wrencat1873 wrote:Surely players involved with England re getting a better level of training than they would at THEIR club's.
Therefore, it would suggest that they would improve further, with being called up for international duty.
I sort of agree that they will improve with international call ups but I'd doubt that's from the training. International training is very limited in what they can do. They've generally got tired bodies from a full season and often only a week or 2 to try and get everyone on the same page, so I'd say international training is probably more basic than they'd receive back at their clubs. It's partly why I'm an advocate of limiting the amount of SL games England players would play each year.
The biggest benefits would be from being around other top players and picking little things up from them just from being in a collegiate environment, especially the younger players, and of course the best is from the games themselves. No better learning experience than playing against Australia.
wrencat1873 wrote:It' up to Wigan, to manage their players properly, in terms of fitness, rehab etc.
It doesn't seem to affect Leeds too badly.
Agree with this. It probably is frustrating to not be able to have your best players with a long break and preseason but it's not like Wigan are the only club if affects. They probably benefitted in 2010 for instance when Saints and Leeds combined had 9 players in the 2009 4 Nations and Wigan only had 1. And vice versa, I know Sinfield has mentioned how helpful it was for him to have a break and full preseason for the first time in a long time after retiring from internationals.
Saints & Leeds have had to manage big numbers called up, it's up to Wigan to do the same, or alternatively they could sell their international players.