Quote ="Dropkick Murphy"The Pacific Islanders are a different scenario.'"
But are they?
Ireland can claim to have maybe 3,000,000 passport holders in the UK at any time. Many more are entitled to claim said passport on the grandparent rule. My Son, a 5 yr old Kiwi can claim an Irish passport, not just because I hold one, but because his Grandfather was born in Ireland. He can also claim and English one, because his grandfather as born in Ireland when it was still part of the UK.
In 2011, 2,000,000 okers referred to themselves as having Irish heritage.
Between the UK and Australia, Ireland, if they were to go down the Jack Charlton route, could be as powerful as any of the Pacific Islands.
The question is, does having a team of heritage players = development of the game, or is it just drilling down into the development already done in NSW/Qland/Auckland and the M62?
GB as a brand was dead and should remain so. It was an ill though out tour that was never going to work and the fact that AU are touring next year to play England underlines this. As does the proposed AU v Toronto farce......if AU want to develop the game, then playing a bunch of mercenaries isn't the way....bringing a 2nd string side to Europe and playing Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England Knights and France midweek does!
If the RFL are serious about the branding of the game and national pride, why not invest a fraction of the money they lost from this tour in paying production costs for the games I suggested to be televised on a FTA chanel? Wednesday night, C5, 7pm KO. Wales v Australia development side......surely it wouldn't rate any worse than an episode of countdown!