Whatever happened to British RL

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Geff Fost » Mon, 10 Jun 1996 04:00:00


Well I am worried, nay more than that.

Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
to overcome the London Broncos.

England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

Is the Super League so Super after all?

Everybody seems to be running round trying to pat each other on the back
saying what a marvellous success Super League is but in my opinion
we seem to be falling further and further behind on the field where it
matters the most

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but the utmost respect for those
Aussies turning out in the capital but lets face it - these blokes are
not the Brisbane Broncos.

Tony Currie deserves a hell of a lot of credit for the work he is doing
down south but I feel his job is being made all the easier simply because
of the sheer isolation of his side.

Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
how good they are).

If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.

Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
are making us look like complete and utter fools.

Have we really progressed since those Kangaroos came over in 82?

Wake up - demand more!

Geff

-------------------------------------------------
Geff Foster              |"The Zone

St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
-------------------------------------------------

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Talcu » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00


net.com> writes

Quote:
>Well I am worried, nay more than that.

>Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>to overcome the London Broncos.

>England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

>Is the Super League so Super after all?

(many valid points snipped to save bandwidth)
You are quite right Broncos have many good aussies but very few that
could walk into the top two or three aussie RL sides.

Its quite clear to me that the main difference between London and the
rest is the team strength. We have no real stars (Greg excepted) just a
squad of good players who play to a set game plan. Other UK teams have
more stars but less pattern and structure. London (when they play well)
remind me of Liverpool FC (I am not a Liverpool fan) a machine playing a
limited number of set plays but playing them very well. Only limited
scope for personal brilliance in a team game.

Forgive me if I am talking out of my arse but I'm new to this League
thing.

Talcum

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by p matthe » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00

On the whole well said - I can't argue - but how do we improve?

Certainly not by knocking the big clubs. We need more support for the
rest of the SL and 1st division. more encouragement to develop players
rather than buying - perhaps an expemtion of a players salary from the
calculations of salary capping if he has come up through the ranks at
a club. EG at Wigan, Edwards, Farrell Radlinski and Smyth (as a few
examples) NOT counted in the salary cap, but Robinson, Tuigamala,
Offiah, Conolly etc included that way we encourage home grown players.

It is all too easy for a club to sign a mega stand off, but it does
NOTHING for the national side if he is foreign!

Paul.

Quote:
>Well I am worried, nay more than that.
>Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>to overcome the London Broncos.
>England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.
>Is the Super League so Super after all?
>Everybody seems to be running round trying to pat each other on the back
>saying what a marvellous success Super League is but in my opinion
>we seem to be falling further and further behind on the field where it
>matters the most
>Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but the utmost respect for those
>Aussies turning out in the capital but lets face it - these blokes are
>not the Brisbane Broncos.
>Tony Currie deserves a hell of a lot of credit for the work he is doing
>down south but I feel his job is being made all the easier simply because
>of the sheer isolation of his side.
>Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
>of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
>people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
>how good they are).
>If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
>doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
>and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.
>Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
>Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
>are making us look like complete and utter fools.
>Have we really progressed since those Kangaroos came over in 82?
>Wake up - demand more!
>Geff
>-------------------------------------------------
>Geff Foster              |"The Zone

>St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
>-------------------------------------------------


 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by p matthe » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>Its quite clear to me that the main difference between London and the
>rest is the team strength. We have no real stars (Greg excepted) just a
>squad of good players who play to a set game plan. Other UK teams have
>more stars but less pattern and structure. London (when they play well)
>remind me of Liverpool FC (I am not a Liverpool fan) a machine playing a
>limited number of set plays but playing them very well. Only limited
>scope for personal brilliance in a team game.

Quite right. a Good team will normally beat 13 brilliant individuals.
It always worries me when I see a team buying one big player, in the
hope of getting immediated success. I had such reservations when I saw
Saints were going for Newlove. He is a Brilliant centre, but I do not
think he is really a team man. As it happens he is doing well for
them, so it looks like in that case my concerns were misplaced.

Paul.

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Southern_Jessi » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00

|> Well I am worried, nay more than that.
|>
|> Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
|> to overcome the London Broncos.

                [Snip]

|> Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
|> of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
|> people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
|> how good they are).

