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France have named a 40 man squad with an eye on the 2013 World Cup. The squad will be trimmed back to 23 players by World Cup kickoff. The 2008 World Cup was nothing short of a disaster for France. Under the coaching of John Monie France were arguably the worst performed team at the…
The Federazione Italiana RFL (FIRFL) look set to create international rugby league history after announcing their Italia Azzurri XIII National Team will play their first International against a ‘Rest of the World’ team named the Barbarian Warriors Rugby League. The international will be played at Stadio campo da Rugby Dan Giorgio in Palmi, Reggio Calabria…
If Sam Tomkins wants to play in the National Rugby League he will need to learn how to do one simple thing. Shut the fuck up! Sam Tomkins has a weekly article he writes for the UK’s Mail Online. It is actually a pretty good read if only for the fact that he doesn’t hold…
Australia beat New Zealand 32-12 in the ANZAC Test Match in Canberra on Friday night. After the match the reaction from fans and the media was interesting. They talked about how strong the Kangaroo’s are and how easily they will win the World Cup at the end of the season. Me….I’m not so sure about…
A few years ago I looked at the English Rugby League team and I saw a problem. For all the talk from coaches and administrators that they were looking to build towards the 2013 World Cup, I saw a side that was being selected with no thought of its future make up in mind. In…
Here at LeagueFreak.com I like to go out of my way to help people in need. This is one of those occasions. There has been a missing persons alert for Leeds Rhinos lock forward Kevin Sinfield. He was last seen warming up for a match against the Melbourne Storm at Headingley in Leeds. Grave concerns…
The Melbourne Storm have won their second trial match in 2013 in what was clearly a much needed hit out against the Leeds Rhinos. I’m not going to go into some huge breakdown of this match because it was only a trial game. The Storm had played one trial game before this match, against the…
In my lifetime the best elite level development competition I have ever seen was the World 7’s. They used to be a way to kick off the season here in Australia and they put Australian clubs up against international teams. They were also a way for emerging nations to dip their toes into the water…
Recent talk that the World Club Challenge will be expanded is interesting to me, simply because the calls to expand it are not coming from Australia. They are all from Great Britain. Because of this, I try to keep up to speed on what people are saying about the concept and looking for some sort…
The Melbourne Storm are the best Rugby League club in the world. That is not in doubt. Yet here we are in 2013 and the best Rugby League club on the planet is having to deal with the amateurs that run Rugby League in Great Britain, all in an effort to put money in their…
In life, the ability to say the word “No” is very important. In fact, I’d go as far as to say our ability to say the word “No” is what our entire society is based around. You see, for things to run smoothly you need some level of control. You need to be able to…
The Federazione Italiana Rugby Football League (FIRFL) presented the 2013 Rugby League season competitions on Saturday 26 January. On the occasion, FIRFL President David Massitti showed the exponential growth of our Rugby a Tredici in recent years. “Our Federation is walking on its own feet – says David Massitti – since November 2011 in fact…
Tickets have now gone on sale to the general public for the 2013 Test match between Australia and New Zealand to be held on April 19th at Canberra Stadium. This match will be important to both teams as it is really their last good hit out before the 2013 World Cup kicks off at the end of…
Any international sporting competition is incomplete unless it has one very important element….mascots! Personally I don’t even watch an international sporting competition unless I have been marketed a mascot that I can buy in various forms. I like to think back over the history of sporting mascots…they really do complete the entire sporting experience! So…
The 2013 World Club Challenge between the Melbourne Storm and Leeds Rhinos will be played at Headingley Stadium in Leeds. Shocking I know… It was mid October when the same old people in England started talking about trying to play the World Club Challenge in Australia. I wrote that The World Club Challenge Won’t Be…
It happens every single year… After a Super League champion has been crowned the attention of the English Rugby League media turns towards their participation in the World Club Challenge. Every single season we hear the same thing from Super League clubs, they all say they would love to play the World Club Challenge in…
What a great achievement! Australia managed to beat New Zealand in Townsville 18-10 while being led from the front by a player born and raised in New Zealand who our officials and coaches recruited thanks to the possibility of at least $10,000 for every State Of Origin game he was selected to play in. What a proud moments for the…
I love international Rugby League. I grew up watching test football and enjoying every single minutes of it. I would set my alarm late at night to watch games played over in England, and I still credit the 1994 Kangaroo Tour for giving me the terrible sleeping habits I have today. Then Super League hit,…
Australia, New Zealand and England poach talent from other countries, and then they dare to suggest that no other country can offer them a decent contest, so they refuse to play anyone else. That is the current situation in international Rugby League right now. You have a bunch of growing Rugby League nations playing games…
The 2012 Australian Prime Ministers XIII team has been announced. They will face off against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on September 23rd. This game is not just about giving Papua New Guinea a good hit out, it is also about promoting healthy lifestyles in Papua New Guinea and the players in the side are ambassadors…
The Rugby Football League are very serious about winning the 2013 World Cup. So serious that they are looking to become pioneers. They are looking to go to extremes to get that winning edge. They are willing to go to all ends of the Earth to make sure they are the best prepared team bar…
Last month ARLC Chairman John Grant was asked about the ridiculous situation in the State Of Origin series that saw both Queensland and New South Wales actively recruiting players who were not born and raised in Australia. His reply was pathetic and limp wristed. “I don’t think the State of Origin rules are going to…
Why do people like international football? At its very core, the most basic level, why do we like watching test matches between international teams? I like to this it comes down to seeing how one group of people from one part of the world plays compared to another group of people from another part of…
The New Zealand team contains an Aussie. The Australian team contains a Kiwi and a Fijian. One side was picked with an eye on State of Origin. The game won’t even be shown live into Australia. So why should I care? As a die hard Rugby League fan that grew up watching some great test…
Last night Australia selected New Zealand born and raised James Tamou to play for the Kangaroo’s. He will go on to play for New South Wales in the State Of Origin series. It is a move that has caused uproar among fans and the media. Nobody feels like this is the right thing to be…
Last night in England the Rugby Football League was supposed to announce all of the venues that would be used for the 2013 World Cup. For what ever reason, that did not happen and in all the confusion about why the announcement wasn’t being made, it felt like the RFL just decided to announce what…
Last night in England the Rugby Football League was supposed to announce all of the venues that would be used for the 2013 World Cup. For what ever reason, that did not happen and in all the confusion about why the announcement wasn’t being made, it felt like the RFL just decided to announce what…
The RFL put out and extrardonary press release last night in which they confirmed their planned 2012 tour of New Zealand had been cancelled, blamed Australian administrators for the cancellation, and then decided to change the laws of the game. You know, just because they felt like it! The stupid, pathetic, egotistical failures within the…
So here we are, the 2011 Four Nations Final. Australia vs England at Elland Road in Leeds. England are full of confidence after their big win over New Zealand in Hull. I watched the game and England did play well, but New Zealand were terrible. I don’t know how much England is really going to…
I’m looking at Rugby League on a world wide basis, and I can not for the life of me understand why the RFL has any influence on the decision making process at international level. The RFL and its shambolic track record. An organization that can not even properly administer its own tiny little club competition….