Yorkshire vs Lancashire rugby league clash should be revived to make England stronger

[josie andrews]

Rugby League columnist Craig Murdock leads the calls for a return of the cross-county fixture.

You can analyse the World Cup final all you like, but ultimately it came down to the fact Australia’s players are more battle-hardened and used to that intensity and pressure.

State of Origin and the camps they have give the Aussie players that experience which our Super League boys are not used to. Save for a Grand Final or Challenge Cup final, our game over here doesn’t have the same intensity and that’s what gives the Aussies the upper hand.

The World Cup saw us finish as the second best team in the world.

Now we have to plan how to dethrone the best and that should include a format that sees us try and replicate what the Australians have with Origin.

It has to be a long-term plan. Origin didn’t start off as this monster it’s become, it takes time, and that’s why we need to plan for the long term and not a quick fix.

The Exiles game was brought in to try and do that but we threw it out before it had time to grow. You can’t go back to the Exiles as we simply don’t have the quality and numbers of overseas players in Super League like we used to, but I’d be all for bringing back the Roses match and having Yorkshire v Lancashire.

It was a concept we tossed aside far too quickly and with the players available, it could be just what we need as a game to give the players an experience during the season to draw off when it comes to international rugby.

The trouble is fitting it into the schedule and unless we drop the number of matches played and put the international game to the fore, that’s going to be difficult.

I don’t have the golden answer, but we need to be patient.

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