Wallace selected for World Cup squad

[Sproj]

Freedom!!!

 

[Harry Sack]

Old Mate with a wide on atm

 

[Kimlo]

Who was out last regular 7 to be a rep player?

 

[Big Pete]

Berrigan or Ikin.

Although, it wasn't so much that they were rep standard, rather they came through at a time where wearing a Broncos jersey would earn you an automatic Queensland jersey.

Mind you, the alternatives weren't much better - Daniel Wagon, Nathan Fien, Paul Green...*shivers*

 

[Kimlo]

How long ago was it that Berrigan played origin at 7? Does that make Wallace our only rep halfback of the last 10 years ?

 

[Mr Fourex]

Yeah......QLD have had some bodies called Jonathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer and Cooper Cronk tying up the halves positions for some time now.

 

[Big Pete]

Technically, yes - although K. Hunt played in the halves back in 2008.

 

[hayseed]

Bet he hasn't even been to Scotland, this tourney is just a bunch of NRL players representing countries they have hardly heard of. Absolute waste of time.

 

[Old Mate]

That is... Correct.

 

[Charmamba]

Bet he hasn't even been to Scotland, this tourney is just a bunch of NRL players representing countries they have hardly heard of. Absolute waste of time.

Yeah let's just scrap the world cup and go back to the Tri-Nations every year right? Regardless of where the players come from or where they play, having a bloke like Wallace represent Scotland opens up the game to new markets. While Scotland might be full of ring-ins this world cup and likely the next, the game won't expand if the chance to be there isn't shown.

 

[KingWebcke]

While Scotland might be full of ring-ins this world cup and likely the next, the game won't expand if the chance to be there isn't shown.

I very much doubt that rugby league is going to grow in Scotland by having a foreign squad compete in the World Cup.

if sports fans in Scotland haven't got into rugby league through watching the English league or the NRL, then I really don't think they are going to start following it because Peter Wallace and Luke Douglas pull on a Scotland jersey and lip-sync the national anthem.

teams like Scotland are unashamedly there to give Australians and Englishmen the chance to play rep football. they don't help grow the international game at all

 

[Old Mate]

It publicises Scottish rugby league, even if most of the players aren't born in Scotland, definitely doesn't do the international game any harm.

 

[Sproj]

I am also all for it, I am more interested in watching games in the WC ( toilet version as well) with NRL players in the squad than if it was all no names. Not only that, the Samoan and Tongan teams should be pretty competitive.

 

[Broncoman]

The Rugby League world cup is crucial to the development of the game internationally. How are the developing nations going to improve if they don't compete on the big stage which will help spread Rugby League in their country. The fact that more nations are starting to get involved and that countries like Tonga, Fiji, Ireland and Samoa are getting more involved in Rugby League is a sign that the game is growing internationally.

 

[KingWebcke]

It publicises Scottish rugby league, even if most of the players aren't born in Scotland, definitely doesn't do the international game any harm.

well yeah, it will not do the international game any harm but that is about the most you can say for it ...

do you think that a bunch of Canadians pulling on an Australian jersey in the 2014 Olympics would help grow ice hockey in Australia, or rouse much interest at all in Australian sports fans? of course not, if you haven't paid attention to ice hockey up until now I can't see why a bunch of Canadians pretending to be Australian would change that ..... if I saw that I'd probably just snigger at the ridiculousness of it and continue to pay vry little attention to ice hockey. the same is true for a non-Scottish Scotland team playing in the World Cup.

it doesn't publicise Scottish rugby league at all, especially when Scottish rugby league barely exists at all. this whole "publicity" stuff is just a nice buzzword that gets used: the publicity means nothing if it doesn't provide any inspiration, or connection or relatability to Scottish fans, which I don't think it will.

 

[KingWebcke]

The fact that more nations are starting to get involved and that countries like Tonga, Fiji, Ireland and Samoa are getting more involved in Rugby League is a sign that the game is growing internationally.

what do you mean "getting more involved"? Rugby league isn't really growing in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa and they aren't really getting that much more involved ... rugby league has always been huge in those countries. it is just that those countries are very, very small.

if rugby league wants to grow then it needs to grow in countries where it isn't already an established sport (and it is already a huge sport in Fiji, Samoa, PNG etc) and preferably in countries that are actually relatively big. so countries like the USA, Ireland, France, Scotland, Wales

... in truth, the only countries that I've heard are growing decent grassroots rugby league programs are the US and Wales. apparently France is just pottering on at much the same level and Ireland, Scotland, Italy are just pulling in ring-ins to boost their national team.

 

[Mr Fourex]

It publicises Scottish rugby league, even if most of the players aren't born in Scotland, definitely doesn't do the international game any harm.

Selecting Wallace does harm

 

[Harry Sack]

'Tis a very famous name.....

Obvs a marketing ploy.