philbin and Austin not selected. 

 

[Hughsehhh 132]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50057123

Decent article on the BBC to relive some nostalgia.

2006 lions team versus the current?

2006 all the way for me. Forwards, backs, halves all superior 

Edited October 23, 2019 by Hughsehhh

[Denton Rovers RLFC 990]

23 hours ago, MattSantos said:

Silly kick off time.

No one will show the game due to the Union. Bah

it'll be the only time I get up early to watch a game of rugby, I've caught the second half of a couple of matches that were on later morning in the RUWC, I wouldn't be getting up at 7:30 for any of that claptrap!

[Denton Rovers RLFC 990]

49 minutes ago, Hughsehhh said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50057123

Decent article on the BBC to relive some nostalgia.

2006 lions team versus the current?

2006 all the way for me. Forwards, backs, halves all superior 

This side had the potential