        Surely, either you're a professional or you're not?  I mean,
        if coaches allow their players Gazza-like excesses then they
        deserve whatever they get.  If you're paid to pay sport then
        you should live, sleep and eat it regardless of who or where
        you are.  You seem to imply that this isn't the case with the
        northern players - they seem fit enough to me...

|> If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
|> doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
|> and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.
|>
|> Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
|> Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
|> are making us look like complete and utter fools.

        The answer to your dilemma (which seems to be coming to grips
        with the fact that one of the "expansion franchises" is doing
        well) lies here.  London don't have any prima donnas, even any
        notable "stars".  They are a team and a team whose members will
        die for each other will always do well against one whose members
        spend time on seeing who can come up with the daftest celebration
        or sillest haircut.  

        The times they are a'changin' and when you look at the way it was set
        up you would have to tip London and Sheffield as being favourite to
        dominate the League in coming years.  They already had their act
        together, whilst the others seem to have suddenly discovered a
        marketing dictionary in time for SL and were unsure what to do
        with it.  The only official I've seen interviewed who had any
        idea what it was all about was the Warrington CE and he got sacked!
        (Was it Warrington - think so, can't remember - you know the bloke!)

        Saints are really only doing what was expected of them anyway -
        will it last though or are these the death throes of the old
        order?   Are the club's sights fixed firmly on five years hence
        or just the Wigan game in a couple of weeks time?   Look what
        happens to "success now at all costs" clubs?  Well, yes, you
        just bring in Dougie Laughton and give him a cheque book but
        it won't provide for your FUTURE.  

        In ten years time RL will all look very different to now.  I don't
        usually make rash predictions but don't be surprised if Wigan,
        Saints, Leeds et al go the way of Hull(s) and Widnes, i.e. down the
        proverbial crapper.   They're the ones who have to adapt the
        most and it will be hard.  I'm amazed that people are only now waking
        up to the true implications of SL - it was a major revolution
        my friends and the RL heartland is going to lose out.  Big.

        Er, sorry about that...  [Tee hee hee...]

Southern Jessie

Just wait till we get a team in Stuttgart - free brezels and wine
to anyone wearing a cloth cap and a muffler  :-)

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Brendan J Connoll » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>Well I am worried, nay more than that.

>Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>to overcome the London Broncos.

Great isn't it at last some poeple are taking notice of the London Broncos

Quote:
>England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

Are you talking about the World Cup victory or are you talking about London who did
have an English man playing for them yesterday old Ikram Butt. Also I don't consider
them a second string Australian side, some of the players may be getting old but
there are a few young ones in there who wanted to come over to England to play RL
even though they could be playing in Australia eg Tulson Tollet, Greg Barwick

Quote:
>Is the Super League so Super after all?

>Everybody seems to be running round trying to pat each other on the back
>saying what a marvellous success Super League is but in my opinion
>we seem to be falling further and further behind on the field where it
>matters the most

>Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but the utmost respect for those
>Aussies turning out in the capital but lets face it - these blokes are
>not the Brisbane Broncos.

Some of them have played for Brisbane, Terry Matterson, Leo Dynevor

Quote:
>Tony Currie deserves a hell of a lot of credit for the work he is doing
>down south but I feel his job is being made all the easier simply because
>of the sheer isolation of his side.

>Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
>of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
>people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
>how good they are).

But they do have the distraction of living in London but I think Tony Currie is a
bit of a disiplinarian who will not tolerate any player who lets this get to him, he
has already sacked three players for either turning up late or not turning up at all
for training. Also earlier this year he dropped Loe Dynevor for being late which
cost him about 200 so I gather he hasn't been late scince.

Quote:

>If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
>doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
>and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.

>Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
>Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
>are making us look like complete and utter fools.

>Have we really progressed since those Kangaroos came over in 82?

>Wake up - demand more!

>Geff

I can't wait to see Saints and Wigan down in London - maybe London can go all season
without losing at home.
Maybe with a team of Aussies playing so well then when Great Britain play Australia
(don't know when this will be) then they might come up with a win in a test series
and make English RL the top again.

Brendan
London Bronco supporter who wants to see Great Britain win a series against
Australia.

