After another disappointing Four Nations campaign Down Under, England have a lot of work to do if they are to compete with New Zealand and Australia.
Here, Neil Barker asks England skipper Adrian Morley about the key topics rugby league fans are talking about with regard to the future of the game at international level.
Q Why do Australia and New Zealand continue to dominate?
AM: The NRL in Australia is producing quality players who are conditioned to play international rugby league. So many Australian and New Zealand players are involved in a top-class club competition which is incredibly intense and they obviously benefit.
Q Is there a lack of quality in the English game?
AM: Definitely not, our pool of talent is certainly increasing. We are no longer relying on just the same familiar faces. New players are coming to the fore, but they will need time.
We don't have as much strength in depth as our rivals and it is something to work on. We are slowly getting there but it's obvious we still have a lot of work on if the gap is to be closed.
Q Should England be playing more international matches?
AM: Most definitely. England coach Steve McNamara favours the old Tri-Nations format of playing Australia and New Zealand twice. So do I. Moves to play a team made up of overseas players makes sense – a close game with them on State of Origin lines is far better than a 60-point runaway win over France. Let's also try to encourage short tours from say Samoa or Fiji. We must match the intensity of Origin games. It's just as tough in those as in Tests.
Q Was it a mistake to stop playing under the Great Britain banner?
AM: There are pros and cons to this particular argument but one thing is for sure, we cannot go on a lengthy tour ever again. The last time we played as Great Britain we had all England players in the team.
Q Is the Australian NRL better than Super League?
AM: Yes because it is more evenly contested. Seven or eight different clubs have emerged in recent years as champions. There is what I would term more of a player talent spread throughout Australia. The NRL is a top-class competition – it's not light years ahead but it continually raises the bar in terms of standards. It's also a very tough competition comprising of plenty of quality and tough games are guaranteed.
Q Who do England now need to build a team around?
AM: Young Tom Briscoe did well on this tour, whILE Tony Clubb scored four tries against PNG. Sam Tomkins is a shining light but he didn't do as well as I expected him to do this time. He'll have plenty more opportunities. Kyle Eastmond is another tremendous prospect who has time on his side. James Graham, who took over the captaincy, is possibly a veteran at 25 but as a big prop, his best years are ahead of him.
Q Should England revert back to doing what they do best rather than copying an Australian style of play?
AM: Super League is certainly a free-flowing competition and England did try to throw the ball about and take the game to the opposition. It's just a pity too much of this ball was dropped. I am not in favour of the five drives and kick theory, I think it's boring and predictable. You need flair and you need to spring a surprise, but completion rate and ball control is now so vital in the modern game and it lets us down too many times. But we do have the players to cause problems.
Q Do more English players need to play in the NRL?
AM: They would benefit and it would help the international team but we don't want all our best players heading to Australia. We need a strong Super League. We've competed and beaten Australia and New Zealand in the past and we can do so again, but it takes total concentration for the full 80 minutes.
Q Why do Australian and New Zealand players appear superior
AM: English lads Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess look fantastic when they are involved in the NRL. The Aussies and the Kiwis are playing a better standard of club rugby and this is giving them the edge at international level. The Australians don't seem to have looked back ever since they introduced the Origin concept. Maybe we need to do the same and on the same scale because it's certainly beneficial.
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Q Why do Australia and New Zealand continue to dominate?
A. The game is copetitive at all levels. From under 8's where screaminbg parents who chastise under performing children to tooheys cup and country football where winning means so much. Australians are probably the most competitive of all sporting nations and nomatter what they play they are never content with second. Just look at the medal count at the Commonwealth games and Olympics, How could a nation be so far in front with a population that is so much smaller? England are world champion losers, we accept floggings with a smile and think success will come without change.
The first change required has to be performance based and must start at the top. Why does Richard Lewis hold on to a position in the region of 200 k a year + after never producing a single positive result. Administration has to be proffessional and competitive by knowlegable personel. Someone has to ask the hard questions, someone has to challenge the accepted system that continues to fall way short, and somone has to forward a plan that is going to change attitudes of administrators, players and suporters. British Rugby League has been reduced to a laughing stock, in a conversation with Ray French last week he admitted that we have now been reduced to schoolboy curtain raiser status, we must change things. Now!!!!!