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Pacific Championships 2024

Damien

By Damien
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StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

France aren't a good opponent or a good partner for a mid-season test. They struggle to get a competitive team out, have shown they stage worse events than the RFL, and it does have an unfair impact on Catalans. It's the reason the RFL have tried Roses, Exiles, playing Oz and Samoa in Sydney, the Kiwis in Denver and St Helens, as well as Tests against France.

If I understand it correctly, the season dates clearly factored in an international window, yet no game is being delivered, so the SL clubs are splitting a round over two weekends.

For sure there are merited criticisms from an organisational perspective.

I think a full-strength France is though a good opponent.

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Damien
Damien

Well only got to watch the game later delayed. I've said it before but I'll say it again though, nothing beats international RL when we get matches and atmospheres like that.

Damien
Damien

And in true RL fashion I don't think it's actually been played in New Zealand since the 2017 World Cup. The game has spectacularly failed to take advantage of the rise of Tonga that started during tha

Dave T
Dave T

I disagree with this conclusion.  It isn't the Pacific Championship that has helped the competitiveness of International RL - the PC has been created to benefit from the competitiveness that has

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

For sure there are merited criticisms from an organisational perspective.

I think a full-strength France is though a good opponent.

I think this is where focusing on getting lower ranked teams into tournaments is important. Whether that's Four Nations, 6N, World Cup's whatever. France are clearly better in these tournaments, and they are more commercially attractive too. 

I find it a shame that we have reduced the World Cup, which gave a cha ce for more lower ranked teams to play at the top table, which is how WC's should be.

Personally I'd play France mid-season only in France, reduce the travel for their Catalans players who travel every week, and work together to sell it well - we've seen plenty of positive signs in France.

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StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I think this is where focusing on getting lower ranked teams into tournaments is important. Whether that's Four Nations, 6N, World Cup's whatever. France are clearly better in these tournaments, and they are more commercially attractive too. 

I find it a shame that we have reduced the World Cup, which gave a cha ce for more lower ranked teams to play at the top table, which is how WC's should be.

Personally I'd play France mid-season only in France, reduce the travel for their Catalans players who travel every week, and work together to sell it well - we've seen plenty of positive signs in France.

Oh, I agree. I think it would be good on a Saturday evening at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

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sam4731

sam4731

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, StandOffHalf said:

For sure there are merited criticisms from an organisational perspective.

I think a full-strength France is though a good opponent.

They're only a good opponent against an under-strength England.

StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

They're only a good opponent against an under-strength England.

England would be under-strength mid-season without the NRL players.

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

It's a moot point anyway for 2025. England have decided that Northern Hemisphere opponents don't get to play them.

Who wanted to play England?

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, StandOffHalf said:

They've closed the door on France.

Source? 

Did France want to play a match? Because it didn't look like it this year.

Edited by Dave T
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StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Source? 

Did France want to play a match? Because it didn't look like it this year.

No Test Match mid-season. England under Wane don't want it.

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welshmagpie

welshmagpie

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, StandOffHalf said:

No Test Match mid-season. England under Wane don't want it.

I think it’s as much victim of the SL scheduling. A round mid season will be split across two weekends to help player load. 

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StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

I think it’s as much victim of the SL scheduling. A round mid season will be split across two weekends to help player load. 

I know, but I think that staggered round was set up after the removal of the mid-season Test.

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, StandOffHalf said:

No Test Match mid-season. England under Wane don't want it.

That seems to be quite a simplistic reading of events. Do you honestly think Wane has chosen zero instead of playing France?

He has stated he would prefer Roses, something I disagree with him on, but I expect as a coach he would prefer something to nothing.

I expect the decision has been taken above him that they aren't staging this, and I expect France have something to do with this too.

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gingerjon

gingerjon

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Dave T said:

That seems to be quite a simplistic reading of events. Do you honestly think Wane has chosen zero instead of playing France?

