Schtop! This GB Team, It is Not Ready Yet

Great Britain officially join the Gillette Tri-Nations this Saturday against New Zealand in Christchurch and the obligatory "this is the best squad I've worked with" has already been trotted out.


The Lions go into the game against the Kiwi's, an indeed the entire tournament, as massive underdogs. The Aussie media have them down as no-hopers and are fully expecting Brian Noble's side to be on the plane home as Kangaroo's kick-off the final against New Zealand.

The Kiwi's however are in desperate need of a victory to keep their chances alive. Two successive defeats against Australia have left them with zero points having played two games more than Great Britain. A third defeat would leave them facing an uphill battle to secure a berth in the Sydney showdown.

They needn't worry though, as Great Britain are fully deserving of their underdogs tag.
This isn't particularly a go at the players. On the whole, the Aussies are certainly stronger and the Kiwi's would claim to be more gifted in many areas, but the current GB squad are capable and indeed have beaten both sides in the past in one-off encounters.
The problem however is putting in consistent performances. A one-off win has always been achievable, it's the second and third win that has proved elusive in the past.

Much of the blame for that must lie with the Rugby Football League.

This year, as in previous years, Great Britain go into the tournament under prepared in comparison to their rivals. A warm-up game against a Newcastle District select does not get you battle-hardened for the toughest competition in sport.
Whilst the Kiwi's and Roo's have two International games under their belts, GB have a series of training sessions and Friday night pub match victory to their name.

It is this shoddy preparation that provided the basis for Phil Clarke's resignation from the post of Great Britain team manager and the lack of support from the RFL has not been fully addressed. A warm-up against a part time team and pre-season friendly against a New Zealand 'A' side is far from good enough. Instead, what is needed is for the RFL to shorten the Super League season.

Rid the year of the six 'additional' games, introduce a larger representative calendar and send Great Britain to the Tri-Nations earlier.
The Yorkshire v Lancashire concept was scrapped far too quickly. The powers at Red Hall were clearly expecting this to be an instant hit. By being sandwiched between two Super League rounds with a mid-week kick-off, this was never going to be the case. In the tried format, the clubs were never going to support it and neither were the fans. Instead, the concept should have been given it's own weekend.
As for Internationals, the Les Catalan franchise will eventually lead to the development of a competitive French side but until then, GB will have to make do with another non-event against New Zealand 'A' in 2007.

The opposers to the 'reduce six games' argument claim that clubs would struggle financially through a loss in match-day income. However, I would argue that clubs that are financially dependent on six 'artificially produced' fixtures should have their Super League credentials called into question.

I could call into question the selection policies and the tactics employed by Noble. I personally would prefer to see Lee Briers in the squad ahead of Long and Roby but the fact remains, Brian Noble is far more knowledgeable about the game than they vast majority of people on this planet. He knows what his sides strengths are and he knows their weaknesses.

The GB players aren't far behind their Southern Hemisphere counterparts. Unfortunately, the Rugby Football League isn't giving them the chance to prove that.