Ryan Brierley hits out at “poor” England disaster and offers solution

In a devastating blow for the RFL and Shaun Wane’s England, it was confirmed that Samoa had turned down the three game series they had begun negotiations with England over.

This is because they are set to participate in the Pacific Championships again in 2024 as they did in 2023 in a decision driven by the new management in charge after Matt Parish’s departure.

This has left questions over what next for England now that there are no plans in place for 2024. Scotland international and a Super League player who deserves an England call up, Ryan Brierley has called for an All Stars series as he slammed the situation as “poor.”

He said on X: “Poor this but I reckon a three game series against the All Stars is probably the go. Have to make it lucrative for the All Stars though to make sure it’s worth it for the best players like Bevan French and Jai Field and have it at Wigan, Hull FC or Leeds and Brentford or Wimbledon.

“We do now have 12 months of marketing and relationship building with potential sponsors etc so bring enough money in to pay the superstars to play it’s a challenge for the commercial team but it’s the job?”

This is all part of a fluctuating international rugby league scene with hopes that the NRL and RLPA down under will back it.

The IRL said on this: “Yeah we’re confident. I’ve also briefed the RLPA, who are supportive of the international game and the calendar design. and we’ll continue to work on them regarding detail because it’s always an ongoing issue, it just doesn’t start and stop.

“There is acknowledgement from the RLPA and the clubs, who I have a close relationship with, that the standards provided to players over the last few years just continue to improve. So the concerns they have are about obviously welfare and making sure that the standards in camp are equivalent to and or very close to those that are received in their clubs. The management of the teams whilst they’re in camp as nations has significantly improved. So a lot of their concerns have been allayed.

“A really clear message professional clubs gave to me was that they didn’t want their players playing in last minute thrown together what they described as Mickey Mouse competitions that didn’t have proper purpose or value. That’s what this calendar avoids. This is a well thought through, sequenced calendar. It’s got a rhythm and sense to it. It’s a calendar that goes to the heart of the greatest game on earth.

“It goes to those rivalries that we’ve had, that we’ve sadly lost over the years. The Ashes coming back is a key example of that, but the Kiwis and the English also have a similar rivalry and have played for a long held trophy that’s going to be reinstated as well. The rivalries across the Pacific nations and hopefully the rivalries that continue to grow across the Celtic nations, for example, is what we’re focusing on in this calendar design.”

That being said, this backing has somewhat worked against England.