He has stated he would prefer Roses, something I disagree with him on, but I expect as a coach he would prefer something to nothing.

I expect the decision has been taken above him that they aren't staging this, and I expect France have something to do with this too.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's an RL Commercial call as well. For better or worse.

Make the whole international focus the series against Australia. Don't allow anything underwhelming (and likely loss making) to get in the way.

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Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's an RL Commercial call as well. For better or worse.

Make the whole international focus the series against Australia. Don't allow anything underwhelming (and likely loss making) to get in the way.

I think you're right. I think it was pointed out a couple of years back that this game lost money and was an investment to give England a game, and I expect we've reached the point that they have decided to pull it.

Particularly when you look at how the French treated it as an anniversary event last year and staged it as a Featherstone pre season game.

My personal preference is to try and do things as well s you can before deciding they don't work, but they seem a bit incapable of that. It is always a challenging game with Catalans and has been for years.

I expect RLCom and the French Federation have decided they haven't the funds to make this work.

Edited by Dave T
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StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

That seems to be quite a simplistic reading of events. Do you honestly think Wane has chosen zero instead of playing France?

He has stated he would prefer Roses, something I disagree with him on, but I expect as a coach he would prefer something to nothing.

I expect the decision has been taken above him that they aren't staging this, and I expect France have something to do with this too.

Not how I read it, but I amn't privy to any inside info. It just looks to me as though England have walked away from playing France mid-season.

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Damien

Damien

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, welshmagpie said:

I think it’s as much victim of the SL scheduling. A round mid season will be split across two weekends to help player load. 

No, that was the space in the calendar for a mid season test. The staggered round is only because we arent playing one now.

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Not how I read it, but I amn't privy to any inside info. It just looks to me as though England have walked away from playing France mid-season.

The France mid-season match clearly isn't working, off the field or on it tbh. Last year was an absolute car crash. An embarrassment to the sport. It did more harm than good, and plenty of that was on the French.

I'm not seeing the French as an interested partner in this at all.

StandOffHalf

StandOffHalf

Posted
Posted
48 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The France mid-season match clearly isn't working, off the field or on it tbh. Last year was an absolute car crash. An embarrassment to the sport. It did more harm than good, and plenty of that was on the French.

I'm not seeing the French as an interested partner in this at all.

I agree that it needs to be put on and organised better.

Just walking away makes me draw parallels to the disdain that the Aussies have shown for internationals mid-season.

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gingerjon

gingerjon

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

There are lots of poor options for England (or rep rugby generally) mid-season. Not playing at all is the worst. 

Belatedly, and rather revealingly, I've twigged that this means there won't be any attempt made for a women's international to be played.

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Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Bongo1

Bongo1

Posted
Posted

I'm foolishly hopeful they will change their minds about Englands mid season international and move the 3 games back with the other 3, i find it incredible there will be nothing, especially as we will be working towards an Ashes series

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Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I agree that it needs to be put on and organised better.

Just walking away makes me draw parallels to the disdain that the Aussies have shown for internationals mid-season.

The Aussies have walked away from test matches that get up to 30k people with a game between 1st and 2nd in the world.

If the English have walked away, it's from a match that the French staged as a Fev pre-match entertainment event.

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Jonty58

Jonty58

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The Aussies have walked away from test matches that get up to 30k people with a game between 1st and 2nd in the world.

If the English have walked away, it's from a match that the French staged as a Fev pre-match entertainment event.

I thought the Kiwis were the number two team on 82% and England 3rd on 80%

Has that changed since the recent Test matches?

Dave T

Dave T

Posted
Posted (edited)
34 minutes ago, Jonty58 said:

I thought the Kiwis were the number two team on 82% and England 3rd on 80%

Has that changed since the recent Test matches?

Yes, the Aussies 1st, Kiwis 2nd. That's what they walked away from - referring to the Anzac Tests.

Edited by Dave T
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