NRL Great Britain

[B rad]

While English Super League players are playing France mid-season as Australian, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, and PNG players are playing State of Origin, New Zealand and NRL-contracted English players are twiddling their thumbs.

 

An NRL Great Britain side vs NZ would certainly tick a lot of boxes.

It would : Give NZ a much needed home game giving Kiwi fans more exposure to Rugby League as NZ Rugby Union stumbles just a little bit. 

              : Give NRL-contracted English players a test match so they don't miss out on rep duty just because they are in a different RL competition.

              : Give Irish Scottish and Welsh heritage players an opportunity to continue to be associated their nation of heritage outside of RLWCs and encourage them to take part in tournaments between World Cups.

             : Give both nations an opportunity to build rep experience and combinations for end of season tournaments

 

An NRL Great Britain might look similar to this 

 

1  Herbie Farnsworth (Eng)

2  Dom Young (Eng)

3  Euan Aitken (Scot)

4  Bradman Best (Wales)

5  Campbell Graham (Scot)

6  Luke Keary (Ire)

7  Jackson Hastings (Eng)

8  Tom Burgess (Eng)

9  Josh Hodgson (Eng)

10 Luke Thompson (Eng)

11 Elliot Whitehead (Eng)

12 John Bateman (Eng)

13 Victor Radley (Eng)

 

14 Ryan Sutton (Eng)

15 Tyson Frizell (Wales)

16 Max King (Eng)

17 Tom Starling (Ire)

18 Jamain Jolliffe (Ire) 

19 Oliver Gildart (Eng)

20 Josh Curran (Ire)

21 Bailey Hodgson (Eng) 

*  Sam Walker if not counted as a Tier 1 game. 

* Players representing Celtic nations should have their test counted as Tier 2 as to not restrict them from other rep football.

Edited March 31, 2023 by B rad

[thebrewxi]

At some point in the not too distant future someone at the NRL will think this is a good idea and a team branded as GB or England made up of soley oz based players will play Fiji or the like in Sydney. 

This will be the start of the end of the IRL and the shrinking of English influence on the world game. 

[Dunbar]

Apart from anything else, hasn't the 3 games of State of Origin reverted back to Wednesday evenings this year, so there is no representative weekend mid season?

[Damien]

The NRL have already dictated no mid season international weekend. I also think it's a poor idea and concept anyway. 

[B rad]

29 minutes ago, thebrewxi said:

At some point in the not too distant future someone at the NRL will think this is a good idea and a team branded as GB or England made up of soley oz based players will play Fiji or the like in Sydney. 

This will be the start of the end of the IRL and the shrinking of English influence on the world game. 

I am not suggesting the NRL go behind the England RL's back and create a non-sanctioned test. I am suggesting the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish RL create a game that will benefit themselves and the New Zealand RL who are neglected when it comes to representative opportunities compared to other nations.

 

England is playing a test against France already, minus a large chunk of their top talent, which is fine since France will probably benefit more from playing against a weakened England than a full-strength one at this point in their development. But it's still unfair for English players in the NRL and it's always been unfair for New Zealand players who without mid-season tests are also unavailable for the State of Origin.

 

An NRL GB is at least more diverse than the typical GB which is usually England in a different jersey. It creates a larger benefit for the Celtic nations who are suddenly more represented.  

[B rad]

33 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Apart from anything else, hasn't the 3 games of State of Origin reverted back to Wednesday evenings this year, so there is no representative weekend mid season?

I seem to remember the NRL was against a New Zealand vs English test in Denver. They did it anyway. Considering the number of players involved in representative rugby league due to the State of Origin they don't really have a great argument against one test match for GB-eligible and New Zealand players. 

 

They could play it on Wednesday night before Origin in Auckland which is a couple of hours behind Sydney as not to interfere too much with the Origin timeslot. Fair is fair. They shouldn't be able to have a rule for one group of players and not others. 

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, B rad said:

I seem to remember the NRL was against a New Zealand vs English test in Denver. They did it anyway. Considering the number of players involved in representative rugby league due to the State of Origin they don't really have a great argument against one test match for GB-eligible and New Zealand players. 

 

They could play it on Wednesday night before Origin in Auckland which is a couple of hours behind Sydney as not to interfere too much with the Origin timeslot. Fair is fair. They shouldn't be able to have a rule for one group of players and not others. 

The NRL have scrapped the international weekend, that was when the Denver test was played. I completed agree its not fair but its the situation the NRL have created. Origin is paramount.

