Kangaroos waltz into Four Nations final

Hello again Republican. The open border policy has been in effect for 100 years. The relationship between the 2 countries is historical and I think you will find a majority of Australians actually enjoy the friendship and rivalary that the 2 countries have. As for Rugby Union, the NPC is not the top tier competition in NZ, the super-15 is and New Zealand has been assisting Australian rugby union for a very long time, they are just using a different design then the invite a team into our local competition, the plan was to bring combined teams into a top tier union competition this happened and Australia has benefitted majorly from the support it has received from NZ in this regard. You want the proof? The first direct help was the south pacific championship, this consisted of New Zealand’s 3 top teams + NSW, Queensland, and Fiji, the idea was not to hurt the local Australian competition by bringing in select teams but to enhance the competition by allowing its top players to play against the top players from NZ and Fiji, this moved forward and became the super-6, super-10, super-12, super-14 and now the super-15. Fiji was dropped and South African teams were introduced at the time of the super-12. So NZ rugby has been assisting Australian Rugby Union since 1986, it has done so without hurting the local competition in Australia. However I do agree with you, it's time for NZ and Australian Rugby to combine I believe a 3rd stream should be added to the NZ competition of 5 local club sides from Australia to play for the ITM cup and Ranfurly Shield, although I'm sure that there would be debate about the shield being available to Australian teams (it is a New Zealand rugby icon). Australia does very well out of its relationship with NZ, they own most of our banks, and a lot of our big business so this is not the one-sided affair you are portraying it to be, also Australians get to move to NZ (about 80 000 live in NZ) with more rights and privileges then any other culture purely for holding a Australian passport, New Zealand holds to its end of the bargain. To me it seems you’re jealous that New Zealand is integrated into Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Basketball and Netball, these competitions have strengthened both countries and produce much better products. I hope you had a good weekend.

Hello again dfj. No not jealous at all however in respect of our indig code It would seem this is another part of our culture NZ would mis approriate courtesy of the 'open borders' policy but we have covered this ground before I believe. I just don't see where Australia benefits from this supposed open borders nonsense you speak of. Please give me some concrete examples where we might. Again - why hasn't NZ invited Australian Union to join their very reputable NPC, since in a sporting sense, this is the only thing NZ could offer of any benefit to Oz. NZ are the only ones that benefit in this partnership across the social, economic and cultural spectrum, while there are other neighbors as worthy of such favor in our region who don't derive anything like NZ does - why? Australia should simply scrutinize this alliance of mercenary convenience more closely. There is nothing special about the NZ - Australian relationship as some like to think, albeit it does glean NZ much in keeping it alive. This is a dated and overstated sentiment that we Ozzies need to redress and put in perspective once and for all I believe.

republican. New Zealand is a soverign nation, but it has a special agreement of open borders with Australia, it'salways been this way and isn't going to change anytime soon. Finally your just jealous because Rugby League has a bigger international profile then your beloved AFL. on topic - League is a popular sport in NZ and anything which would help improve its profile would be good for the sport.

Again I say - NZ is NOT a state of Australia so they cannot be integral to the SOO, despite their best efforts to be both state and sovereign country gleaning inclusion in our numerous domestic sporting leagues. They continue to have their proverbial pav - and eat it too do they not? I am yet to see our benevolence reciprocated in the only way they can, by inviting our struggling Union to join their NPC.

Chris, I think its a good idea and the Kiwis might actually stand a chance to win something.

chris. You should not call it the SOO then. You would be compromising the tradition of the SOO by dumbing down what is a great rivalry in Qld v NSW. Re inventing the SOO as another Trans Tasman contest, is even more 'boring' than NSW v Qld - surely and would render the current sudo international fixtures between the two meaningless - surely.

I like the idea of NZ in the SOO as i think the SOO has become boring seeing NSW v QLD play the best of 3 and if it continues like that the SOO could end up like International Rugby League,but the popularity of Australian Rugby League comes from it's club comp and it's SOO. At this moment in time i would rather see 2 new SOO teams from Victoria and New Zealand instead of the Storm and the Warriors and it would inject live into the SOO plus maybe down the track we could have a 6 team State Of Origin involving New South Wales Queensland Victoria Western Australia New Zealand Pacific Islands.

