There is a mantra often applied to business ‘If you always copy what others are doing you will always be one step behind.’
English rugby league is the corner takeaway to the fast food franchise that is the Kangaroos in terms of resources.
The Australian team will always boast a larger talent pool to choose from when it comes to picking Test sides.
Instead of being a pale imitation of the grinding, clinical and disciplined game that has brought Australia so much success over the years, England need to find a different product.
Former Great Britain centre and current RL Ireland board member Des Foy believes that it will require a “new mindset” if England want to be successful.
“If you play the Australians at their game you might get a couple of breaks and score 15 or so points. But the Aussies will score 20-30 plus.
“The question is how do you get that when every coach is either an Australian or someone trying to emulate successful Aussies.
“New Zealand used to play a game that was full of offloads, which coupled with Johnson’s flair and powerful, fast backs always gave them a chance of toppling Australia.
“Now they have abandoned that for a Melbourne Storm style grind and they have gone backwards in my opinion.”
My best memories of Great Britain are dominated by players with outrageous skills such as Tommy Bishop, Roger Millward, Brian Lockwood, Dave Topliss and Ellery Hanley.
Those skills appear to have been constrained in the modern player in effort to match the Aussies for fitness, attitude and discipline.
“It’s pandemic. Kids are all using the same plan. Scoot or drive for two or three tackles followed by a ‘block’ play and then kick.
“The Ipswich Jets two seasons ago played what appeared to be a crazy style of rugby league. They would go wide early with offloads galore. It worked and they won the Queensland Intrust Cup and the play off against the NSW winners. Leigh played like that also under Rowley in England.”
England appear to have the personnel to exploit an expansive style of play. The talented George Williams and fullback Jonny Lomax, who can also play in the halves, are exciting prospects and wingers McGilvary and Hall are world class. Throw in a solid, athletic forward pack and the opportunity is there
Current England coach Wayne Bennett is a master of clinical rugby league having won his most recent premiership with St George Illawarra mostly in that fashion.
Bennett pointed to mistakes – dropped balls, penalties conceded and England not kicking the ball out when given a penalty – as the reason for the 36-18 loss.
English sport has a recent and admittedly successful history of looking down under for answers.
U.K. Sport contracted Aussie coaches, administrators and ideas in the lead up to the London Olympics with unprecedented success buoyed by national lottery funding.
English rugby union recently employed ex Wallabies coach Eddie Jones who delighted in coaching them to a 3-0 series win, humbling the Australian team, on their home soil last year.
If England are to rise up they will need to employ an innovative and daring coach not indoctrinated in the Australian way.
There is no denying that grinding mistake free footy works but it will always work best for the Kangaroos.
If the Kiwis are to be a chance on Sunday they will need to revert to their ‘Polynesian’ style of game, letting the ball do the work with offloads and second phase play.
Australia’s defence will become uncomfortable if the attack is unpredictable.
If not at full time they will also be one step behind the Aussies.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Me too. Strange how so many professed fans of the code seem to want otherwise.
Stuart McLennan
Expert
Cheers Tim! Just want to see a genuine competitive international RL environment and entertaining footy of course.
Tim Gore
Expert
Great article Disco Stoo!
Les Boyd's Elbow
Guest
Picking the best players available would be a start. Why wasn't Lance Todd winner Mark Sneyd given a look in? If he has another irresistible season next year he must be picked.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
The problem is that the grind is successful. Once Super League clubs take it on board the way NRL clubs have, that will be the end of the open style play until the next revolution occurs. I'm not a coach nor do I pretend to be one but for those who are, what would it take for an open entertaining style of rugby league to regularly defeat a grinding style? Because if you can do that, then you are onto a winner.
Tripehound
Guest
There are more sides adopting the grind style these days though Sleiman. Thankfully there are a couple of sides that still like to play the more traditional open style, Warrington and Castleford in particular are entertaining to watch.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I agree. I love the Super League. I love it's non-grinding style of play. But it needs to step further into the professional world.
Tripehound
Guest
Missing penalty kicks to touch at any level is criminal but at international level it's like signing your own death warrant. Both Widdop and Hodgson botched their kicks that should have had England in good field position, the first when England were starting to get a real grip on the game and then just prior to half time that ultimately resulted in Thurston kicking a penalty goal bang on the hooter, and that is part of the mental toughness that they need to get a grip on. The Super League needs to get its act together as well. The administration set out blue prints on how the competition should develop and what criteria each individual club needs to meet, but rather than sticking with the formula after a couple of seasons they move the goal posts and come up with a completely new plan, often citing innovation all their meddling does is undermine the foundations that clubs are building on and everything starts from scratch again. Last season saw the farcical situation of a handful of Super League clubs and a couple of Championship clubs running their own reserve competition without the direction from the governing body or the requirement of all clubs to field a team, it had the feel of a pub league competition. Sorry for sounding off on an Aussie site but the game in England and the English national team could be so much better and professional if some of the big wigs at the Rugby Football League got their snouts out of the trough and started earning their fat salaries.
James
Guest
You can't look past the simple football. First and foremost, hold on to the ball. Complete your sets, get rid of those silly mistakes that result in turnovers. Secondly, discipline. And thirdly, defence. Some of the Australian tries were a result of very poor English defence. Nothing special at all. I am certain that had England been a more disciplined side last weekend, they would have had a much better change of winning the game. Once these are perfected, then and only then can you begin to develop your own style of play. No matter how fancy the kiwis are, they don't beat Australia unless they get the first 3 points right. Their attacking style is a differentiator, but you can't implement any game plan without the ball.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Their defence was was first rate in the opening half and their attacking plays were fun to watch and actually threatened. But you've got to hold the ball to win...
Stuart McLennan
Expert
Agree it is not one or another but a combo. What they,are doing now is not working and hasn't for a long time.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I noticed the Watkins-Cronk incident too... Though I don't necessarily disagree with learning how to be mentally tough enough to grind out a full 80 minutes, besides being enjoyable to watch, the Super League flair challenged the Australian team. Finding the right balance is going to be a challenge.
Tripehound
Guest
I agree with most of what is said here and have been an advocate of developing our own way for a long time now. The way the game played out on Sunday afternoon could have been any of a number of test matches between England/GB and Australia over the last 35 years or so, give or take the odd test (I may make exception with the 1990 series) with England digging in for 50 minutes or so then conceding a number of tries over a fifteen minute period before going tit for tat in the last ten minutes. What really grates with me is the mental approach and (lack of) toughness from certain England players, a case in point being an incident from Sundays game in the first half when England centre Kallum Watkins put a challenge in on Cooper Cronk as he was kicking the ball on the last tackle. Although a penalty was given for a late challenge there wasn't a great deal in it, especially when you view the incident in real time. As Cronk got up and began to remonstrate with Watkins the centre looked like a startled rabbit and was backing off instead of getting stuck into Cronk and giving as good as he was getting and in small incidents like that the battle is won. If a player knows he can daddy players from the opposition you are on a one way street from then on.