I SEE that Ian Nolan, the new CEO of the RFL, has issued a statement suggesting that he is going to recruit a group of elite former players to advise him on how to restore England’s fortunes, after our sad elimination from the World Cup.

One piece of advice I can offer Ian is to ensure that whoever plans the format of future World Cups doesn’t put England at a huge disadvantage.

But secondly, the people who Ian really needs to speak to are the club owners, as well as his equivalents in the NRL.

I would put these questions to the club owners.

1 Do you care about international Rugby League?

2 If you do, are you prepared to prioritise it over the club game for at least part of the season by having international breaks for instance, as happens in football?

3 Are you prepared to shorten the season to create space for the international game?

4 Are you prepared to agree that the RFL should have sufficient funds to enable the governing body to prepare the England team adequately for international tournaments?

5 Are you prepared to devote more time and attention to your pathways to produce more players who can aspire to play internationally?

6 Are you prepared to reduce your reliance on signing overseas players?

If they give the wrong answers to those questions, I rather doubt whether anything will improve.

The alternative is to continue throwing a squad together, crossing our fingers and hoping that something positive happens.

Meanwhile, to go back to Ian Nolan, he has said: “This analysis of our national game will be all-encompassing, including how we can influence media rights, balancing reach and revenue, and attracting new audiences.

“But on the pitch, we must look at why we have consistently struggled to make our mark on the world stage for more than half a century; this isn’t just a recent problem.”

He can certainly say that again and I hope he reads this column.