--
The opinions expressed in this communication are my own,
  and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Talcu » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00



Quote:

>>Its quite clear to me that the main difference between London and the
>>rest is the team strength. We have no real stars (Greg excepted) just a
>>squad of good players who play to a set game plan. Other UK teams have
>>more stars but less pattern and structure. London (when they play well)
>>remind me of Liverpool FC (I am not a Liverpool fan) a machine playing a
>>limited number of set plays but playing them very well. Only limited
>>scope for personal brilliance in a team game.

>Quite right. a Good team will normally beat 13 brilliant individuals.
>It always worries me when I see a team buying one big player, in the
>hope of getting immediated success. I had such reservations when I saw
>Saints were going for Newlove. He is a Brilliant centre, but I do not
>think he is really a team man. As it happens he is doing well for
>them, so it looks like in that case my concerns were misplaced.

>Paul.

I do think that Saints (like Wigan) are jammed packed with talent and
Newlove is one of several.
--
Talcum
 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Craig Tyso » Tue, 11 Jun 1996 04:00:00



 gf> Subject: Whatever happened to British RL
 gf> Organization: Geff Foster

 gf> Well I am worried, nay more than that.

 gf> Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
 gf> to overcome the London Broncos.

 gf> England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

 gf> Is the Super League so Super after all?

cut ------------------------------------------------------------

I agree...
I've got no problem with the Bronco's having Aussies, it is important that
their team is competitive, they also have a lot of kids wanting to play for
their academy team (league express 10/6).  But..when do we ever see them in
the transfer market competing for top 'british' players??  It;s not that
there are none available, look at the players who have been transferred between
British clubs in the past year - Newlove, Loughlin, Dwyer, Nickle, Cook,
Spruce,
McNamara, Lowes (ok ok, i'll give up on the Bradford players!), Gay, Aston(?),
and players that have handed in transfer requests or been reported unsettled,
Holgate, Rowley, Cunningham, Gibbs (although we all know where he wants to go),

Hodgkinson, Ireland, Shaw, Harris.
Players that have gone/going to Oz: Jackson, Hanley, Connolly, Robinson,
McCurrie...
PLayers in DIv 1 that would grace the super league:  Pearson, Molloy (although
he's signed for Bradford assuming Fev don't go up), Pinkney, McAvoy, Blakeley,
The lists go on and on.... (just like I have!)
Surely they should be competing for these players.  COngratulations on your
success so far London (as long as we win at the Valley a week on Sat!)
-----------------------------
Craig Tyson                 #
Bradford Bulls 1996         #
-----------------------------

... Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (S)lap nearest innocent bystander.
|Fidonet:  Craig Tyson 2:25/105

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Geff Fost » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00


Quote:


>net.com> writes
>>Well I am worried, nay more than that.

>>Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>>to overcome the London Broncos.

>>England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

>>Is the Super League so Super after all?

>(many valid points snipped to save bandwidth)
>You are quite right Broncos have many good aussies but very few that
>could walk into the top two or three aussie RL sides.

>Its quite clear to me that the main difference between London and the
>rest is the team strength. We have no real stars (Greg excepted) just a
>squad of good players who play to a set game plan. Other UK teams have
>more stars but less pattern and structure. London (when they play well)
>remind me of Liverpool FC (I am not a Liverpool fan) a machine playing a
>limited number of set plays but playing them very well. Only limited
>scope for personal brilliance in a team game.

True

Quote:
>Forgive me if I am talking out of my arse but I'm new to this League
>thing.

For a person who claims to know little about league I'd pick you in
my side any day of the week.    

Quote:
>Talcum

-------------------------------------------------
Geff Foster              |"The Zone

St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
-------------------------------------------------
 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Geff Fost » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00


Quote:


>|> Well I am worried, nay more than that.
>|>
>|> Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>|> to overcome the London Broncos.

>                [Snip]

>|> Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
>|> of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
>|> people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
>|> how good they are).

>        Surely, either you're a professional or you're not?  I mean,
>        if coaches allow their players Gazza-like excesses then they
>        deserve whatever they get.  If you're paid to pay sport then
>        you should live, sleep and eat it regardless of who or where
>        you are.  You seem to imply that this isn't the case with the
>        northern players - they seem fit enough to me...

