England vs Samoa Series

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

1 hour ago, Josef K said:

I was at Old Trafford when the Aussies scored that last second try against us, was it Meninga who made the break and nudged Gibson out of the way.

 I can’t remember the year but it was sickening losing against them. I enjoyed the day as a whole though, “Ere We Go, Ere We Go, Ere We Go”. 

Ricky Stuart made the break and Meninga barged Gibson out of the way before finishing it off

 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

14 hours ago, Dave T said:

Well according to the IRL's calendar:

2024 - God knows

2025 - Men's and Women's Ashes tours to Oz

2026 - SH WC

2027 - Home series v NZ

2028 - Home series v Aus

It really hasn't been a great plan in terms of flipping hemispheres. 

 

 

Apart from this year it all looks pretty good then

 

Edited March 28 by Bedfordshire Bronco

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Apart from this year it all looks pretty good then

 

POtentially - hopefully we will look back on this year being a blip i the grand scheme of things. 

I do think what my lists do mask are the fact that underneath the headline internationals, we have done little. We have played the major Test matches regularly, and held World Cup's with an element of regularity, but we haven't grown any of the other internationals - either v France, Wales, or even SH nations. 

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

POtentially - hopefully we will look back on this year being a blip i the grand scheme of things. 

I do think what my lists do mask are the fact that underneath the headline internationals, we have done little. We have played the major Test matches regularly, and held World Cup's with an element of regularity, but we haven't grown any of the other internationals - either v France, Wales, or even SH nations. 

Yep....looking at the starting 13 for Ireland in the WC I think that team could very competitive in a one off game it triseries ...shame it's bit built on 

[Archie Gordon]

Nothing announced for 2025, 2026, etc. - just aspirations. And we can't afford a gap year in 2024. London has hosted just 3 England games since the extraordinary 2013 RLWC semi-final. 2027 seems to be the next possible date for an England game to be held in the nation's capital - abysmal. 

[sam4731]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

Nothing announced for 2025, 2026, etc. - just aspirations. And we can't afford a gap year in 2024. London has hosted just 3 England games since the extraordinary 2013 RLWC semi-final. 2027 seems to be the next possible date for an England game to be held in the nation's capital - abysmal. 

This.

A lot of people spouting a calendar that is set in stone but beyond someone typing a fixture out on a computer, there's really nothing to go on. Call me cynical but I'll wait to hear of dates, times, venues etc before I get excited about any international fixture.

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Archie Gordon said:

Nothing announced for 2025, 2026, etc. - just aspirations. And we can't afford a gap year in 2024. London has hosted just 3 England games since the extraordinary 2013 RLWC semi-final. 2027 seems to be the next possible date for an England game to be held in the nation's capital - abysmal. 

It depends what you mean by announced. Those series' have been announced. Of course that doesn't guarantee anything in this sport. 

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

A lot of people spouting a calendar that is set in stone but beyond someone typing a fixture out on a computer

They tore up the last one - which confirmed a whole bunch of structured games for European nations - even after it had been confirmed. That was the one which had an England team - never decided as either Knights or firsts but presumed Knights - playing in a European Championship.

[Dave T]

2 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

This.

A lot of people spouting a calendar that is set in stone but beyond someone typing a fixture out on a computer, there's really nothing to go on. Call me cynical but I'll wait to hear of dates, times, venues etc before I get excited about any international fixture.

Dates, times and venues are always announced pretty close to the events. But we do have stuff announced. 

And a lot of people aren't spouting a calendar that is set in stone at all. 

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

It depends what you mean by announced. 

Dates, venues, teams, link to purchase tickets.

Has to be all four of four.

[N2022]

There is very little in the future schedule that I feel is nailed on to go ahead, and certainly anything involving Australia could be forgotten about overnight if it didn't suit the NRL in any key detail. It's not a great place for a sport to be in international terms, and does little to reach general sports fans in England.

[Archie Gordon]

1 hour ago, Dave T said:

It depends what you mean by announced. Those series' have been announced. Of course that doesn't guarantee anything in this sport. 

Del Boy used to announce that this time next year, he'd be a millionaire. 

[Dave T]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Dates, venues, teams, link to purchase tickets.

Has to be all four of four.

That's fine, but you have to accept that you're not the type of person to ever want a 10 year calendar or similar. 

Announcing a long term calendar is quite different to having tickets on sale. 

