I hear that the tri nations may become four nations in 2009 with the possible inclusion of France. I am all for this idea, in my opinion it would soon develop France into a 'BIG' nation, the way in which we refer to Aus, NZ and Eng now. However i think if rugby league devolops at a high rate oiver the next few years they may have to split the tri nations up and have a northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere comp, much like union with the tri nations and six nations.

1. Yes I think this is almost a done deal. I saw France v GB this year in Leeds and they put in a fantastic show, kept with GB till about the 6oth minute then GB ran away a bit, but by 2009 France should be up at a competitive level. It can only serve to improve them.

2. Its also great to see that France and other Nations already are getting involved with seperate test matches. E.g. France v Scotland, France V PNG this year, PNG v Wales, as well France V NZ and the obvious all golds tour.

3. the home nations which is the A team competition in the NH, England A, Wales A etc... is expanding to 5 nations next year. i.e., the 4 home nations + France A... this also will serve to inprove players coming through the French Elite league.

Yes and no on the concepts you stated, I think every two years you can have a four nations comps run in say 2-3 locations these dub as tours for some teams - inbetween those have dedicated 6-8 nations comps that SH or NH based and these would become the European nations and Pacific nations and atlantic nations tournaments. Now you have a qualification for ALL nations to make the top 6-8 and then also have a parallel 2nd and 3rd tier 6-8 nations comps run at the smae time, so ALL teams no matter what will be competing for something. It would basically become something like a Champions league and UEFA cup style system where one is the lesser brother of the other, but still provides competition for temas to compete.

If aside from that teams want then have seperate tournies then let them, like the European Shield tri nation, home nations, Central Development tri nations... This way all teams will get to play teams near their level, get exposure to better teams and still have something to compete for and fans look forward to.

Well they are my dreams anyway. :)

 

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Yes im sick of seeing the same 3 teams playing it'd be good to get another nation in. maybe it should be a Six Nation comp like the union in UK.

Aus
Nzl
Eng
Fra
Png
?

It'd be good

Tykeristic:

Yes im sick of seeing the same 3 teams playing it'd be good to get another nation in. maybe it should be a Six Nation comp like the union in UK.

Aus
Nzl
Eng
Fra
Png
?

It'd be good

Eventually... have the top 6 who ever they are I guess.

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Why not have:

Northern Hemsiphere: England, France, Wales and Ireland or Scotland

Southern Hemsiphere: Australia, NZ, PNG, and Tonga or Fiji

Say in the first year for the Southern, Tonga come last so the following year they must play Fiji in a home and away series to see who can take the fourth spot. Same for Northern, no point only having four nations play and thats it, why not have 8 nations playing which will also be cost effective for the RLIF.

I wouldn't mind seeing either of these comps take place. However, i would probabley rather see the NH and SH comps. This is because i would like to see the top say 8-12 nations competing, and if they were all competing in a world wide tournament when the world cup comes around it would look somewhat familiar. Following is what i think the comps should be:

SH: AUS V NZ V PNG V TGA V FJI V ???

NH: ENG V FRA V WAL V SCO V IRE V ???

the ??? places would go to the winner of a 2nds tournament for example:

SH: SAMOA V COOK IS. V STH AFRICA V ARGENTINA V SOLOMAN IS.

NH: RUSSIA V USA V GEORGIA V ITALY V GERMANY V GREECE V JAPAN V LEBANON V WEST INDIES

These tournaments would be played before the main tournaments and the winner would then fill the ?? spots. Then the main tournament would be played and the 'wooden spooners' would have to go back to the seconds tournament and ern their way back in. The winner of these two tournaments would then play each other in a one off test.

Also since the SH doesn't have any other league 'presences' they would not require a thirds tournament. However the NH has many other league playing nations not in the top 2 tournaments. for example: malta, hollland, serbia, canada etc. these teams could compete in a thirds tournament.

I believe this would be the best system, this gives the top 10 nations games against each other and gives developing nations games against each other whilst giving set targets to reach the top.

it really doesnt matter because australia is going to smash anyone who takes them on in any comp.they willnot be beaten

SHIP:

it really doesnt matter because australia is going to smash anyone who takes them on in any comp.they willnot be beaten

The Great Britain Lions managed to defeat the Australia Kangaroos 23 - 12 at the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) in 2006.