Oh they are physically fit, mentally however they are far behind their antipodean
cousins.

- Show quoted text -

Quote:

>|> If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
>|> doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
>|> and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.
>|>
>|> Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
>|> Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
>|> are making us look like complete and utter fools.

>        The answer to your dilemma (which seems to be coming to grips
>        with the fact that one of the "expansion franchises" is doing
>        well) lies here.  London don't have any prima donnas, even any
>        notable "stars".  They are a team and a team whose members will
>        die for each other will always do well against one whose members
>        spend time on seeing who can come up with the daftest celebration
>        or sillest haircut.  

>        The times they are a'changin' and when you look at the way it was set
>        up you would have to tip London and Sheffield as being favourite to
>        dominate the League in coming years.  They already had their act
>        together, whilst the others seem to have suddenly discovered a
>        marketing dictionary in time for SL and were unsure what to do
>        with it.  The only official I've seen interviewed who had any
>        idea what it was all about was the Warrington CE and he got sacked!
>        (Was it Warrington - think so, can't remember - you know the bloke!)

>        Saints are really only doing what was expected of them anyway -
>        will it last though or are these the death throes of the old
>        order?   Are the club's sights fixed firmly on five years hence
>        or just the Wigan game in a couple of weeks time?   Look what
>        happens to "success now at all costs" clubs?  Well, yes, you
>        just bring in Dougie Laughton and give him a cheque book but
>        it won't provide for your FUTURE.  

>        In ten years time RL will all look very different to now.  I don't
>        usually make rash predictions but don't be surprised if Wigan,
>        Saints, Leeds et al go the way of Hull(s) and Widnes, i.e. down the
>        proverbial crapper.   They're the ones who have to adapt the
>        most and it will be hard.  I'm amazed that people are only now waking
>        up to the true implications of SL - it was a major revolution
>        my friends and the RL heartland is going to lose out.  Big.

I don't think it's time for Saints, Wigan or Leeds to throw the towel in just yet, if
RL is still around in twenty years time I am quite sure that most of todays top sides
will be right up there challenging for honours.
Remember these clubs can draw from a huge pool of local amateur talent which teams
such as London, Sheffield and any other expansion side will find hard to match.
However I am drifting away from my main point which is the general lack of playing
standards which our sides possess when compared to Australian teams.

Quote:
>        Er, sorry about that...  [Tee hee hee...]

>Southern Jessie

>Just wait till we get a team in Stuttgart - free brezels and wine
>to anyone wearing a cloth cap and a muffler  :-)

-------------------------------------------------
Geff Foster              |"The Zone

St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
-------------------------------------------------
 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Geff Fost » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00


Quote:


>On the whole well said - I can't argue - but how do we improve?

>Certainly not by knocking the big clubs. We need more support for the
>rest of the SL and 1st division. more encouragement to develop players
>rather than buying - perhaps an expemtion of a players salary from the
>calculations of salary capping if he has come up through the ranks at
>a club. EG at Wigan, Edwards, Farrell Radlinski and Smyth (as a few
>examples) NOT counted in the salary cap, but Robinson, Tuigamala,
>Offiah, Conolly etc included that way we encourage home grown players.

>It is all too easy for a club to sign a mega stand off, but it does
>NOTHING for the national side if he is foreign!

Absoultely spot on, now I know I might pull a little flak here for
sounding a little xenophobic but I feel there is only one solution to
this problem.

Get rid of the foreign players.

Now before you all start screaming through your modems about how foreign
players have enriched our game and how they make up for a general lack
of talent within the league just hear me out on a couple of points.

1. Consider this formula:

Top quality Ozzy or Kiwi + ***British Coach + ***British Facilities

= Top quality Ozzy or Kiwi deciding after a couple of games of busting a
gut to cop a free ride with the rest of his teammates.

= Waste of money.

Now don't get me wrong because if I was in their situation I would probably
do exactly the same.

2. The reason why we don't have a conveyor belt of top class youngsters coming
through in this country is because of what I can only describe as being DIABOLICAL
coaching standards at the junior grades. From young amateurs right up to the
Alliance teams.

For far too long clubs have bent over backwards trying to sign top class Aussie
coaches in an effort to bring success to their sides and yet they pay little to
no attention to the standard of coaching throughout the Academy and Alliance sides.

