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England vs Samoa Series


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1 minute ago, Mojo said:

He's a big loss to the samoan team in terms of leadership and one of the cultural leaders. The thing I would be more worried about is his mates who might miss out because of the wedding. But from what I've heard of the rumors is that the Samoan coach said his Panthers team mates should be OK to travel

I was referring to the point about if being a huge blow to the series and the appeal of it.

No doubt he is a loss to Samoa and if more players pull out it is a far bigger issue than one individual. And that would be a blow to the series and the appeal.

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10 minutes ago, Mojo said:

He's a big loss to the samoan team in terms of leadership and one of the cultural leaders. The thing I would be more worried about is his mates who might miss out because of the wedding. But from what I've heard of the rumors is that the Samoan coach said his Panthers team mates should be OK to travel

When the main man pulls out, there could easily be ripple effects through the playing group in terms of confidence dips and pull-outs.

I think this undermines Samoa's hopes to a huge degree - and is just hugely disappointing on the level of wanting to see the strongest possible team.

He is a figurehead for the current Toa Samoa team and it is now either sink or swim, with other fellas needing to take on or share that mantle.

I can't help but think that the half-hearted organisation to 2023's Tonga series perhaps has a part to play in making it more appealing to stay at home and enjoy the time after his wedding.

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21 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I suppose Tago at right centre and someone like Lafai at left centre would still be good players, if not possessing the star-power of a Critta.

Lafai's familiarity with English players and grounds could be a positive. He has been going really well over the last few seasons.

Tommy Talau or Mariner an option too

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13 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Yeah, I like Talau.

I'd probably go with Lafai, as he's a senior head who knows England.

I agree. But I think the samoan coach's are trying to build for the world cup and unfortunately Lafai won't be around by then. 

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When teams come over to England we need to pack out the stadiums and create a buzz about the tour. Any players who don’t come need to feel like they’re missing out on something. 
If these two tests can be close to a sell out then maybe next time we get bigger venues and more games 

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5 minutes ago, Mojo said:

I agree. But I think the samoan coach's are trying to build for the world cup and unfortunately Lafai won't be around by then. 

There is that. I think it helps Samoa to pick the team that gives them the best chance now though. Lafai is up there in terms of appearances.

There is likely to be a bias against picking someone playing in SL, with it seen as a step-down.

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6 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

There is that. I think it helps Samoa to pick the team that gives them the best chance now though. Lafai is up there in terms of appearances.

There is likely to be a bias against picking someone playing in SL, with it seen as a step-down.

Tyrone May would be my first out of the SL boys. He plays in the halves and he knows the English game well. Personally I would have Lafai because he's so dangerous with the ball and he's the most experienced samoan player ever. Samoa has Willie Poaching as assistant coach so he knows quite a bit of the SL as well

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Just now, Mojo said:

Tyrone May would be my first out of the SL boys. He plays in the halves and he knows the English game well. Personally I would have Lafai because he's so dangerous with the ball and he's the most experienced samoan player ever. Samoa has Willie Poaching as assistant coach so he knows quite a bit of the SL as well

Yeah, I'd have both of them in the squad. Both starting, probably.

Really glad to hear that Willie is there. I was sad when he was turned away from the set-up at the time of the World Cup, given his achievements in a blue and white jumper.

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I travelled up for a couple of the Tonga game last year and was like many underwhelmed by the match day experience 

Swore I would not bother again with England unless it was NZ it Aussies 

Anyway....I'm now booked into Headingly 

In a strange way I'd like us to lose the first game 

Any guesses on attendance at Leeds for it? My guess is 12,000

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4 minutes ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

I travelled up for a couple of the Tonga game last year and was like many underwhelmed by the match day experience 

Swore I would not bother again with England unless it was NZ it Aussies 

Anyway....I'm now booked into Headingly 

In a strange way I'd like us to lose the first game 

Any guesses on attendance at Leeds for it? My guess is 12,000

I’m going for 15,000 plus

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29 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I’m going for 15,000 plus

Anyone know what sales have been like?