A full-strength England 3 Lions side is more than capable of competing with the Australia Kangaroos.

England 3 Lions:

SHIP:

it really doesnt matter because australia is going to smash anyone who takes them on in any comp.they willnot be beaten

The Great Britain Lions managed to defeat the Australia Kangaroos 23 - 12 at the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) in 2006.

A full-strength England 3 Lions side is more than capable of competing with the Australia Kangaroos.

With the way they flogged NZL today i dont think any team can compete with Australia 58-0!

pretty impressive for their first hit out together even against 12 men. on the plus side , nz cant get any worse

 

can they ????

Um

 What are you smoking?

 Hell the aussies were resting players that game..with BEN HORNBY at halfback...

 Also...

 Jarryd Hayne, Israel Folau, Greg Bird, Cooper Cronk were not in the squad.

The Kangaroo's can name up to 2 different sides that can indivdually smash the GB Lions.

 Ie.

1. Matt Bowen

2. Brent Tate

3. Steven Bell

4. Matt Cooper

5. Billy Slater

6. Braith Anasta

7. Scott Prince

8. Mark O'Meley

9. Danny Buderus

10. Luke Bailey

11. Anthony Watmough

12. Paul Gallen

13. Andrew Ryan

14. Reni Maitua

15. Antonio Kaufusi

16. Jason Ryles

17. Steve Simpson

 Another one

1. Karmicheal Hunt

2. Jarryd Hayne

3. Justin Hodges

4. Mark Gasnier

5. Greg Inglis

6. Darren Lockyer

7. Jonathan Thurston

8. Steve Price

9. Cameron Smith

10. Petero Civo ( BLAH)

11. Willie Mason

12. Ryan Hoffman

13. Dallas Johnson

14. Kurt Gidley

15.  Anthony Tupou

16.  Micheal Crocker

17. Shaun Berrigan

 Those aren't proper teams IMo but here are "leftovers" that aus can alternate from

Anthony Minichello

Brett Stewart

Cooper Cronk

Eric Grothe

Jamie Lyon ( Man of Steel for GB? Comes to NRL and nowhere near the best player)

 

And so forth.

 

A full strength GB has no hope of defeating Australia's best.

 

And yes i'd call resting Thurston and placing Ben Hornby in that 23-12 loss a HUGE impact.

 

SHIP:

it really doesnt matter because australia is going to smash anyone who takes them on in any comp.they willnot be beaten

I think you missed the point, the point of it would be to help development of smaller nations and giving them exposure to the big guns, it is to grow the international game, sure australia would probably beat them all, maybe NZ would challenge them but the point of it would be to bring other nations up to a standard to where they'l be able to beat aus, it may take a long time but it needs to be done, same goes with the NH comp, england would likely take it but france and wales have the talent to push them.

Believe it  or not Ship but australia hav'nt always been the best in the world and won't be the best in the world forever, NZ and GB have beaten Aus a few times over the last few years and france, PNG, tonga and wales are making huge strides in the international scene. plus the international game is growing around the world. In 10 years i wouldnt be suprised if France were the world champs withs Wales, Tonga, Fiji, NZ, Eng, Ireland, and Aus on thier tail (example only, im not french, proud aussie ahah).

Deception_2112:

Um

 What are you smoking?

 Hell the aussies were resting players that game..with BEN HORNBY at halfback...

 Also...

 Jarryd Hayne, Israel Folau, Greg Bird, Cooper Cronk were not in the squad.

The Kangaroo's can name up to 2 different sides that can indivdually smash the GB Lions.

 Ie.

