Representative honours (& game day thread)

[Cioran]

PNG are 18 points up and they have to drop out from under their posts. Do they take all the time they can and have a breather? Not a chance. They kick as soon as the ref calls time on. They can’t wait to get back into it. Love their enthusiasm.

 

[HappilyManly]

End of Bennet's International Coaching career

28-10 loss to Kumuls 😵

 

[EaglesDontTweet]

Just because they're wearing red, white and blue doesn't mean they can throw forward passes and get away with it.😉

 

[HoldenV8]

12 months ago Garry Schofield claimed that England should be ranked #1 after beating NZ.

Now Great Britain have lost all 4 tests played on this tour. First to Tonga, twice to NZ and now they have lost to Papua New Guinea for the first time since 1990. And 28-10 is no small loss either. They were completely outplayed by the Kumuls.

This tour, and I have to say Wayne Bennett's coaching and selections, has been a disaster for the Lions.

 

[Harvies elbow]

Surely uncle Whines last international coaching gig...

 

[Shoe1]

Bennett must have phoned it in. How could he have molded such a talented team into blancmange?

Austin on the wing? Just terrible.

 

[HoldenV8]

This Lions tour was even worse than 1996. At least back then they actually beat PNG and Fiji in tests.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Waynee Poo wants to “ Phone a friend”.

I didn’t watch the game but they sounded terrible!

And who was thinking we should get Hastings back????

 

[HoldenV8]

Waynee Poo wants to “ Phone a friend”.

I didn’t watch the game but they sounded terrible!

And who was thinking we should get Hastings back????

Hastings may have won the Man of Steel award this year, but in these 4 tests he played like Barrett was his coach again.

Hastings and Widdop as a halves pairing was a failure. Even when their forwards actually gave them room to work they rarely did anything other than catch and pass or catch and kick. Watching them play you'd almost have sworn blind that they were under strict instructions from Bennett to always play it safe and by the book. They showed very little creativity and the fact that in 4 tests, 2 against so-called second tier nations, the "Poms" came up with just 5 tries says a hell of a lot.

 

[HoldenV8]

Here is a telling statistic on Great Britain's halves pairing of Jackson Hastings and Gareth Widdop over the 4 tests they played together on this tour.

They made a collective total of 1 line break, by Hastings in the first test against NZ.

Between them they had zero line break assists.

They also had zero try assists.

If that doesn't describe failure by the halves.....I don't know what does.

 

[globaleagle]

I just watched the game and..

woohoo!

Very entertaining, though Eng dropped so much ball I was wondering if they had a few pounds on a PNG win?!?!?!?

Lots of enthusiasm by PNG, great stuff.

PNG last beat Eng in 1990 and at the end of the game a song by guru josh "Infinity" was playing. That song's tagline is 1990's time for the guru! I reckon I may have been the only one who got the reference. Y'all should remember it...it reached #4 on the Aussie charts! (lol)

As you can tell, I enjoyed the game. 1 ref, who woulda thought????????

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I heard on the radio that New Zealand are now the top-ranked rugby league nation. How can that be, when we beat them? Maybe I heard wrong?

 

[globaleagle]

I heard on the radio that New Zealand are now the top-ranked rugby league nation. How can that be, when we beat them? Maybe I heard wrong?

Kiwis knock Kangaroos from No.1 spot in world rankings

New Zealand has usurped Australia as the top nation in the International Rugby League world rankings after the conclusion of the 2019 season.

www.nrl.com

New Zealand have usurped Australia as the top nation in the International Rugby League world rankings after the conclusion of the 2019 season.
The Kiwis have built on their 2018 wins over Australia and England and their recent 2-0 series defeat of Great Britain and victory in the mid-season Oceania Cup Test against Tonga to take the top position from the Kangaroos despite losing to them in Wollongong last month.


Yup, they are the new superpower! though Aust may do better if they play more than 4 tests in 2 years....