General 2016 World Club Series

[mrblonde]

Why arent the Warriors playing the Warriors during the club challenge? Dont we have a sister club thingy with each other? Also a chance to bring out another jersey. Thought the club would be all over that...

Yes, our players' sisters are better looking than their players' sisters.

You make a good point - it'd be good to know every off-season we had a pre-season game against Wigan and if we do have an arrangement with Wigan, why not have a system of home and away - Auckland host every even year - as pre-season. Let's face it, Wigan are always going to be part of any World Club Series so if it's held in Australia and even if the Warriors aren't invited (whatever you need to do to get invited, just ask, I assume? Obviously the NRL champs and ESL champs will be there...), it's a good build up for Wigan and would/should make us take it a bit more seriously than we have the two pre-season games this year.

Going to England might be a bit more difficult - going over for just one game isn't logical - so we'd need to arrange games if we're not going to England as part of the World Club Series.

Counter-argument: given the, ahem, quality the ESL teams have shown over this weekend, are we best off sticking with what we do now? That Titans D team from two weeks ago, how would they have fared against those ESL sides??

 

[bruce]

Yes, our players' sisters are better looking than their players' sisters.

You make a good point - it'd be good to know every off-season we had a pre-season game against Wigan and if we do have an arrangement with Wigan, why not have a system of home and away - Auckland host every even year - as pre-season. Let's face it, Wigan are always going to be part of any World Club Series so if it's held in Australia and even if the Warriors aren't invited (whatever you need to do to get invited, just ask, I assume? Obviously the NRL champs and ESL champs will be there...), it's a good build up for Wigan and would/should make us take it a bit more seriously than we have the two pre-season games this year.

Going to England might be a bit more difficult - going over for just one game isn't logical - so we'd need to arrange games if we're not going to England as part of the World Club Series.

Counter-argument: given the, ahem, quality the ESL teams have shown over this weekend, are we best off sticking with what we do now? That Titans D team from two weeks ago, how would they have fared against those ESL sides??

Over there a close loss, out here a massive win.

 

[mode81]

They are dreaming. Does anybody remember the Super League World Series? The Poms were bad up,there but absolutely pathetic down here. Some of those NRL suits have rocks in their head.

Yeah I remember that. The concept was good and seemed intriguing at the time but the results were horrendous.

At least our Warriors looked superior bashing up ESL teams, I suppose that gave us fat heads for a few weeks.

 

[bruce]

At least our Warriors looked superior bashing up ESL teams, I suppose that gave us fat heads for a few weeks.

 

[matiunz]

Yeah I remember that. The concept was good and seemed intriguing at the time but the results were horrendous.

At least our Warriors looked superior bashing up ESL teams, I suppose that gave us fat heads for a few weeks.

I remember it being a nice escape from the horror season we were having.

It's a shame there was such a gulf in the teams I loved the concept and always liked playing different teams

 

[surfin]

I remember it being a nice escape from the horror season we were having.

It's a shame there was such a gulf in the teams I loved the concept and always liked playing different teams

I remember the pommy commentators lamenting the hiding the Warriors gave Saint Helens at St Helens. Words along the lines of " this is one of the worst teams in the Australian Superleague, whats going to happen when the good teams get here." The Warriors were the first NRL club to play in England, and were well down the table in the comp, Monie had just been sacked and they took one of the glamour clubs apart. I think the plan had been for the Warriors to fall apart so the Poms got off to a flying start. We actually went undefeated and only missed out on getting in the final after a close semi final loss to the Broncos, in Brisbane.

 

[bruce]

I remember the pommy commentators lamenting the hiding the Warriors gave Saint Helens at St Helens. Words along the lines of " this is one of the worst teams in the Australian Superleague,

I remember that too, what a laugh.

 

[mt.wellington]

I remember the pommy commentators lamenting the hiding the Warriors gave Saint Helens at St Helens. Words along the lines of " this is one of the worst teams in the Australian Superleague, whats going to happen when the good teams get here." The Warriors were the first NRL club to play in England, and were well down the table in the comp, Monie had just been sacked and they took one of the glamour clubs apart. I think the plan had been for the Warriors to fall apart so the Poms got off to a flying start. We actually went undefeated and only missed out on getting in the final after a close semi final loss to the Broncos, in Brisbane.

And to think that the team used the occasion as a piss up holiday. The ease with which the Aussie teams took apart the SL teams was one of the reasons that the Super League empire fell apart. At least on this side of the ditch. A big selling point about the eventual globalisation of the sport was how the WCC was going to be a fierce battle across nations. Pity someone forgot to tell the English.

Theres been discussion on here before about the competitiveness of SL in comparison to the NRL. To the detriment of the international game its fair to say the SL is well behind...

 

[Miket12]

I was sitting in the Southern Stand, when Bradford were down by around 60 points and a few minutes to go when an old Maori fella yelled at the Bradford players under the goal post waiting for another conversion to be kicked, "Don't worry Bulls, you've got plenty of time to get back into the game".

 

[bruce]

Theres been discussion on here before about the competitiveness of SL in comparison to the NRL. To the detriment of the international game its fair to say the SL is well behind...

Pity the marketing suits at the NRL couldn't figure that out.

 

[Lord Gnome of Howick MBE]

I think that the series is good for the game, but I reckon it should be played after the grand finals rather than pre-season.

 

[Sup42]

I remember the pommy commentators lamenting the hiding the Warriors gave Saint Helens at St Helens. Words along the lines of " this is one of the worst teams in the Australian Superleague, whats going to happen when the good teams get here." The Warriors were the first NRL club to play in England, and were well down the table in the comp, Monie had just been sacked and they took one of the glamour clubs apart. I think the plan had been for the Warriors to fall apart so the Poms got off to a flying start. We actually went undefeated and only missed out on getting in the final after a close semi final loss to the Broncos, in Brisbane.

