Anyone else think we should have this game back but best of 3 like SOO? But just English lads in and have it at every level u16s,u19s,u23s & SL very intense as the aussies play the game and then the best of the players should be selected for England on merit off the back of these games & not pick players for the wrong reasons ie Chase.

No. I learnt yesterday that rugby league means a lot to people in areas other than Yorkshire and Lancashire. Let's not retract in inroads down south by making a pinnacle of our game and only allowing northerners to play

The problem with this is that Lancashire has been broken up. We don't have that affiliation with the county that you Yorkshire folk have with yours.



It's been done before and failed, but we do need something.

Im not saying southerner's should not play just that most of the England lads are either white/red rose & it would just be another few run outs together mid season as the NRL boys do I for one think this would be good for the game as a whole and Steve Mac or whoever is the national coach could do this with maybe Wane running the Lancs side & Brian Mac running the Yorks side. It could be run in the mid week across 3/4 weeks mid season & its not to many game already because if the aussies can do it and back it up by playing 24/48 hours later I am sure our lads can also.

What about a Tri-series with a 3rd team of Others ??

But at the minute the players coming through outside of yorks/lancs are not capable of matching aus/NZ so what would be the point in a tri-series it would not benefit nobody.

My point was more to do with shaking the perception of being a northern sport and promote it as a sport for all of GB

As has been mentioned numerous times, the affiliation between players and geographical areas is completely non-existant. It's been tried and failed.

Well if the players take it serious as the NRL lads do it would de more beneficial for our international state...& if the England coaching job stays fulltime it would warrant some of his wage along the way because I know hes putting structures in place & visiting state of the art camps for the boys to train at globally & watching as many SL games for free & swanning off down under to check on the English NRL stars.............I wonder if he needs a side kick sounds a decent job.

We definitely need something to raise our intensity. Unless we are prepared to cut SL to 12 teams, really hammer the quota so we have a max of four southern hemisphere players in the squad in total (no exemptions, no Kolpak or other method of discounting a nationality) and ensure two of the teams are French we won't get any quality northern hemisphere competition.



I would like to think we could bin the parochialism and give the French the second team on the proviso that it at least 20 of the 25 slots in their first team squad are for French players and make Catalans adopt the same approach, with both teams exempt from relegation. We need to give the French every chance to develop up a nucleus of full time professionals to give the national team some impetus. I would go so far as to say the other 10 SL clubs have at least one Frenchman on in their 25 to assist in this pro growth.



If we can get the French to a similar level and fund their game against RU they might be able to give us a run at international level worth the while.



We have to do something.

Exactly. It's the lack of intensity in the games. Yesterday was a Test match in every sense of the word but the other games just don't test us.

East of Pennines V West of Pennines

Hardacre v Tomkins

Hall v Charnley

Watkins v Goulding

Crooks v Percival

Lynham v Swift

Widdop v Ratchford

Brough v Smith

G Burgess v Graham

Clarke v Roby

Crabtree v Hill

Ferres v Farrell

Westwood v Hock

S Burgess v O'Loughlin



I know we'd struggle to get the NRL players here but I'd pay quite a lot to see that game