Has England or France ever had a tiered representative structure ending in national team selection?

[The Partisan]

In Australia for many years it was a case of regional or district representation, then possibly City v Country, then the interstate series then national selection. 

So for instance;

- Toowoomba 》Country or South Queensland 》Queensland 》 Australia 

Or 

- South Sydney》 City 》 NSW 》 Australia

 

Know there has been county clashes in the past in England but were they seen as a genuine stepping stone to national selection ?

Plus were they a 2-4 game series like NSW v Qld has been in yesteryear or one - off games ? 

 

 

[Griff]

County games and trial games, such as Whites v Stripes and Probables v Possibles were as much a tiered system as City v Country and NSW v Queensland.

[Hopie]

2 hours ago, The Partisan said:

In Australia for many years it was a case of regional or district representation, then possibly City v Country, then the interstate series then national selection. 

So for instance;

- Toowoomba 》Country or South Queensland 》Queensland 》 Australia 

Or 

- South Sydney》 City 》 NSW 》 Australia

 

Know there has been county clashes in the past in England but were they seen as a genuine stepping stone to national selection ?

Plus were they a 2-4 game series like NSW v Qld has been in yesteryear or one - off games ? 

 

 

Something like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Championship_(rugby_league)

Maybe we could bring it back to improve England's chances

[Sports Prophet]

40 minutes ago, Hopie said:

Something like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Championship_(rugby_league)

Maybe we could bring it back to improve England's chances

Fascinating it all ended near on the same time SOO was taking off.

[Henson Park Old Firm]

10 hours ago, Hopie said:

Something like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Championship_(rugby_league)

Maybe we could bring it back to improve England's chances

They should play it again but for the Betfrrd Championship and League 1 players

[Lowdesert]

12 hours ago, Hopie said:

Something like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Championship_(rugby_league)

Maybe we could bring it back to improve England's chances

It would/should have been an easy way to gauge potential international representatives but was never part of an official process, I don’t think? Similarly at amateur level with BARLA.  Seems such an obvious way doesn’t it?
 

 

[Anita Bath]

The test trial games mentioned above ( played as Reds v Blues etc) were part of an official process. 

[sam4731]

23 hours ago, The Partisan said:

In Australia for many years it was a case of regional or district representation, then possibly City v Country, then the interstate series then national selection. 

So for instance;

- Toowoomba 》Country or South Queensland 》Queensland 》 Australia 

Or 

- South Sydney》 City 》 NSW 》 Australia

 

Know there has been county clashes in the past in England but were they seen as a genuine stepping stone to national selection ?

Plus were they a 2-4 game series like NSW v Qld has been in yesteryear or one - off games ? 

 

 

Is anyone really watching SOO wondering which players will get selected for the Kangaroos?

[The Partisan]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Is anyone really watching SOO wondering which players will get selected for the Kangaroos?

Probably not - but I'm referring more to the past in my original post.   Qld v NSW would have been a genuine trial when not seeing players perform on a weekly basis.  

[Leyther_Matt]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Is anyone really watching SOO wondering which players will get selected for the Kangaroos?

That says more about the poor state of our international game than anything else.

One of the original ideas behind Origin becoming a regular event was as a Test trial. Shame it’s light years ahead of internationals these days and likely always will be. 

[Griff]

On 26/05/2024 at 13:08, Lowdesert said:

It would/should have been an easy way to gauge potential international representatives but was never part of an official process, I don’t think? Similarly at amateur level with BARLA.  Seems such an obvious way doesn’t it?
 

 

Is Origin part of an official Australian national team selection process?

I think not.

Edited May 27, 2024 by Griff