In 1991 I was quite heavily involved with a local amateur side and I decided that
it would be a interesting idea if I took up a couple of courses which the RFL were
running as part of their national coaching scheme. The same courses which they
were advertising in local RL magazines recently.

I funded myself through the Level I and II courses which at the time meant I was
in effect qualified to coach an Amateur League side.

The courses were held at Widnes RU ground (??), Warren Ayres and Dennis McQue (Ex Widnes) were
the lecturers and alongside me were at least 20 others including John Pendlebury (Wigan) and
Colin Whitfield.

John Kear made a brief visit just to show his face and we all toddled off onto the pitch
eager to become the new John Monie :)

Now I could go on until next week explaining what we went though in those two courses but
suffice to say that I and most of the others in group left at the end totally bewildered.

We learned absoultely NOTHING, well apart from such noted training techniques such as:

Always make sure when conducting a training session that you are facing the sun cos
if it's the other way round the kiddies might get distracted.

or

Always make sure that you leave the field with the same amount of equipment which you came
on with, we wouldn't want the clubs to get sued because somebody tripped over a tackling
shield??

The list is endless, now some of you may think that these points are very important aspects
of coaching but when I tell you that the total amount of time spent on tackling technique,
ball handling skills and other basic RL requirements lasted all of 1 hour in a 6 hour schedule
you might start to get the picture.

Accompanying literature - NONE.

End result, two pieces of paper which say I can go out and take on the world!

(Both of which got lost in the post and arrived 6 weeks late)

Now I don't know about you but I would be slightly worried if somebody with this
experience was charged with task of developing RL's stars of tomorrow.

Every Sunday morning I try to get down to a local team just to watch the youngsters and
do you know I feel like crying.

I see kids out there aged 14-16 who look like world beaters, kids who could give the Ricky
Stuarts and the Bradley Clyde's of this world a pasting they would never forget.

Then I move along to a nearby pitch and I see the 14-16 year olds from 6 years ago playing
in the open age getting the shit kicked out of them with their coach saying to me "Ahhh yes
that boy Billy he was a great player until the pros got hold of him and ruined him"

Believe me there are THOUSANDS of these players.

The Academy and Alliance sides are nothing short of a joke these days, young players and are
exploited to the full and are chewed up and spat out without ever been given a chance by
coaches who in my opinion would not know how to bring on a good youngster if they tried.

They must either sink or swim, and people who are prepared to give up their time to coach
these kids in the fundamentals of RL are few and far between.

The kids who do make it face life in an A-team competion which is sub-standard to say the
least and when they do make the jump into the first team squad they are like a fish out
of water.

This is the age we should be targetting, bringing in Aussie coaches won't make spit
difference if the players can't be coached out of bad habits which they picked up at
an early age.

In Australia kids as young as 14 are FULLY converscent with all aspects of the game, they
can all pass, tackle, run, kick and have a completely professional attitude whilst over
hear most players aged twenty would struggle to meet the above criteria and once players
get past that learning age of 14-18 it becomes very very difficult to re-educate them

Why bother spending fortunes on foreign superstars when we have them sat right here under
our very noses.

Rugby League stands accused of wasting it's most valuable commodity and in my opinion it
must be found GUILTY on all counts.

Geff

-------------------------------------------------
Geff Foster              |"The Zone

St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
-------------------------------------------------

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Geff Fost » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00


Quote:


>>Well I am worried, nay more than that.

>>Wigan and Saints the two top sides in the RL at the moment, struggling
>>to overcome the London Broncos.

>Great isn't it at last some poeple are taking notice of the London Broncos

>>England beaten out of site by a virtual second string Australian side.

>Are you talking about the World Cup victory or are you talking about London who did
>have an English man playing for them yesterday old Ikram Butt. Also I don't consider
>them a second string Australian side, some of the players may be getting old but
>there are a few young ones in there who wanted to come over to England to play RL
>even though they could be playing in Australia eg Tulson Tollet, Greg Barwick

I was referring to the World Cup Final

Quote:
>>Is the Super League so Super after all?

