GARRY SCHOFIELD, in his final column of the year, still believes that help is needed from outside the game if Rugby League is to enhance its profile.

I KNOW in my comeback column of October 13, I said it would be the first of five as I put the spotlight on the Ashes.

But while the series has been and gone, the debate after the disappointment continues.

And having reflected, I thought it worth writing one more, because all the talk has provided a reminder of some major issues we need to address if Rugby League in this country is to have any hope of blossoming rather than withering even further.

This visit by the Australians has really highlighted the gulf between the state of the game here and Down Under, off the pitch as much as on it.

While things are moving forward apace in Australia and other Pacific countries, we just seem to be in a mess without any clear plan of how to find an exit route to better times.

Our national team has gone backwards. While we reached the World Cup final in 2017, and pushed Australia all the way on their own turf, we never really got close to them this year, having not even made the World Cup final when we hosted the tournament in 2022.

Yes, there were real issues with the players picked and the tactics used by Shaun Wane for the Ashes, and it was interesting to hear the great Andrew Johns say England will never beat the Kangaroos playing an Australian style, and that they need “to find their own DNA”.

I’ve been saying the same thing for ages, and I said it before this series.

When I was playing for Great Britain, we did have our own DNA, we had some adventure in the way we played, and to put it in basic terms, we let the ball do the work. Just look at some of the tries we scored.

These days we suffer from a real lack of creativity, and not just in the national team.

The growing influx of Australian players, many of the them journeymen, since the start of Super League in 1996 has stifled the development of homegrown talent.

After the second Test, I pointed out the lack of quality English halfbacks in Super League, and it applies to other positions too.

So what do we do? Increase the overseas quota! Make it make sense.

The number of Australian coaches coming over and promoting that rigid and mechanical style of play, sometimes successful but too often dull and monotonous, hasn’t helped either.

Whether it’s Shaun Wane or someone else doing the coaching, that lack of talent will be a big issue, and a big hindrance, for England.

The state of the game at junior and amateur level is also a big problem.

When I was a child growing up in the Hunslet and south Leeds area, there were 19 schools playing Rugby League, and most of them had two teams.

It was a similar situation in Lancashire, Humberside and Cumbria, but these days, the schools game is a shadow of its former self.

And the RFL effectively kicking BARLA into touch has been damaging, as has been the switch to summer rugby across the board.

That network by which youngsters came through area and county teams, the best playing the best and improving as a result, has been lost, with players ending up in professional clubs’ Scholarship systems and being fed process-driven coaching.

Pathways have disappeared and participation levels in the older age groups are a major concern.

Then there’s the thorny subject of governance of the game as a whole, with the presence of Australian supremo Peter V’landys for the Ashes and his warning that Super League is heading for a “train crash” if ways to grow revenue aren’t found well and truly ringing alarm bells.

Remember Brian Barwick and his “black book of contacts” to promote the game and increase the TV profile? It didn’t seem to work out as he – and we – hoped.

Since then, as well as the now-returned Nigel Wood, we’ve had such as Ralph Rimmer, Robert Elstone, Simon Johnson and Tony Sutton in positions of power and influence – and what progress and improvement have we seen?

You can say the same of IMG. Where have things improved since they came on board? Will the next TV deal be a record-breaker? It’s hard to see that.

We need an independent governing body free from the influence of the clubs, who can’t continue to be involved the way they have been for so long. It’s too damaging.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – we need to try once again to get the Hearns involved.

When it comes to sports promotion in this country, I don’t see any better than Matchroom. They have shown that with their success with snooker, boxing and darts, with that five-year Sky TV deal forged earlier this year showing how the broadcaster sees arrows as being ahead of Rugby League.

Look how many people know about Luke Littler (pictured), then compare that to any Super League player.

Eddie Hearn has pointed to the lack of marketable personalities in our game.

I believe they are there, but the will to or knowledge of how to promote them isn’t. We have just had an Ashes series in England, but there has been more talk of Reece Walsh than any of our so-called stars.

While Australia were out and about spreading the word, where were Shaun Wane and his squad? Pretty much nowhere to be seen, other than at the matches.

Eddie Hearn has said what we already know – we have a fantastic game, but not enough people know about it. Matchroom know how to get publicity, bring in sponsors and get better TV deals.

We really are at an absolutely crucial and crossroads stage.

Bye – for now!

THANKS for reading these six columns, thanks to League Express for having me back, and thanks to all those people I have spoken to and shared my honest and open opinions with.

Some have agreed, some haven’t, and that’s fine. What’s important is that we all care about the greatest game.

I’m going back into Rugby League hibernation for a while, but I’ll be back with some further columns around next year’s World Cup.