Re: The World Cup : Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:07 pm  

I was at the Australia v New Zealand game last night and it was a lot higher level than that today….think the final has already been played…

Re: The World Cup : Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:17 pm  

We will never win a World Cup until the full English squad are all playing for NRL teams. As has been said Aus v NZ should have been kept apart for the final. I expect Aus to win by 18-20 points in the final. They are a different level for the full 80 minutes.

I've really enjoyed the World Cup and International games are the only way to grow the sport. If feasible I think it would be good to have another tournament every 2 years after the World Cup with the WC quarter finalists forming a comp of 2 groups of 4 with top 2 going to SF and then final. Same comp for bottom 8 teams in WC. Both finals played in double-header. Imagine 2 groups - group 1 Aus, Tonga, Samoa, Lebanon group 2 NZ, Eng, Fiji, PNG. Some mouth watering clashes there.

Re: The World Cup : Sat Nov 12, 2022 11:44 pm  

Hopie wrote:

Sigh.... £85 a ticket to sit in a seat with a poor view with an annoying prick sat behind me and watch England throw it away again and again and again.

Wane has to go, if he can't get his best performance in the final game he isn't the right coach for an international side, Samoa got better as the tournament went on, as England did in the last 2 tournaments, and he has to be accountable. All the weaknesses in the team were apparent before today, and yet they were not addressed, he decided his squad and then his best team before the tournament, and they played no matter what their weaknesses, and they were exploited today. We are carrying too many players, and those that have failed before, failed again.

Less disappointed than the last 2 tournaments as I never thought we had a real chance, but after the ticket sales didn't come through we desperately needed the TV viewers to see England in the final and see them give it a good go. We need England to be good enough to make the big teams have to come over here and play the ashes, the four nations, or whatever the big tournaments will be year in and year out, because the international game is the product we can sell, and it can inspire people into the game.

The domestic game is on the slide, the clubs are fighting to cut each other out of increasingly small returns, and the quality and number of players keeps going down, our best development route seems to be NRL exports and expats coming back and improving the gaps in our squad. Winning a world cup won't solve the problems, but its harder to solve them when we fail so spectacularly.

I would take this england team over Bennett and his total borefest England side any day of the week.

Bennett was doing his best to turn fans away. No excitement at all.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 1:35 am  

By the next WC we'll probably be able to find 12 sides that play at a professional level.
I'd say we have about 8 now, with 4 more that are improving.

I'd be happy to see us go back to a 12 team main draw and a 12 team emerging nations draw, to give teams like Serbia, USA, Canada, Malta, Soloman Islands etc a chance to play.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:50 am  

WYSIWYG2 wrote:

We will never win a World Cup until the full English squad are all playing for NRL teams. As has been said Aus v NZ should have been kept apart for the final. I expect Aus to win by 18-20 points in the final. They are a different level for the full 80 minutes.

I've really enjoyed the World Cup and International games are the only way to grow the sport. If feasible I think it would be good to have another tournament every 2 years after the World Cup with the WC quarter finalists forming a comp of 2 groups of 4 with top 2 going to SF and then final. Same comp for bottom 8 teams in WC. Both finals played in double-header. Imagine 2 groups - group 1 Aus, Tonga, Samoa, Lebanon group 2 NZ, Eng, Fiji, PNG. Some mouth watering clashes there.

The next world cup is only 3 years away and we will probably need around 10 new players of international standard, the likes Burgess, Hill, Cooper, Whitehead, McLLorum. Makinson, Watkins, Tomkins, Walmsley and Percival will probably be all internationally retired. I also think Wane won't go around again knowing some of his decisions didn't work for him.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:54 am  

England's performance didn't match their previous matches, possibly a mental thing with them beating Samoa so convincingly in their first match plus of course but errors at vital times. Dom Young's defence was found wanting in particular.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 8:20 am  

The biggest positive for me was that we managed to get 41k for a semi final in London, and the amount of new fans that were there. People that say have it in the north...England games in the core areas this tournament have had 21k, 23k and 18k. Need to ensure going forward we always have at least 1 England international a year in London.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 8:46 am  

Steve0 wrote:

The biggest positive for me was that we managed to get 41k for a semi final in London, and the amount of new fans that were there. People that say have it in the north...England games in the core areas this tournament have had 21k, 23k and 18k. Need to ensure going forward we always have at least 1 England international a year in London.

There was 28k at Elland Road on a Friday night and it would have been predominantly northerners at the game….if it’d been a Saturday game you could’ve added at least another 5k to that figure in my opinion.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 8:46 am  

Gutted for the Team,lost to a better team on the day.
Stupid to blame Wane as he didnt drop the ball or give a interception try.
We need stability not get shut soon as we lose.
Every game England won someone has stated Wane should have picked this player over that player now we have lost some say Wane should have picked this player over that player,nothing changes always someone knows better than the coach.

Re: The World Cup : Sun Nov 13, 2022 12:42 pm  

roopy wrote:

By the next WC we'll probably be able to find 12 sides that play at a professional level.
I'd say we have about 8 now, with 4 more that are improving.

I'd be happy to see us go back to a 12 team main draw and a 12 team emerging nations draw, to give teams like Serbia, USA, Canada, Malta, Soloman Islands etc a chance to play.

Backwards step in my opinion, keep it at 16 and keep planting them small accorns. Competitiveness will eventually come.