>>Everybody seems to be running round trying to pat each other on the back
>>saying what a marvellous success Super League is but in my opinion
>>we seem to be falling further and further behind on the field where it
>>matters the most

>>Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but the utmost respect for those
>>Aussies turning out in the capital but lets face it - these blokes are
>>not the Brisbane Broncos.

>Some of them have played for Brisbane, Terry Matterson, Leo Dynevor

Dynevor couldn't make the first grade and Matterson was not always regarded
as first choice.

Quote:

>>Tony Currie deserves a hell of a lot of credit for the work he is doing
>>down south but I feel his job is being made all the easier simply because
>>of the sheer isolation of his side.

>>Down there his charges live, sleep and eat rugby league and suffer none
>>of the distractions which players up here fall victim of (i.e. The local
>>people and media falling over themselves trying to congratulate them on
>>how good they are).

>But they do have the distraction of living in London but I think Tony Currie is a
>bit of a disiplinarian who will not tolerate any player who lets this get to him, he
>has already sacked three players for either turning up late or not turning up at all
>for training. Also earlier this year he dropped Loe Dynevor for being late which
>cost him about 200 so I gather he hasn't been late scince.

I think his strict attention to discipline is partly the reason but I feel that the
biggest reason is that his men can walk around the community in complete anonimity.
Nobody cares in London about the Broncos so therefore he can create a sort a squad
mentality similar to the ones which can be found amongst international touring sides.
The players have very little contact with the locals so therefore
strong links are forged between each of the players. A sense of purpose flows
throughout the squad giving it a momentum which is hard to stop on a rugby field.

- Show quoted text -

Quote:

>>If they can grab hold of a couple more quality players they will without
>>doubt reign supreme in this league ***ling on the likes of Wigan, Saints
>>and all the rest, and to be honest I hope they do.

>>Adrian Morley is this, Paul Newlove is that, Robbie Paul is King and Shaun
>>Edwards for Prime Minister? Well people a bunch of second string Aussies
>>are making us look like complete and utter fools.

>>Have we really progressed since those Kangaroos came over in 82?

>>Wake up - demand more!

>>Geff

>I can't wait to see Saints and Wigan down in London - maybe London can go all season
>without losing at home.
>Maybe with a team of Aussies playing so well then when Great Britain play Australia
>(don't know when this will be) then they might come up with a win in a test series
>and make English RL the top again.

GB or England will not win a test series against the Aussies for at least 10 - 15
years, I can guarantee this.

Quote:
>Brendan
>London Bronco supporter who wants to see Great Britain win a series against
>Australia.

>--
>The opinions expressed in this communication are my own,
>  and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

-------------------------------------------------
Geff Foster              |"The Zone

St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
-------------------------------------------------
 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by p matthe » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00

Despite the fact you are a saints fan, I completely agree!

Paul

Quote:



>>On the whole well said - I can't argue - but how do we improve?

>>Certainly not by knocking the big clubs. We need more support for the
>>rest of the SL and 1st division. more encouragement to develop players
>>rather than buying - perhaps an expemtion of a players salary from the
>>calculations of salary capping if he has come up through the ranks at
>>a club. EG at Wigan, Edwards, Farrell Radlinski and Smyth (as a few
>>examples) NOT counted in the salary cap, but Robinson, Tuigamala,
>>Offiah, Conolly etc included that way we encourage home grown players.