We've gone for south stand so not seen sold patterns elsewhere 

And when I say we have paid for the south stand we will of course move right to the touchline seats of the north stand where there is always seats and no one stops you anyway for England games 

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I don't see any reason why we would get a lower crowd than last years game at Leeds. Hopefully a few thousand higher as there isn't a Hudds game to compete with.

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10 minutes ago, Abicus said:

Brian To’o and Izack Tago have both opted not to play in the end of year Tests the Sydney Morning Herald reports: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/ivan-cleary-reduced-to-tears-in-emotional-grand-final-presentation-20241005-p5kg43.html

So, no Crichton, To'o or Izack Tago.  Wonderful, Rugby League is Rugby League's worst enemy over and over.

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"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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16 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

So, no Crichton, To'o or Izack Tago.  Wonderful, Rugby League is Rugby League's worst enemy over and over.

They wont be the last to pull out.  Two tests in the north of england, with no fanfaire, no national interest in the series just regional interest. No real publicity on it either.  Just an afterthough to get some games for England to play.

Now where I live lots of advertising for the Autumn internations, especially the England Vs Japan game end of November. But you would not even know that there was an England RL team

 

Edited by crashmon
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4 hours ago, crashmon said:

They wont be the last to pull out.  Two tests in the north of england, with no fanfaire, no national interest in the series just regional interest. No real publicity on it either.  Just an afterthough to get some games for England to play.

Now where I live lots of advertising for the Autumn internations, especially the England Vs Japan game end of November. But you would not even know that there was an England RL team

 

Nah. Legends of the game have been playing Tests in the North of England for over a hundred years. 

The North of England is a perfectly valid place for international rugby league.

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5 hours ago, crashmon said:

They wont be the last to pull out.  Two tests in the north of england, with no fanfaire, no national interest in the series just regional interest. No real publicity on it either.  Just an afterthough to get some games for England to play.

Now where I live lots of advertising for the Autumn internations, especially the England Vs Japan game end of November. But you would not even know that there was an England RL team

 

There's an England RL team?

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7 hours ago, crashmon said:


Now where I live lots of advertising for the Autumn internations, especially the England Vs Japan game end of November. But you would not even know that there was an England RL team

 

These are the autumn internationals ? 🤔

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I knownits tongue in cheek when people say they don't know there is an England RL team, but it's quite interesting if you look at the last 10 years (inc this year), how many games nations have played.

- England 40 games

- Kiwis 35 games

- Aus 29 games

- France 28 games

- Fiji 27 games

- Tonga 27 games

- Samoa 23 games

- Scotland 22 games

- PNG 21 games

- Wales 20 games

Against a backdrop of no willing (or capable) partners in the international game, we are still out there trying to stage international RL, World Cups, tours, whatever we can get. 

 

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15 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I knownits tongue in cheek when people say they don't know there is an England RL team, but it's quite interesting if you look at the last 10 years (inc this year), how many games nations have played.

- England 40 games

It's all relative though compared to the other major sports. The international game is the thing that will attract a wider audience. Compared to other major sports in England, RL plays around a third of the amount that they do. Because I'm a saddo, I've looked up England football, RU and cricket (test matches) results over the last 10 years, and they will all have played around 120 odd games in that period. So it's no wonder that a wider audience doesn't know there's an England RL team - it's a case of blink and you miss it when we play.

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2 minutes ago, RugbyLeagueGeek said:

It's all relative though compared to the other major sports. The international game is the thing that will attract a wider audience. Compared to other major sports in England, RL plays around a third of the amount that they do. Because I'm a saddo, I've looked up England football, RU and cricket (test matches) results over the last 10 years, and they will all have played around 120 odd games in that period. So it's no wonder that a wider audience doesn't know there's an England RL team - it's a case of blink and you miss it when we play.

Absolutely agree, it's more a comment on the criticisms within the sport. England are, not for the first time, on a bit of a solo mission.

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