Sat 4th Nov: Third Test: England v Tonga KO 2.30pm @ Headingley (BBC One)

[Northern Eel]

1 hour ago, moorside roughyed said:

On my previous post I forgot to congratulate Elliott Whitehead on a fantastic try and MOM display. Happy international retirement mate, you've been a good un

Whilst he was initially given the MOM in the stadium, it was soon rescinded and given to a well-deserving Bateman. Presumably the message from the BBC didn't make it through the cup and string accurately!

Whitehead has been a terrific rep for the England team and I share your best wishes for a well-earnt retirement.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Northern Eel

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

19 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Funnily enough, I thought the atmosphere yesterday was good, for an international, and far better than the previous two. It also helped that the Women had played before hand, so the crowd were a little more 'warmed up' for the game, as it were.

I don't know what came across on tv after the game, but live in the stadium there was a panorama of things going on after the whistle, including some really generous applause on each side of the ground for the Tongans. I thought that was a really important thing to happen, as we need to make touring teams as welcome as possible (except during the game!) in the hope that they take their positive experiences back and persuade others of the virtues of touring England/Europe.

Pleased to see it was better......if I go to a test series game up north again it will only be to Headingly I think 

[moorside roughyed]

58 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

Whilst he was initially given the MOM in the stadium, it was soon rescinded and given to a well-deserving Bateman. Presumably the message from the BCC didn't make it through the cup and string accurately!

Whitehead has been a terrific rep for the England team and I share your best wishes for a well-earnt retirement.

Didn't know but he's still been great in the shirt. But yes Bateman did have a good un too.

[Harry Stottle]

2 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

He's a big body....I suspect as full backs go he would be one of the toughest ones out there to have a bit if biff with 

Seriously? What about the other 12 positions, you can't see numbers on the back when stood face to face.

[Wolford6]

I can't be bothered scrolling through 19 pages on the topic, so this might already been raised.

Tyler Dupree was quoted on the telly as the grandson of an American blues singer. That will have been Champion Jack Dupree who met and married a woman from Halifax. I saw him in Bradford in the 1970's on a bill of American blues artists and seem to remember him as being fairly small; unlike Tyler.

Apologies if this now old hat.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champion_Jack_Dupree

[unapologetic pedant]

6 hours ago, Cerulean said:

extended upright tackling which involves holding the opponent up and pushing and pulling until the referee can remember the word “held”. 

A losing team are not second-best because they are subject to "extended upright tackling". It's the other way round. Defenders hold ball-carriers above ground when the pre-contact attacking play is second-best.

Tonga have some of the best offloading forwards in the NRL. They failed to deliver much in this series because England's defence was too good. Nothing to do with the ref.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

Seriously? What about the other 12 positions, you can't see numbers on the back when stood face to face.

Don't get me wrong Harry I don't like his angry little face most of the time but I suspect he can handle himself....probably scratches and pulls hair 

[dkw]

17 minutes ago, Wolford6 said:

I can't be bothered scrolling through 19 pages on the topic, so this might already been raised.

Tyler Dupree was quoted on the telly as the grandson of an American blues singer. That will have been Champion Jack Dupree who met and married a woman from Halifax. I saw him in Bradford in the 1970's on a bill of American blues artists and seem to remember him as being fairly small; unlike Tyler.

Apologies if this now old hat.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champion_Jack_Dupree

It's a great story isn't it, it was mentioned during an SL game earlier this season and I remember reading about it.

[The Future is League]

I slightly digress here, but i wonder if the people the run the Dolphins in the NRL are having 2nd thoughts about Woolf taking over from Wayne Bennett for the 2025 season? Tonga were very one dimensional with no plan B.

[Josef K]

23 hours ago, 7723 said:

I don’t think he is talented. Just an idiot. He is completely out of his depth at this level.

I don’t know what Saints fans see in Lees, he won’t make big yards, break a tackle, or offload the ball. He will give away stupid penalties or get binned though. 

[Harry Stottle]

7 minutes ago, The Future is League said:

I slightly digress here, but i wonder if the people the run the Dolphins in the NRL are having 2nd thoughts about Woolf taking over from Wayne Bennett for the 2025 season? Tonga were very one dimensional with no plan B.

Do you remember the GB team of 2019 coached by Bennett, if you want the epitome of one dimensional rugby that was it with his 'possession' football. 

[Cerulean]

4 hours ago, dkw said:

...what a laughable statement, just makes you look incredibly bitter.

Excellent! That’s more the spirit I expect. Though you did miss out on calling me a flat capped, flat earth dinosaur, wearing rose tinted spectacles, and from an impoverished and depressed little northern town.

I’d been hoping to see some of the flamboyance, exhilaration and ball-handling, of a group of players we rarely get to see, and I’d persuaded others to join me. I was disappointed. If you need to label my comments as being “incredibly bitter”, so be it.

Oh, and when England have played Australia under an Australian referee, were there never any comments about two different refereeing cultures?