" If this is bottom of Super league imagine what top teams will do"

Classic line delivered in a broad Yorkshire Accent.....the Irony now being that in those days the Warriors were the Superleague team in the contest.

The other thing I recall from that game was Jones using his short range off the mark speed to rip them to shreds " Stacey Jones might be the fastest player over the first ten meters in the world".

My thoughts about the World club challenge are....not unlike the Warriors.....if the ESL sides have all their key players available....they are confidence sides....in the right frame of mind they will match any NRL team (in the fashion the Warriors can).

The issue exposed these last couple of seasons is a lack of depth....not unlike the Warriors......so if all the ducks aren't lined up in a row....ESL teams are vulnerable.

Ergo when a full strength England Side take on Australia in the not too distant future, Australia are going down.

There is nothing wrong with Shaun Wanes coaching, Wigan as with all the ESL teams are just too brittle when compared to the vast resources of the NRL teams.

At its peak...when Wigan were a Super side...they would have had James Graham....a handful of Burgi...Widdop....you name it playing for them and a couple of top Kiwis to boot....then the NRL sides would not have the smugness they sport now.

 

[mt.wellington]

" If this is bottom of Super league imagine what top teams will do"

Classic line delivered in a broad Yorkshire Accent.....the Irony now being that in those days the Warriors were the Superleague team in the contest.

The other thing I recall from that game was Jones using his short range off the mark speed to rip them to shreds " Stacey Jones might be the fastest player over the first ten meters in the world".

My thoughts about the World club challenge are....not unlike the Warriors.....if the ESL sides have all their key players available....they are confidence sides....in the right frame of mind they will match any NRL team (in the fashion the Warriors can).

The issue exposed these last couple of seasons is a lack of depth....not unlike the Warriors......so if all the ducks aren't lined up in a row....ESL teams are vulnerable.

Ergo when a full strength England Side take on Australia in the not too distant future, Australia are going down.

There is nothing wrong with Shaun Wanes coaching, Wigan as with all the ESL teams are just too brittle when compared to the vast resources of the NRL teams.

At its peak...when Wigan were a Super side...they would have had James Graham....a handful of Burgi...Widdop....you name it playing for them and a couple of top Kiwis to boot....then the NRL sides would not have the smugness they sport now.

Would have... should have... confidence sides... ducks lined up... LOL come on Sup. Youre clutching at straws trying to defend the gulf between the competitions. We're not talking about the International teams. We know how well they can go. Whats being the discussed is the NRL vs SL competitions. Once upon a time the English comp could very well have claimed to be the top comp but these days its merely a dumping ground for the NRLs offcasts who are looking for retirement, redemption or in the case of Todd Carney rehabilitation...

 

[Miket12]

Would have... should have... confidence sides... ducks lined up... LOL come on Sup. Youre clutching at straws trying to defend the gulf between the competitions. We're not talking about the International teams. We know how well they can go. Whats being the discussed is the NRL vs SL competitions. Once upon a time the English comp could very well have claimed to be the top comp but these days its merely a dumping ground for the NRLs offcasts who are looking for retirement, redemption or in the case of Todd Carney rehabilitation...

He's just playing Dave's, sorry, Devil's advocate

 

[bruce]

Once upon a time the English comp could very well have claimed to be the top comp but these days its merely a dumping ground for the NRLs offcasts who are looking for retirement, redemption or in the case of Todd Carney rehabilitation...

To be honest Welly I think that was about 1960. In the 60's the Poms were second to the Aussies and we were behind them. In the 70's we got level with the Brits but since then they have gone down. The professionalism of rugby union has hit them hard. That some of their best are playing in the NRL means they will compete well at international level thankfully, but the ESL is like Stevo, over the hill.

 

[Lord Gnome of Howick MBE]

I read on the BBC website that they have seven of their prefered starting thirteen unavailable due to injury.

Leeds are having a horror start to the ESL season, too, just got beat in Perpingon.

 

[Sup42]

Would have... should have... confidence sides... ducks lined up... LOL come on Sup. Youre clutching at straws trying to defend the gulf between the competitions. We're not talking about the International teams. We know how well they can go. Whats being the discussed is the NRL vs SL competitions. Once upon a time the English comp could very well have claimed to be the top comp but these days its merely a dumping ground for the NRLs offcasts who are looking for retirement, redemption or in the case of Todd Carney rehabilitation...

The Northern Hemisphere have twelve wins in this competition versus eleven Wins to the South.

That's worth taking a long view of.

Especially if you look at how Poms go in the NRL, the majority thrive when exposed to NRL conditions.

My argument is about player quality, not a comparison of competition strength (the NRL is light years ahead of the ESL).

The raw ingredients....the players and coaches....between the two comps are much closer than NRL fans care to acknowledge.

I have always been of the mind that despite the Warriors poor experience of Brit players and coaches....they need to keep an open mind and be at the fore front of NRL clubs that uncover the next Burgi, Graham, or Malcom Reily.

Old dogs like Jack Gibson will tell you that Ellery Hanley may well have been the greatest player to have touched a rugby league football.....we need to keep hunting the esl for the next great player before that person is entitled to demand ridiculous transfer fees.

 

[mt.wellington]

The Northern Hemisphere have twelve wins in this competition versus eleven Wins to the South.

WCC wins???

 

[Sup42]

WCC wins???

In one off finals matches across all the incarnations of best in ESL vs best in NRL finals.

 

[matiunz]

In one off finals matches across all the incarnations of best in ESL vs best in NRL finals.

Wasn't the old format pretty much always played in England during their season but our offseason(pretty much a trial)?

Not taking away the wins but odds were stacked in favour of the ESL clubs