1. Matt Bowen

2. Brent Tate

3. Steven Bell

4. Matt Cooper

5. Billy Slater

6. Braith Anasta

7. Scott Prince

8. Mark O'Meley

9. Danny Buderus

10. Luke Bailey

11. Anthony Watmough

12. Paul Gallen

13. Andrew Ryan

14. Reni Maitua

15. Antonio Kaufusi

16. Jason Ryles

17. Steve Simpson

 Another one

1. Karmicheal Hunt

2. Jarryd Hayne

3. Justin Hodges

4. Mark Gasnier

5. Greg Inglis

6. Darren Lockyer

7. Jonathan Thurston

8. Steve Price

9. Cameron Smith

10. Petero Civo ( BLAH)

11. Willie Mason

12. Ryan Hoffman

13. Dallas Johnson

14. Kurt Gidley

15.  Anthony Tupou

16.  Micheal Crocker

17. Shaun Berrigan

 Those aren't proper teams IMo but here are "leftovers" that aus can alternate from

Anthony Minichello

Brett Stewart

Cooper Cronk

Eric Grothe

Jamie Lyon ( Man of Steel for GB? Comes to NRL and nowhere near the best player)

 

And so forth.

 

A full strength GB has no hope of defeating Australia's best.

 

And yes i'd call resting Thurston and placing Ben Hornby in that 23-12 loss a HUGE impact.

 

A full-strength English squad can match it with the Australians' best side.  Sure, the Australians would be the favourites and they would come out on top more often than not, but it wouldn't be as one-sided as many people think.

Psychological toughness, not skill, seperate England 3 Lions -- and Great Britain Lions -- from the Australia Kangaroos.  Australian sporting teams are usually very confident and mentally tough.  It holds true for the teams that represent Australia in rugby league, cricket and field hockey sides.  The Wallabies of old had it too, but now they're pretty weak.

Australia's mental toughness has won them many Test matches against the Great Britain Lions.  I can think of at least 4 Test matches between the Kangaroos and Lions that were decided by Australia's psychological stranglehood over the British.  The Test matches in question were the Ashes Tests in 2003 -- the Lions should have won that series 3-0 -- and the opening match between the two sides during the 2004 Tri-Nations Series.

In regards to skill, I think the 3 Lions are pretty strong.  The only position they're short in depth is in the halves.  Their forward pack is equal to Australia's forward pack, and they have a bit of depth in the centres.  They have some blistering pace out on the wing and their current coach is introducing new blood to the side to increase its depth. 

The popularity of rugby league is increasing in the southern regions of England.  The Suger League draws pretty high TV ratings on Sky Sports.  Based on this, it wouldn't surprise me if the England 3 Lions became the dominant side within the next 10-15 years.

In regards to the Lions victory over Australia in 2006.  Yes, it was a weakened Australian side, however it was superior to the 1st side you just selected.

England 3 Lions:

Deception_2112:

Um

 What are you smoking?

 Hell the aussies were resting players that game..with BEN HORNBY at halfback...

 Also...

 Jarryd Hayne, Israel Folau, Greg Bird, Cooper Cronk were not in the squad.

The Kangaroo's can name up to 2 different sides that can indivdually smash the GB Lions.

 Ie.

1. Matt Bowen

2. Brent Tate

3. Steven Bell

4. Matt Cooper

5. Billy Slater

6. Braith Anasta

7. Scott Prince

8. Mark O'Meley

9. Danny Buderus

10. Luke Bailey

11. Anthony Watmough

12. Paul Gallen

13. Andrew Ryan

14. Reni Maitua

15. Antonio Kaufusi

16. Jason Ryles

17. Steve Simpson

 Another one

1. Karmicheal Hunt

2. Jarryd Hayne

3. Justin Hodges

4. Mark Gasnier

5. Greg Inglis

6. Darren Lockyer

7. Jonathan Thurston

8. Steve Price

9. Cameron Smith

10. Petero Civo ( BLAH)

11. Willie Mason

12. Ryan Hoffman

13. Dallas Johnson

14. Kurt Gidley

15.  Anthony Tupou

16.  Micheal Crocker

17. Shaun Berrigan

 Those aren't proper teams IMo but here are "leftovers" that aus can alternate from

Anthony Minichello

Brett Stewart

Cooper Cronk

Eric Grothe

Jamie Lyon ( Man of Steel for GB? Comes to NRL and nowhere near the best player)

 

And so forth.

 

A full strength GB has no hope of defeating Australia's best.

 

And yes i'd call resting Thurston and placing Ben Hornby in that 23-12 loss a HUGE impact.

