The main problem I had with the ref was the amount of time the Aussies were allowed to hold our players down preventing a quick play the ball. Having said that though when we eventually got up we seemed to be playing the ball at a snails pace anyway. In addition to this we weren't standing deep enough to give our players time or space to find a gap in the Australian defence, (which was either made up of 13 olympic sprinters or they were miles offside after every tackle) or to get a kick away on the last. This was obvious from the very first set of 6 and the fact we had no plan B shows how tactically inept McNamara is. IA number of Aussies including Russell Crowe commented that they felt England were hard done by for refereeing decisions which is something I've never known from our 'friends' down under but if the ref had been from NZ he'd know all the players and be familiar with their style of play anyway and British refs would just pander to the Aussies like in the WCC.
As for the tap thing, as much as it was obviously a tap, I really don't see what all the fuss was about, it was a baffling call from the ref who probably hadn't seen the tap but if I was an England player I'd rather concede 2 points than defend a set against the Aussies from ten yards out, they'd have either scored a try or forced a drop out.
All this tosh about if a try had been given or if we'd not gone for two points or if we'd had a neutral ref we could have won totally disregards the fact that Australia hardly broke sweat and looked like they had another ten gears.
When players are played out of position, are coached by a man with a proven cack record, are unable to adjust tactics in response to how the game is progressing, show no urgency to get up and play the ball etc etc You won't beat an average NRL team let alone their national side.
The RFL should refuse to be involved with any future tours unless we have a say in the order of fixtures and in the choice of refs. As well as having home advantage and bent refs they ensure the final is a foregone conclusion after 2 weeks by making the two favourites play each other the week before the final which was a totally predictable outcome before the competition even started. Its as if they don't want international Rugby League to be anything more than a laughing stock.
If I ever [again] hear an English coach suggest that positives can be taken from a game where we concede less in the 2nd half than the 1st, or that the young players will somehow benefit from the experience of being panned, or that the squad has been picked and the competition has been used to prepare for the World Cup,
I will not watch another international game until that coach has been replaced. I'm only 30 but I've heard the same things time and time again I'm fed up of hearing these things and talk of a game in this country similar to origin, I can't imagine how people who are older feel after hearing the same things for so much longer but nothing gets done. I also think that we should stop picking players who go to the NRL because all it does is weakens our competition. If they want to go let them go and we'll quickly see who gives a stuff about England and who doesn't.
Re: Australia v England
Re: Australia v England
Gareth Thomas before his first game: "You wanna spend 10 mins getting smashed up by these guys..Big dudes here.."
Re: Australia v England
The main problem I had with the ref was the amount of time the Aussies were allowed to hold our players down preventing a quick play the ball. Having said that though when we eventually got up we seemed to be playing the ball at a snails pace anyway. In addition to this we weren't standing deep enough to give our players time or space to find a gap in the Australian defence, (which was either made up of 13 olympic sprinters or they were miles offside after every tackle) or to get a kick away on the last. This was obvious from the very first set of 6 and the fact we had no plan B shows how tactically inept McNamara is. IA number of Aussies including Russell Crowe commented that they felt England were hard done by for refereeing decisions which is something I've never known from our 'friends' down under but if the ref had been from NZ he'd know all the players and be familiar with their style of play anyway and British refs would just pander to the Aussies like in the WCC.
As for the tap thing, as much as it was obviously a tap, I really don't see what all the fuss was about, it was a baffling call from the ref who probably hadn't seen the tap but if I was an England player I'd rather concede 2 points than defend a set against the Aussies from ten yards out, they'd have either scored a try or forced a drop out.
All this tosh about if a try had been given or if we'd not gone for two points or if we'd had a neutral ref we could have won totally disregards the fact that Australia hardly broke sweat and looked like they had another ten gears.
When players are played out of position, are coached by a man with a proven cack record, are unable to adjust tactics in response to how the game is progressing, show no urgency to get up and play the ball etc etc You won't beat an average NRL team let alone their national side.
The RFL should refuse to be involved with any future tours unless we have a say in the order of fixtures and in the choice of refs. As well as having home advantage and bent refs they ensure the final is a foregone conclusion after 2 weeks by making the two favourites play each other the week before the final which was a totally predictable outcome before the competition even started. Its as if they don't want international Rugby League to be anything more than a laughing stock.
If I ever [again] hear an English coach suggest that positives can be taken from a game where we concede less in the 2nd half than the 1st, or that the young players will somehow benefit from the experience of being panned, or that the squad has been picked and the competition has been used to prepare for the World Cup,
I will not watch another international game until that coach has been replaced. I'm only 30 but I've heard the same things time and time again I'm fed up of hearing these things and talk of a game in this country similar to origin, I can't imagine how people who are older feel after hearing the same things for so much longer but nothing gets done. I also think that we should stop picking players who go to the NRL because all it does is weakens our competition. If they want to go let them go and we'll quickly see who gives a stuff about England and who doesn't.
As for the tap thing, as much as it was obviously a tap, I really don't see what all the fuss was about, it was a baffling call from the ref who probably hadn't seen the tap but if I was an England player I'd rather concede 2 points than defend a set against the Aussies from ten yards out, they'd have either scored a try or forced a drop out.
All this tosh about if a try had been given or if we'd not gone for two points or if we'd had a neutral ref we could have won totally disregards the fact that Australia hardly broke sweat and looked like they had another ten gears.
When players are played out of position, are coached by a man with a proven cack record, are unable to adjust tactics in response to how the game is progressing, show no urgency to get up and play the ball etc etc You won't beat an average NRL team let alone their national side.
The RFL should refuse to be involved with any future tours unless we have a say in the order of fixtures and in the choice of refs. As well as having home advantage and bent refs they ensure the final is a foregone conclusion after 2 weeks by making the two favourites play each other the week before the final which was a totally predictable outcome before the competition even started. Its as if they don't want international Rugby League to be anything more than a laughing stock.
If I ever [again] hear an English coach suggest that positives can be taken from a game where we concede less in the 2nd half than the 1st, or that the young players will somehow benefit from the experience of being panned, or that the squad has been picked and the competition has been used to prepare for the World Cup,
I will not watch another international game until that coach has been replaced. I'm only 30 but I've heard the same things time and time again I'm fed up of hearing these things and talk of a game in this country similar to origin, I can't imagine how people who are older feel after hearing the same things for so much longer but nothing gets done. I also think that we should stop picking players who go to the NRL because all it does is weakens our competition. If they want to go let them go and we'll quickly see who gives a stuff about England and who doesn't.
Gareth Thomas before his first game: "You wanna spend 10 mins getting smashed up by these guys..Big dudes here.."