>>It is all too easy for a club to sign a mega stand off, but it does
>>NOTHING for the national side if he is foreign!
>Absoultely spot on, now I know I might pull a little flak here for
>sounding a little xenophobic but I feel there is only one solution to
>this problem.
>Get rid of the foreign players.
>Now before you all start screaming through your modems about how foreign
>players have enriched our game and how they make up for a general lack
>of talent within the league just hear me out on a couple of points.
>1. Consider this formula:
>Top quality Ozzy or Kiwi + ***British Coach + ***British Facilities
>= Top quality Ozzy or Kiwi deciding after a couple of games of busting a
>gut to cop a free ride with the rest of his teammates.
>= Waste of money.
>Now don't get me wrong because if I was in their situation I would probably
>do exactly the same.
>2. The reason why we don't have a conveyor belt of top class youngsters coming
>through in this country is because of what I can only describe as being DIABOLICAL
>coaching standards at the junior grades. From young amateurs right up to the
>Alliance teams.
>For far too long clubs have bent over backwards trying to sign top class Aussie
>coaches in an effort to bring success to their sides and yet they pay little to
>no attention to the standard of coaching throughout the Academy and Alliance sides.
>In 1991 I was quite heavily involved with a local amateur side and I decided that
>it would be a interesting idea if I took up a couple of courses which the RFL were
>running as part of their national coaching scheme. The same courses which they
>were advertising in local RL magazines recently.
>I funded myself through the Level I and II courses which at the time meant I was
>in effect qualified to coach an Amateur League side.
>The courses were held at Widnes RU ground (??), Warren Ayres and Dennis McQue (Ex Widnes) were
>the lecturers and alongside me were at least 20 others including John Pendlebury (Wigan) and
>Colin Whitfield.
>John Kear made a brief visit just to show his face and we all toddled off onto the pitch
>eager to become the new John Monie :)
>Now I could go on until next week explaining what we went though in those two courses but
>suffice to say that I and most of the others in group left at the end totally bewildered.
>We learned absoultely NOTHING, well apart from such noted training techniques such as:
>Always make sure when conducting a training session that you are facing the sun cos
>if it's the other way round the kiddies might get distracted.
>or
>Always make sure that you leave the field with the same amount of equipment which you came
>on with, we wouldn't want the clubs to get sued because somebody tripped over a tackling
>shield??
>The list is endless, now some of you may think that these points are very important aspects
>of coaching but when I tell you that the total amount of time spent on tackling technique,
>ball handling skills and other basic RL requirements lasted all of 1 hour in a 6 hour schedule
>you might start to get the picture.
>Accompanying literature - NONE.
>End result, two pieces of paper which say I can go out and take on the world!
>(Both of which got lost in the post and arrived 6 weeks late)
>Now I don't know about you but I would be slightly worried if somebody with this
>experience was charged with task of developing RL's stars of tomorrow.
>Every Sunday morning I try to get down to a local team just to watch the youngsters and
>do you know I feel like crying.
>I see kids out there aged 14-16 who look like world beaters, kids who could give the Ricky
>Stuarts and the Bradley Clyde's of this world a pasting they would never forget.
>Then I move along to a nearby pitch and I see the 14-16 year olds from 6 years ago playing
>in the open age getting the shit kicked out of them with their coach saying to me "Ahhh yes
>that boy Billy he was a great player until the pros got hold of him and ruined him"
>Believe me there are THOUSANDS of these players.
>The Academy and Alliance sides are nothing short of a joke these days, young players and are
>exploited to the full and are chewed up and spat out without ever been given a chance by
>coaches who in my opinion would not know how to bring on a good youngster if they tried.
>They must either sink or swim, and people who are prepared to give up their time to coach
>these kids in the fundamentals of RL are few and far between.
>The kids who do make it face life in an A-team competion which is sub-standard to say the
>least and when they do make the jump into the first team squad they are like a fish out
>of water.
>This is the age we should be targetting, bringing in Aussie coaches won't make spit
>difference if the players can't be coached out of bad habits which they picked up at
>an early age.
>In Australia kids as young as 14 are FULLY converscent with all aspects of the game, they
>can all pass, tackle, run, kick and have a completely professional attitude whilst over
>hear most players aged twenty would struggle to meet the above criteria and once players
>get past that learning age of 14-18 it becomes very very difficult to re-educate them
>Why bother spending fortunes on foreign superstars when we have them sat right here under
>our very noses.
>Rugby League stands accused of wasting it's most valuable commodity and in my opinion it
>must be found GUILTY on all counts.
>Geff

>-------------------------------------------------
>Geff Foster              |"The Zone

>St. Helens, Merseyside   | of it's own"
>-------------------------------------------------

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by p matthe » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00

Quote:

>Surely they should be competing for these players.  COngratulations on your
>success so far London (as long as we win at the Valley a week on Sat!)

Why? If they can build from withing ling term, that will be FAR better
than joining the auctions for players.

Paul.

 
 
 

Whatever happened to British RL

Post by Brendan J Connoll » Wed, 12 Jun 1996 04:00:00