 

A full-strength English squad can match it with the Australians' best side.  Sure, the Australians would be the favourites and they would come out on top more often than not, but it wouldn't be as one-sided as many people think.

Psychological toughness, not skill, seperate England 3 Lions -- and Great Britain Lions -- from the Australia Kangaroos.  Australian sporting teams are usually very confident and mentally tough.  It holds true for the teams that represent Australia in rugby league, cricket and field hockey sides.  The Wallabies of old had it too, but now they're pretty weak.

Australia's mental toughness has won them many Test matches against the Great Britain Lions.  I can think of at least 4 Test matches between the Kangaroos and Lions that were decided by Australia's psychological stranglehood over the British.  The Test matches in question were the Ashes Tests in 2003 -- the Lions should have won that series 3-0 -- and the opening match between the two sides during the 2004 Tri-Nations Series.

In regards to skill, I think the 3 Lions are pretty strong.  The only position they're short in depth is in the halves.  Their forward pack is equal to Australia's forward pack, and they have a bit of depth in the centres.  They have some blistering pace out on the wing and their current coach is introducing new blood to the side to increase its depth. 

The popularity of rugby league is increasing in the southern regions of England.  The Suger League draws pretty high TV ratings on Sky Sports.  Based on this, it wouldn't surprise me if the England 3 Lions became the dominant side within the next 10-15 years.

In regards to the Lions victory over Australia in 2006.  Yes, it was a weakened Australian side, however it was superior to the 1st side you just selected.

 there is no way great britain could come close to australia at the moment and by looking at australia smash new zealand with the worlds 2 best players out and a hell of a lot of youth superstars coming through, they wont be able to for a very long time yet.in regards to mental toughness,no one is as tough as australia,in terms of physical toughness,aussies are simply true blue tough and in terms of skill,dont waste your breath even arguing that anyone in the lions teams can match it with australia.the australian league is outstanding and this shows by the amount of english players who fail to make an impacy over here and the amount of aussie boys who are killing the english comp e.g trent barret.also jamie lyon picking up best in england and cant make aus team here.in the future 3lions dont waste ur english breath.

SHIP:

there is no way great britain could come close to australia at the moment and by looking at australia smash new zealand with the worlds 2 best players out and a hell of a lot of youth superstars coming through, they wont be able to for a very long time yet.

Great Britain proved last year that they can defeat an Australian team that has Darren Lockyer in it.  Here is the Australian XVII that lost to the Lions at the SFS in 2006.

"Australia: Karmichael Hunt, Brent Tate, Mark Gasnier, Jamie Lyon, Greg Inglis, Darren Lockyer (captain), Ben Hornby, Mark O'Meley, Shaun Berrigan, Petero Civoniceva, Willie Mason, Nathan Hindmarsh, Luke O'Donnell.
Interchange: Cameron Smith, Anthony Tupou, Brent Kite, Antonio Kaufusi." BBC Sport

I would rate that side as being a bit better than the one that thrashed the Kiwi's yesterday.

SHIP:

in regards to mental toughness,no one is as tough as australia,

This holds true in cricket, rugby league, hockey and a few other sports.  Every now and then the Kangaroos slip-up against Great Britain.  Last year's Test in Sydney is proof of it, as was the Test between the sides in 2004 that was won by the Lions.

SHIP:

in terms of physical toughness,aussies are simply true blue tough

So are the forwards from the Lions and the Kiwis.  Willie Mason was batttered senseless by one of the Kiwi forwards during the 2006 Tri-Nations series.  The Kiwis' front row is probably the most physical in the game.

Stuart Fielden, Jamie Peacock and Adrian Morley are as tough as they come.

SHIP:

and in terms of skill,dont waste your breath even arguing that anyone in the lions teams can match it with australia.the australian league is outstanding and this shows by the amount of english players who fail to make an impacy over here and the amount of aussie boys who are killing the english comp e.g trent barret.also jamie lyon picking up best in england and cant make aus team here.in the future 3lions dont waste ur english breath.

Chev Walker, Gareth Raynor, Danny McGuire, Sean Long, Leon Pryce, Iestyn Harris, Paul Deacon, Sean O'Loughlin, Paul Sculthorpe.