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Up until the Four Nations Test in Melbourne on Sunday (31 October), England actually had a higher winning percentage against Australia; it now stands at 50 per cent.
But alarmingly, not only did they lose the game, they lost it convincingly against a team that was seen as below standard.
This English team needs to address this issue, and this comes down to the Rugby Football League, the administrators of the English game.
Gus Gould gave an easy way out for the English team to develop a stronger team: “Send them out here.”
The problem with that solution is this will develop a team where the first team is head and shoulders above the rest – eg European Socceroos versus A-League Socceroos. The other problem is that no NRL team would want English backs – which is their major Achilles heel.
Most believe the NRL is more intense because of the State of Origin. Also probably the amount of media attention they get. But the European Super League doesn’t have the media spotlight and this should not be a hurdle too hard to overcome.
The way forward in England may lie in copying and evolving the State of Origin with a ‘County of Origin’.
It has happened before, but it needs to be expanded. Yorkshire v Lancashire, the battle of the roses, is the old County of Origin, but expand it to Cumbria, another Rugby League heartland (and the most like the Queensland of old with all their players being bought by Yorkshiremen and Lanchashiremen).
This leads to more games, more experience, and more intensified Rugby League in England.
The Challenge Cup is good as it helps the lower grades see where they have to be to play in the top leagues, but it doesn’t help the top teams.
Another note is that England should play against the “Other Nationalities” – a team made up of all the non-English players in the Super League. This would be a great game as they have a lot of Aussies and Kiwis who are ranked above them at the moment, and would develop the French, Scots, Irish and Welsh (if all these nations got picked).
There is a northern hemisphere that plays Rugby League, but it needs some work.
England are the main northern hemisphere team, and they need to catch up with Australia and New Zealand before it becomes a Southern Hemisphere only game
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