[Josef K]

Woolf only has one game plan and that’s the grind, if it isn’t working he’ll stick with it. Wellens wasn’t happy with Hurrell’s fitness near the end of the season and that’s why he didn’t play. Yet Woolf was saying “he was in great shape” during the buildup to the tests. 
I haven’t a clue what Wellens will learn from this test series bar more dull, predictable, five drives and a practice kick into the corner. 

[CiderWire]

Welsby is not yet mature enough to be a captain of our national team.

Lees is not yet mature enough.

Bateman was immense.

Williams was average.

Whitehead will be missed.

That is all. 

[Futtocks]

4 hours ago, Cerulean said:

Excellent! That’s more the spirit I expect. Though you did miss out on calling me a flat capped, flat earth dinosaur, wearing rose tinted spectacles, and from an impoverished and depressed little northern town.

I’d been hoping to see some of the flamboyance, exhilaration and ball-handling, of a group of players we rarely get to see, and I’d persuaded others to join me. I was disappointed. If you need to label my comments as being “incredibly bitter”, so be it.

Oh, and when England have played Australia under an Australian referee, were there never any comments about two different refereeing cultures?

To be fair, he probably called you that under your last username.

[Futtocks]

5 hours ago, dkw said:

It's a great story isn't it, it was mentioned during an SL game earlier this season and I remember reading about it.

Another of Tyler's relatives, great-uncle Billy Joe Dupree, won the 1978 Superbowl with the Dallas Cowboys.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Joe_DuPree 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Futtocks

[Phil]

7 hours ago, Wolford6 said:

I can't be bothered scrolling through 19 pages on the topic, so this might already been raised.

Tyler Dupree was quoted on the telly as the grandson of an American blues singer. That will have been Champion Jack Dupree who met and married a woman from Halifax. I saw him in Bradford in the 1970's on a bill of American blues artists and seem to remember him as being fairly small; unlike Tyler.

Apologies if this now old hat.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champion_Jack_Dupree

Yeah, he married a lass from Ovenden and lived up there for years.

I’m friends with his daughter Georgie Tyler’s aunt 

[ghost crayfish]

England were good, but it's lucky they have other props around and who will hopefully be there by the next time they play Australia, because Lees is nowhere near test standard. 

[Cerulean]

11 hours ago, Futtocks said:

To be fair, he probably called you that under your last username.

Sorry, fella, don't know what you're thinking, but that isn't me: I'm comfortable in owning my present lugubrious view of the sport. You should, perhaps, apologise.

Again, I'd hoped to convert some acquaintances to my sport, and be entertained myself, by a potentially exciting international series. I was disappointed, I don't believe I achieved any converts, and I doubt that the whole series attracted many new fans. And I don't really want to blame Tonga for that.

I do believe that excessive positivity by many in the sport is counter-productive and can obfuscate problems and lead to complacency. You can certainly be rewarded with a good deal of support on this forum if you work at smashing down anyone who displays a touch of negativity. Or attempts to provide balance.

[Dunbar]

3 hours ago, Cerulean said:

I do believe that excessive positivity by many in the sport is counter-productive and can obfuscate problems and lead to complacency.

I have been a Rugby League fan for 40 years.  That has never been a problem.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Dunbar

[Lowdesert]

12 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

England were good, but it's lucky they have other props around and who will hopefully be there by the next time they play Australia, because Lees is nowhere near test standard. 

Not as a prop but as a pack/bench player he absolutely does.  Chases lost causes, tackles anything and gives 100%.

I am far from a saints fan btw 

[MattSantos]

24 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Not as a prop but as a pack/bench player he absolutely does.  Chases lost causes, tackles anything and gives 100%.

I am far from a saints fan btw 

This makes no sense. He's a middle, play him from the bench... he still has to play in the middle.

Giving 100% should not be the reason people are picked.

[NRLandSL]

18 hours ago, CiderWire said:

Welsby is not yet mature enough to be a captain of our national team.

Lees is not yet mature enough.

Bateman was immense.

Williams was average.

Whitehead will be missed.

That is all. 

I’m sure you’ve never met Welsby let alone been in a change room with him so it’s pretty unfair to comment whether someone should be captain or not. 

Also I thought Williams had a really solid game, He made the most tackles with 0 Misses in the England side (29).  Ran the football pretty well, obviously he didn’t blow the roof off but not a bad performance by any means as he was absolutely superb in defence.

Edited November 6, 2023 by NRLandSL

[Lowdesert]

1 hour ago, MattSantos said:

This makes no sense. He's a middle, play him from the bench... he still has to play in the middle.

Giving 100% should not be the reason people are picked.

Yes, i agree - I should’ve rephrased ‘pack’ to middle.

It makes sense as you cannot have superstars all over the team.  He chases down, put his body on the line, gives everything right up to interchange and seems totally committed.  That is, to me, giving 100%.

 

[MattSantos]

14 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Yes, i agree - I should’ve rephrased ‘pack’ to middle.

It makes sense as you cannot have superstars all over the team.  He chases down, put his body on the line, gives everything right up to interchange and seems totally committed.  That is, to me, giving 100%.

 

Which is fine. It's just not good enough for an elite International RL team.