[gingerjon]

11 minutes ago, Dave T said:

That's fine, but you have to accept that you're not the type of person to ever want a 10 year calendar or similar. 

Announcing a long term calendar is quite different to having tickets on sale. 

I want both. Right now, we have vagueness about the future, and nothing for the present.

That's an appalling state to be in.

[Dave T]

The last 'calendar' was announced in 2017, this is what was promised vs delivered:

2018 - Euros & Kiwi tour to Eng, Aus v NZ Test all delivered

2019 - Pacific Tests, Lions Tour, 9s WC, Aus v NZ (all delivered). 

Then covid hit, which cancelled the 2020 Ashes series that was scheduled, the Euros, Kiwis tests etc. Everything basically. 

2021 saw the WC postponed, which crashed into 2022 and cancelled the Kiwis touring here. 

Covid has clearly been a huge issue here, and the key things that have been failures are the continued sporadic nature of the Euros, the 9s has predictably been abandoned, along with the equally predictable Lions tour.  The French blew the World Cup, as did the Americans. 

I'll always be very critical of the IRL, and the biggest failure for me of the international game was the abandonment of our most successful tournament outside of the World Cups (4N) and to not replace it with anything meaningful. 

[Dave T]

2 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I want both. Right now, we have vagueness about the future, and nothing for the present.

That's an appalling state to be in.

This year is an appalling car crash, and heads should roll at the RFL. I wonder if the CEO has had his call from the Samoan yet that may or may not happen, or something. 

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, Dave T said:

This year is an appalling car crash ...

It's the slow mo running over from Austin Powers. This has been seen coming. There is nothing happening this year that could not have been predicted last year or that didn't have enough warning the year before.

It is the fact that none of that has been addressed that leaves me feeling that multi year calendars are just words put out in press releases and nothing more. There is nothing substantial to any of it.

[gingerjon]

12 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Covid has clearly been a huge issue here ...

I follow a lot of sports. Far too many. It is only rugby league where Covid appears to have ended the international programme. Even baseball, which could have ditched its World Baseball Classic, gave it a couple of years and put it back in the schedule.

[Dave T]

10 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I follow a lot of sports. Far too many. It is only rugby league where Covid appears to have ended the international programme. Even baseball, which could have ditched its World Baseball Classic, gave it a couple of years and put it back in the schedule.

Covid disrupted the delivery of the last calendar, the Aussie coup has disrupted much of the rest. 

Are we due an Euro nations this year? 

[Damien]

Covid was disastrous for the international game. The cancelled Ashes tour was the throwback to the early 90s that everyone wanted and the World Cup scheduled for 2021 was going great guns until the cancellation. The international game could really have been booming by now on the back of those.

[Dave T]

14 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

It's the slow mo running over from Austin Powers. This has been seen coming. There is nothing happening this year that could not have been predicted last year or that didn't have enough warning the year before.

It is the fact that none of that has been addressed that leaves me feeling that multi year calendars are just words put out in press releases and nothing more. There is nothing substantial to any of it.

Where I have a level of belief that this one may be delivered is that it is utterly unambitious in the main. It has the Aussies leaving their shores only in 2028, six years after they came here for the WC. 

[Dave T]

I can't help but feel that the Aussies fixation with the AFL is an issue at play here. Let's be honest, the AFL don't have an international game and are rich, like the NRL are. They see little value in investing in internationals, they can have a few vanity projects like staging some games in Sydney for Tonga and Fiji, but they see the ARU and their international game failing, yet the AFL succeeding without one. 

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Are we due an Euro nations this year? 

Unless anyone knows better, there are no ERL tournaments planned at any level that I could see earlier.

[Phil W]

My frustration is we're waiting on others but this goes from year to year and the wait continues.

If what we have to do as England Is starting somewhere with a European Championships and build it then so be it. But waiting and waiting can't go on.

[M j M]

22 hours ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

You may also wish to add that a 19 year old NSW Waratahs starlet has knocked back the Roosters on the 6.00pm Channel 9 news on the grounds that he gets to play against the B&I Lions next year and may extend his contract to cover the 2027 home union world cup.

Whilst the current state of the international calendar isn't great there's no need to repeat union propaganda on here. The Roosters forced the union types to pay well over the odds but they were desperate to avoid another loss to the NRL so paid up. What the stated reasons were in their press releases are as useful as Martin Gleeson saying how pleased he was to leave St Helens for Warrington back in the day.