A Long Flight Home

After Great Britain's capitulation in Wellington, scrum half Sean Long has left the Tri-Nations squad and returned to Blighty.








Saturday's 34-4 defeat to New Zealand means that the Lions must now go to Brisbane and at the very least, avoid defeat. That would be a tough task, even with a full strength squad but it then emerged this morning that the architect of GB's win over the Kangaroos in Sydney is heading back this morning.

The official line that came out this morning was that Long had asked permission to return home for "personal reasons" but rumours have been abound since the revelation.

The theory which most fits the reason and the one most of us will accept, is that Long has returned to be with his pregnant partner but more sinister claims have emerged both from the press here and in Sydney.

One story being banded about claims that Long had flouted an alcohol ban on the GB team's Sydney bound flight from Wellington, gambling exploits have also been mentioned - something that earned him a three month ban in 2004 and there is also the claim that Long had become unsettled after reportedly meeting with Australia coach Ricky Stuart over a possible move to Cronulla Sharks.

The Sydney Morning Herald has also put forward the notion of unrest in the GB camp surrounding the hooking role. The SMH has put forward that Long, amongst other players in the camp are unhappy at coach Brian Noble's insistence on starting Terry Newton at hooker, rather than Long's Saints team-mate James Roby.

Whilst I would suspect that the various theories are the result of the press looking for a story that isn't there, I suspect that we haven't heard the last of this. The SMH's "unrest in GB camp" story is the perfect paper seller and look out for plenty of follow-ups to that one leading up to the Brisbane clash.

Let's all Laugh at Willie Mason.

Ha Ha Ha!

So Aussie big gob Willie proved to the Rugby League world that he's all mouth and little action.





Not content with mouthing off in the press all week, disparraging the haka trying to batter anything that wore a white shirt, he then went and cost the convicts the game against Great Britain, winding up the GB side and bombing the ball when presented with a gap wider than the Mersey tunnel.

The result, a 23-12 victory for the Lions, their first on Australian soil since 1992 and a RLIF disciplinary for Mason in the coming week.

Let's not get carried away mind. The odd Great Britain victory over the Roos isn't as rare as people might make out, it's just two consecutive wins that happen to be the problem.

That said, it's still bloody funny!

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.