The Mid-Season Conundrum

On Saturday, England defeated the Combined Nations All Stars by 18-4, in a professional and functional manner. The game served its purpose as a warm up fixture ahead of the 2021 World Cup, but you left with a sense of wanting more.

We have tried representative action in various guises over the years. England have played France, home and away, we have had Lancashire v Yorkshire in an 'origin' style series, we have played the Exiles / Combined Nations and travelled to Australia to face the Kangaroos and Samoa. At times, we have not had mid-season internationals at all.

We have never seemed to get the balance quite right. Whilst easy to point the finger of blame in the direction of the RFL, the underlying problem is that there are no competitive opponents for England to face in the Northern Hemisphere.

Southern Boom

The story is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Tonga have defeated each of the 'big 3' since 2017, with Australia having entered into hiatus following their 2019 defeat! Australian-born players of Pacific Island heritage are now choosing to represent that heritage en-masse, leading to a more even distribution of talent.

And why wouldn't they? They have a choice. Option 1 is  playing beneath a sea of red flags, passionate Tongan fans, blasting out their hymns and creating arguably the finest atmosphere in Rugby League and being worshiped as heroes. Or, you could play at a half empty stadium in Sydney before a crowd that would more interested in looking at their phones. It's no surprise nations like Tonga have appeal.

Tonga started the revolution in 2017 and it has spread. The Samoan side is stacked. Fiji have firepower. All three of these sides are capable of, as a minimum, competing with the big. This augurs well ahead of the World Cup. Finally, we have a tournament which is genuinely competitive. A tournament where one of the semi finals shall not be a foregone conclusion.

Northern Bust

The situation is different in the northern hemisphere. Perhaps it geography, but that fluidity of heritage doesn't work in the same way between, say, England and France.

England need a mid-season test. But it is hard to summon up enthusiasm for a match against Wales or France. Take last October's test against France. It was the closest match between the two nations for many years, but the game was still over as a contest after 20 minutes.

This leads to the need for non-county exhibitions such as the Combined Nations All Stars. I admire the players who took part. But, when you're two scores down, you don't have a World Cup squad place to nail down and are desperate to avoid getting injured so you can return to your club unscathed, you can forgive the players of that team if their minds started to drift elsewhere.

I saw the point made on Twitter than a crowd familiar with Rugby League may not be the best audience for this type of match. A crowd at Warrington, who knows full well that when England play France you're not going to see a contest may not be the best target audience for that type of game.

Maybe here is how our sport expands. Do we take this kind of game out of the heartlands? England is an entity that anywhere in the country can get behind. You can forge an emotional connection and engaged with locals using England in a way that, for example, a Challenge Cup Final between two teams from two small northern towns never can.

The Future

The mid-season test for England needs to stay.  It is fraught with difficulties, so we should simply focus on what we can control. The RFL cannot artificially create more competitive international opposition on our doorstep.

But it can arrange internationals against genuine test nations rather than exhibition teams. It can take the England brand out of the heartlands. A 50 point England win over France may be met with a shrug of the shoulders in Leigh. The same win may be received far more warmly in London.

Crowds, I hear you say. England consistently achieve their highest international crowds for matches played in London. And if we can only attract four figure crowds for England matches against 'smaller' nations or exhibition teams in the heartlands, then what do we have to lose by stepping out of our comfort zone?

We have one of the best team teams in the world. Yes, I know that is because of our limited international scene, but let's stop keeping that to ourselves. For next year's mid-season test, it is not only a test for England but the governing body. We will hopefully be on the back of a legacy of an excellent World Cup. The time to be bold is now.