As an ex pat also I thought the crowd was OK .Channel 9 decided to show the game live in Victoria, for reasons known only to themselves!!!. The week end weather was terrible, and if you sat in the first few rows you copped the rain. The Poms played with some spirit but with little luck and I can't understand why, if Archer,( who was uncertain went to the Video referee for a decision which was then referred back to him), a try was not awarded to the attacking side instead of a play the ball decision!!!. Having said this The Poms were never expected to fare well in this Competition and one cannot really enthuse about a game of any code which is played well out of season. Nearly 19,000 spectators was not bad at all!!!

The anti siphoning legislation provides the perfect excuse. Just look at the lobbying going on now from the Free to Air Networks TA, Murdock and Packer. They want to see a continuation of the protectionist practices so the precious advertising dollar is not split across multiple codes. Because Australia lacks a true national code they divi the country up and hoard any competition, hence NRL is not shown outside of NSW & QLD and visa versa. If Senator Conroy has a backbone, he'll remove the protection offered by this outdated legislation and we all can enjoy better access to sport.

but if no one is watching in those states then who cares. at least they will promote it in the north east.

Rugby Union will be hoarded outside of NSW and QLD next year. I personally wrote to the ARU pleading with them not to go with Channe Nine as at least with Seven, they onsold the live rights to FOX sport. Channel Nine will hoard Rugby Union into Melbourne as they have done to Rugby League cause it suits their mates at the AFL.

Since the draw was made in February who is to say that England and New Zealand could not have won both games? Tournaments like these always run the risk of having a dead rubber third week.

perhaps all those union haters on channel 9 will have to shut their mouths? i think RU on nine will be good for code relations.

Who was in charge of the 4 Nations schedule?! Surely putting the Kiwis vs Kangaroos match in the last round was just stupid? England vs PNG and Kiwis vs Kangaroos needed to be earlier on. They should have started the tournament at Eden Park with this double header. Then played the PNG vs Kiwis and Australia vs England matches. The final round would then be the Kangaroos vs PNG (PNG's toughest game last) with the England vs Kiwis match deciding who goes through to the final. The only dead rubber would then be the Kangaroos hosting Kumuls. Play this match in Townsville and build some hype at a sold out Toyota Stadium. Similarly you have a SUPER important game in Wellington at the Cake Tin (a possible target for a future NRL club) after the tournament has built up hype and attention. RLIF are their own worst enemy! Unless of course NZ and Australia wanted an even schedule so they could both enter the final having played each other already. Maybe NZ wins the first game (Eden Park) to make the locals happy in Auckland and to get more fans to the final game in Australia to guarantee more crowd interest?

I have to agree, i seen a rule the other day describing a lineout, mate, i lost track after the 3rd page. It's to complex even for Barristers. The beauty of league and soccer is simple, it's simple to learn. In a ever increasing fast paced world, this is good, who has really got time. Their should be a degree for learning union. The only guys that have the degree seem to be the refs, spoilt sports. :) I will admit i give up on scrums, they had more penalties in one game than we did all year. I think we had 3 all year. To me, that means the scrum works.

You blokes must be kidding, Rugby is complex, the amount of elements to the game, the subjectivity of the breakdown laws. No, its not that hard to follow what is going on, but in terms of a sporting contest - the game is a complex one. The games critics can't have it both ways, "The game is too slow and confusing", "No, the game is not any more complex than RL" ???

That will indeed will be interesting, I wonder then if we are going to get bombarded by the TV blitz for the union. I would like to see league on another station say 7 to see how it goes with numbers. I expect that 9 does pump millions of dollars in to promote the league/ I wonder if they have hit the glass ceiling and are looking for the next venture. It could be a case of winding back the NRL commitments as its a game that is easy to watch and is fast pace and really self promoting and trying to chase the ex- pats for viewership?

Whites Exactly. Perception is a powerful thing. Rugby isn't a complex game. The reffing of it is often to inconsistent but overall the game isn't nearly as complex as many would like to think. Ok, that's it from my on this thread.

Personally i give Union a 8/10 and league 5/10 for complexity, Union's line-out,scrums, and the break-downs along with the constantly changing interpretation through ELV's can confuse people. Love both sports though.

If complexity of a sport was ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most complex. Rugby Union would be maybe 5.5 and Rugby League 5.4. It is not hard to understand the rules of Rugby Union. Many posters go on about the "complexity" of Rugby Union as if it is some order of magnitude greater then Rugby League. There are some elements that add more competition for the ball but on the whole it is not that hard to follow what is going on.