The Rugby League “Exiles”

The Rugby League "Exiles"

The Overseas All-Stars team has a Name!

The Overseas All Stars were proposed a while back. The idea was to provide England with stronger mid-year competition than France. The Overseas All Stars, now officially known as “The Exiles”, is to be made up of the best Kiwi and Aussie players in Super League. Sadly this means that it seems the mid-year test with France has been abolished. So what will the French do?

I don’t blame the English administrators for the idea, the success of their product is measured, in some ways, on how well they do against the Kiwis and Aussies in the Four Nations tournament. Recently a small gap has emerged in the quality of football played by the English, and that of the “antipodeans”. England against the Exiles will be an amazing clash, and it’s not quite a guaranteed win for the English. It is almost an attempt to emulate the successful “Origin” concept done here in Australia. If it pays dividends the English will have a great mid-year clash to sell to the public, and they’ll hopefully do better in the Four Nations.

This leaves the French without the mid-year test. This is the negative side of these recent events. So what will the French do? They’ve missed out on the Four Nations this year to Wales, and it now seems they won’t have any matches against the “Big 3″. It would be a massive waste if something wasn’t organised for them. Since the full Welsh team don’t have anything major organised, it seems that a Wales and France clash would be the obvious solution. This could turn into a great fixture on it’s own, considering the growing popularity of Rugby League in these nations.

Creating a tri-series by throwing in the England Knights team, makes it an exciting idea. It could be played like Origin, three times a year, and give the English Knights some competition mid-year. The idea of the Knights team was to help the depth of the English, blooding future young England players and keeping some older players involved, and this would be a great way of doing so. This could also be popularly received by the fans in England, Wales and France. They get a few high class representative matches to watch mid-year.

By implementing the Exiles concept the French will suffer, but a tri-series could somewhat negate those effects. They will be playing against reasonably matched competition, and have something to aspire to mid-year. As the French get strong enough domestically and internationally, abolish the Exiles and return to the mid-year test, if all goes well they might also have to include Wales in a tri-series. Then have the Knights side play against hopefully improving Scottish and Irish sides. As time goes by throw Italy in with the Scottish and Irish, and have the Knights play the Exiles. The possibilities are endless, all it takes is some dedication from the game’s governing bodies.

 

They're Coming! Rugby League's "Exiles".