England v Australia 2025 - been to the UK!

[GeordieSaint]

26 minutes ago, Mark S said:

The cap in the NRL is 3 X SL, based on very basic maths you could say the different in the average salary is exactly that. You would need to allow for the top players earning serious money in the NRL. There are still some players, even in the England side that will be on peanuts. 

The cap amount is pretty meaningless as an individual metric. Increase it here and basically we pretty much pay the same players more. That’s not the solution we desire. It’s a much much wider issue that needs addressing. 

[Hopie]

53 minutes ago, Ethereal said:

So England tour Australia in 2029 and Australia tour england again in 2033?

Try reading the article. The tone is the typical grating Aussie guff but the dates are in there.

It suggests we go there in 2028, and they come back here in 2029.

[Ethereal]

51 minutes ago, Hopie said:

Try reading the article. The tone is the typical grating Aussie guff but the dates are in there.

It suggests we go there in 2028, and they come back here in 2029.

It's paywalled for me.

[Click]

2 hours ago, Mark S said:

The cap in the NRL is 3 X SL, based on very basic maths you could say the different in the average salary is exactly that. You would need to allow for the top players earning serious money in the NRL. There are still some players, even in the England side that will be on peanuts. 

That is why I posed the question, as I think it would be interesting to see what % of the England squad could actually fit under an NRL clubs salary cap. 

I think the top players like Farnworth, Williams, etc. will obviously push it up but some of the middles are probably on quite average wages in comparison to an average NRL player.

Would be interesting if there was any b reakdown, but we don't really know SL salaries other than the odd story here and there.

[Jack GB]

26 minutes ago, Ethereal said:

It's paywalled for me.

Also me. 

I would rather have it on a 4 year cycle and it being in the UK. I think crowds and interest is much bigger for this in the UK vs Oz.

I would like to see England tour though - bit more so taking part in an expanded Pac Champs style comp ( smack bang in the middle of the World Cup) 

 

[Jack GB]

1 hour ago, GeordieSaint said:

The cap amount is pretty meaningless as an individual metric. Increase it here and basically we pretty much pay the same players more. That’s not the solution we desire. It’s a much much wider issue that needs addressing. 

I think short term you are right - but long term how will we ever attract athletes to the sport if we can't compete with other sports salaries. 

[Damien]

 

 

[Dunbar]

On 09/11/2025 at 17:07, Jack GB said:

I think short term you are right - but long term how will we ever attract athletes to the sport if we can't compete with other sports salaries. 

This really depends on how players choose a sport.

Across all sports, kids start playing the game because they enjoy it, their friends play it, or it culturally significant to their family/region.

Only a small number of those progress into professional academies and then a small proportion of those progress into full time players and the first team.

Is an 8 to 11 year old kid starting that journey based on a decision on how much money they will earn in the end?

What we need is more junior teams, more Rugby League in schools (nationally) and more development officers. If you widen the base of the pyramid, the more likely you are to have elite talent at the top of the pyramid. 

[Big Picture]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

This really depends on how players choose a sport.

Across all sports, kids start playing the game because they enjoy it, their friends play it, or it culturally significant to their family/region.

Only a small number of those progress into professional academies and then a small proportion of those progress into full time players and the first team.

Is an 8 to 11 year old kid starting that journey based on a decision on how much money they will earn in the end?

What we need is more junior teams, more Rugby League in schools (nationally) and more development officers. If you widen the base of the pyramid, the more likely you are to have elite talent at the top of the pyramid. 

It's not money, it's the image and profile of a sport/league.  If they see it as a big deal they'll dream of playing in that league when they're older, if they don't they'll be less interested.  What image does RL present to English kids?

[George Watt]

4 hours ago, Damien said:

 

 

Thanks for presenting that series- really enjoyed it. History was too fast to catch but the chase will continue sometime in the future!

[FearTheVee]

13 hours ago, Damien said:

 

 

Bringing in Owen Farrell to present shirts - good grief. Not only that, but saying "we've been trying to get him for years"!!!

Edited November 12 by FearTheVee

[Hopie]

21 hours ago, Damien said:

 

 

Near the start Wane says he won't drop his captain for the last test of the ashes, then the next clip is saying this is the first game of the world cup, the messaging is all over the place.

Wane: "Would I change things? No."

[Archie Gordon]

8 hours ago, FearTheVee said:

Bringing in Owen Farrell to present shirts - good grief. Not only that, but saying "we've been trying to get him for years"!!!

Oh dear.

[Jack GB]

27 minutes ago, Hopie said:

Near the start Wane says he won't drop his captain for the last test of the ashes, then the next clip is saying this is the first game of the world cup, the messaging is all over the place.

Wane: "Would I change things? No."

yeh i picked up on this - more the fact that he knew Williams was playing poorly and out of form and said he can't drop his captain... I think we should have dropped Williams and played Lewis in position - especially if Wane thought this was now a WC prep