[Dunbar]

31 minutes ago, B rad said:

I seem to remember the NRL was against a New Zealand vs English test in Denver. They did it anyway. Considering the number of players involved in representative rugby league due to the State of Origin they don't really have a great argument against one test match for GB-eligible and New Zealand players. 

 

They could play it on Wednesday night before Origin in Auckland which is a couple of hours behind Sydney as not to interfere too much with the Origin timeslot. Fair is fair. They shouldn't be able to have a rule for one group of players and not others. 

Look, I am with you on the need for internationals but I would say 2 things.

1. If SOO is not on the weekend now then clubs are looking to their non SOO stars in that period and will really resist another rep game.

2. Most importantly, we need internationals to be genuine internationals, not a scratch side that will not capture the imagination of either UK or antipodean fans.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Dunbar

[jim_57]

England alone could very nearly put out an Australian based team without the need to fill it up with heritage players for Wales/Ireland/Scotland to make it GB. I wouldn’t really see the point but there is no reason they couldn’t throw one together for a mid-season game if they ever returned in the Southern Hemisphere. Fly the England coach down and a 5-6 SL players to make up a full squad if need be.

For the sake of it here is an NRL based team for 2024 (+QLD & NSW Cup).

1. B Hodgson. 
2. Simm.
3. Gildart. 
4. Farnworth. 
5. Young. 
6. Pryce. 
7. Hastings. 
8. T Burgess.  
9. J Hodgson. 
10. Sutton. 
11. Whitehead. 
12. Bateman. 
13. Radley. 
14. Leeming.
15. Pearce-Paul. 
16. King. 
17. Thompson. 
 

A bit weak/inexperienced in the backs and halves but being honest worse players have got England shirts in the past. Forwards and bench pretty good. Likelihood of them all being fit at the same time is roughly 0 but it’s a decent “hypothetical” team.

Edited April 2, 2023 by jim_57
Adding player.

[Welshleaguelover]

7 hours ago, jim_57 said:

England alone could very nearly put out an Australian based team without the need to fill it up with heritage players for Wales/Ireland/Scotland to make it GB. I wouldn’t really see the point but there is no reason they couldn’t throw one together for a mid-season game if they ever returned in the Southern Hemisphere. Fly the England coach down and a 5-6 SL players to make up a full squad if need be.

For the sake of it here is an NRL based team for 2024 (+QLD & NSW Cup).

1. B Hodgson. 
2. Simm.
3. Gildart. 
4. Farnworth. 
5. Young. 
6. Pryce. 
7. Hastings. 
8. T Burgess.  
9. J Hodgson. 
10. Sutton. 
11. Whitehead. 
12. Bateman. 
13. Radley. 
14. ?. 
15. Pearce-Paul. 
16. King. 
17. Thompson. 

Leeming as 14

[Pulga]

I'd be keen to see an English NRL squad. GB I have no interest in.

[Sports Prophet]

Sounds as lame an idea as the Exiles.

[Exiled Wiganer]

49 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Sounds as lame an idea as the Exiles.

What would the English AFL team look like?

[Jughead]

It’s a humungous no from me. Sounds a terrible idea and one akin to the Exiles where they’d be scrambling around for players, as per the Exiles. 

 

[roughyed8]

25 minutes ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

What would the English AFL team look like?

A bunch of ex-pat aussies!

[Gav Wilson]

Thanks, I hate it.

[Jughead]

If the sky has fallen in as some believe, maybe we could get the Australian and Kiwi players in the UK to form some kind of exiled team and maybe England could play them instead of the real Australia or New Zealand sides. 

[crashmon]

This post would have been better if it had been posted last sasturday, at least we could all have laughed at it.

International teams should never play non international teams IMHO.  About the only sport this works is in Union with the Barbarians 

[Sports Prophet]

21 hours ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

What would the English AFL team look like?

You like talking off topic? They would look more valuable than your contribution to this thread.

They would look similar to RLWC teams Greece, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Lebanon, Samoa, Tonga and Cook Islands.

One main difference would be that the English AFL team would be full of players who were either born in in the country or lived there for more than 5 years. Very dissimilar to the RLWC teams above.

Wanna get back to the topic now?

Edited April 5, 2023 by Sports Prophet

[StandOffHalf]

I like the idea. I think it could be be made to work.

[B rad]

So copping a bit of flack for the idea. I'd just like to point out a few things. 

1 How is a Great Britain team picked from the NRL less credible than an English team only picked from Super League?

2 How is a Great Britain team with players actually eligible for Scotland, Wales and Ireland in it, less credible than the English team using the name Great Britain?

3 Surely this is more relevant than the Combined Nations' All-Stars, a team created for the exact same purpose.