Did you notice the arrogant and chest beating display they performed in front of the media today. They really have no respect,humility or shame.

I really hope for all Rugby League fans’ sakes you take on this fight with as much energy as you seem to be putting into the 4 nations tournament. Forget about building an international brand and concentrate on securing your own heartland.

RL has three relatively strong test playing nations, and then a few that are bit below that quality.

If this four-way tie becomes an annual event, one lesser team can play against the three big ones each year, giving them a bit of a taste of what it’s all about – I can’t see a problem with that at all.

It’s no different to the annual three-way tie we used to have in cricket in Australia each year.

It must have been a rare privalige and pleasure to watch a broken down old Wilkinson drop kick a few goals last week-end.,
Wake up mate, our sportsmen are true athlete’s., not has-beens.

A massive lure for any of these kids is to play State of Origin, the toughest test for any rugby league player.

For someone like Michael Jennings, he has a few good years for penrith and gets some attention. By this time he is a 19-20 yr old. He is not going to get picked for Australia at this point, but his island nation would love to pick him. He is not going to give up his dream of playing SOO, at such a young age, so if being picked for his island nation would preclude him, he would forgo the island representation. There fore the island misses out on him all together.

I dont know what the solution is, its a very difficult situation.

RL isn’t the only sport with eligibility rules. I remember one of the Bachup ( forgive my spelling if its incorrect) playing for 3 different countries 3 year world cups in a row in Union.

The massive influx of pacific island communities into Australia and NZ has created a great boon, but also this problem.

Mmmmm…VB….

Seriously though I think Tom has raised an interesting point in relation to the island nations. Why not allow them to group together to form a team similar to the West Indies format in cricket? If all their NRL and Superleague stars were available, leavened with a sprinkling of likely youngsters from their local competitions, imagine what a powerhouse they could become on the international scene.

What are you going to do? Tell them they cant play so then they can go join Fiji, or Samoa, Why would they bother, even Samoa is touring Europe in Rugby Union. So they would just convert to Union. Their is alot more behind the scenes trying to hold our game together. What we have now is nearly 5 competitive teams, the rest are 2 pegs below, What do you want them to do, throw Lebanon into a pool group with Australia and maybe France.? What would that acheive, you would probably be the 1st one on the blog saying what a joke.they got beaten 100 nil, I love the way things are going, and i also like the way the minnows get a taste of World cup action, without getting their pants pulled down. Remember , australia put 50 on the Fijians in the semi, and they had a pretty good team.

Please just give them time, and the other nations can improve slowly at their own pace. And become more popular by doing so, its a mistake that was made 20 years ago, lets not go back their.

So to answer your question, relagation was extended to 3 years, “from 1″, so clubs would not go broke trying to buy players in their 1st year. And promotion is the next best placed 2 teams from the co-op comp. And the other nations have a massive reason to make super league. Its a very good system.

But seriously how does allowing players like Hayne et al to pick and chose countries going to benefit the Islands? Australia and New Zealand have enough talent as it is. The real problem is how do you overcome State of Origin, the desire to play in that and still remaining eligable for your country?

On your comments regarding Europe, the biggest mistake the Super League made was removing promotion and relegation. How are more teams going to join the Super League now? If another team from London and another team from the sud de France join they will increase their competition to 16 teams… a 30 week home and away calander. A little to big for me… Instead the entire British Rugby League system should go back to promotion and relegation and invite, permanently, teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France to join from the bottom and build their way up.

The south of England and France should be the next 2 areas we work hard to improve, thats our future. They can bring Wales Ireland and Scotland along for the ride. This is happening, their has been slight murmers about another French Team into super league. The sooner the better. Another good post Steve, becoming common with you.

Isn’t international sport about national pride and passion?

I would argue that Leaguies are down to Earth people who are well grounded.

Greenies care about the Earth, with their heads in the clouds, and could occasinally do with having their collective heads pushed into that very same Earth, for a bit of a reality check.

Dare I say that if these high level League talks are deemed more successful than Copenhagen – that would not be saying a whole lot!!

I should add that a sport like League does far more for the average Australian than any Greenie could ever hope to do.

The independent commission can not come soon enough.

A consistent international schedule will give RL internationals more credibility which fans want to see.