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British-born Francesca Bunting aiming to play for Brazil


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Yeah, read a similar article in this morning's edition of the The i newspaper. Great story and once again showing the benefits of international RL. I also didn't realise Ade and Matt Gardner had Brazilian parentage, hence Matt being the coach of the Brazil team.

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8 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Nice story. However it doesn’t say a lot for the women’s World Cup that someone who’s never played a game of RL before might be playing in it in less than a year’s time. 

The Women's World Cup final will be a quality game.  Highly likely to be Australia vs. New Zealand but it would be wonderful if England were able to progress that far.

As for Brazil.  Well, that is the other part of a World Cup - a celebration of the sport where teams from unlikely countries come together using players with interesting and newsworthy backstories.  This is just as important as the quality at the 'sharp end' for the tournament.

Luckily, the wider public will enjoy both sides and not try to pick them apart and find fault.

"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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13 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Nice story. However it doesn’t say a lot for the women’s World Cup that someone who’s never played a game of RL before might be playing in it in less than a year’s time. 

Hate to say it but I thought that...

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17 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Nice story. However it doesn’t say a lot for the women’s World Cup that someone who’s never played a game of RL before might be playing in it in less than a year’s time. 

Straight for the negative.

Well done. Collect your PROPER RUGBY LEAGUE SUPPORTER badge from reception.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

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1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Nice story. However it doesn’t say a lot for the women’s World Cup that someone who’s never played a game of RL before might be playing in it in less than a year’s time. 

An interesting read, certainly, but I have some sympathy with your view, Eddie. The subject talks a good game (despite never having played rugby league - even, it seems, in training) but then her day job is in marketing. “I’m hoping the transition won’t be too bad...” How many union players, over the years, have told themselves that!

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I can't believe the negative spin being put on this by some posters

This story made the front page of the BBC Sport website. Isn't that the kind of coverage we desperately want and need? Who cares whether she has played RL all her life or not? She doesn't even need to play in tournament. Just having her in the squad creates a marketing angle that can grab column inches.

Clearly, Brazil aren't serious contenders. If them being there creates interest (whether because of their...ahem... physical attributes, or not) then why not? Let's make a positive out of it.

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5 minutes ago, paulwalker71 said:

I can't believe the negative spin being put on this by some posters

This story made the front page of the BBC Sport website. Isn't that the kind of coverage we desperately want and need? Who cares whether she has played RL all her life or not? She doesn't even need to play in tournament. Just having her in the squad creates a marketing angle that can grab column inches.

Clearly, Brazil aren't serious contenders. If them being there creates interest (whether because of their...ahem... physical attributes, or not) then why not? Let's make a positive out of it.

absolutely.. these sorts of stories help people think that this is achievable.. its the same as the stories that always pop up when one of the home nations plays Andorra or the Faroe islands in football.. its what makes the first rounds of the FA Cup so brilliant.. the story of your local postman playing the big spenders... yes that is in our world cup but its still great headlines. 

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2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

The Women's World Cup final will be a quality game.  Highly likely to be Australia vs. New Zealand but it would be wonderful if England were able to progress that far.

As for Brazil.  Well, that is the other part of a World Cup - a celebration of the sport where teams from unlikely countries come together using players with interesting and newsworthy backstories.  This is just as important as the quality at the 'sharp end' for the tournament.

Luckily, the wider public will enjoy both sides and not try to pick them apart and find fault.

For those with an open mind, some one-sided RL games can be quite compelling. A team going down to a heavy defeat can have 5 or 10 minute spells where they start to cohere and hold their own. This creates more contrasts than in a tighter contest. And it`s interesting to watch individuals and teams relatively new to RL try to put the components together under game conditions.

We might not relish this type of game in regular club competitions, but as you say, it`s part of the variety of a WC.

As usual my worry is with our commentators and pundits. Will they be sufficiently well-informed to educate the audience? Teams from developing nations need more intelligent, detailed treatment for their performances not to be written off.

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28 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

For those with an open mind, some one-sided RL games can be quite compelling. A team going down to a heavy defeat can have 5 or 10 minute spells where they start to cohere and hold their own. This creates more contrasts than in a tighter contest. And it`s interesting to watch individuals and teams relatively new to RL try to put the components together under game conditions.

We might not relish this type of game in regular club competitions, but as you say, it`s part of the variety of a WC.

As usual my worry is with our commentators and pundits. Will they be sufficiently well-informed to educate the audience? Teams from developing nations need more intelligent, detailed treatment for their performances not to be written off.

Thats a massive thing... 

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3 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

I can't believe the negative spin being put on this by some posters

This story made the front page of the BBC Sport website. Isn't that the kind of coverage we desperately want and need? Who cares whether she has played RL all her life or not? She doesn't even need to play in tournament. Just having her in the squad creates a marketing angle that can grab column inches.

Clearly, Brazil aren't serious contenders. If them being there creates interest (whether because of their...ahem... physical attributes, or not) then why not? Let's make a positive out of it.

As to the negativity, me neither.  And I agree with all your points here.   BTW, has anyone made note of the Clubs' shorts that the young lady is wearing in the action photo embedded in the article?  Looks like the young lady believes in the games expansion.😀😀😀

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6 hours ago, Big Picture said:

"Bunting does not speak Portuguese and has been using translation apps to communicate with the Brazil squad."  That will work well during a match!

New signings  do this when they come to West Cumbria 

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3 hours ago, Cameron Highlander said:

As to the negativity, me neither.  And I agree with all your points here.   BTW, has anyone made note of the Clubs' shorts that the young lady is wearing in the action photo embedded in the article?  Looks like the young lady believes in the games expansion.😀😀😀

How did you spot that? 😉 

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