Great Britain stumbling blocks clear as verdict delivered on Test return

Great Britain’s rugby league side are set to return in 2025, it seems, with talks ongoing about the Lions coming back to replace England’s men’s and women’s sides that will tour Australia next year.

It has almost immediately prompted a debate about the merits – and indeed, the drawbacks – of a Great Britain side returning after five years in the wilderness.

The concept was heavily debated and discussed in the aftermath of that disastrous tour of 2019, and it was assumed that it would never return. And while Love Rugby League revealed earlier this week how it could now be revived – could it work? Or is it doomed to fail once again?

Allow us to gaze into the future for you and project what needs to happen for it to work, why it could work.. but also, in true rugby league fashion, why it might fall flat again.

There will be a coach who cares

Say what you want about Shaun Wane, but you cannot deny he is not passionate about the growth of international rugby league and England.

Of course, Wane’s remit will, officially, have to slightly shift to a wider brief if he’s leading Great Britain rather than England. But there’s no doubting he will do everything within his powers to make the tour a success – which is more than can be said for the last man who led Great Britain.

The general consensus internally five years ago was that Wayne Bennett’s commitment to developing the Lions brand wasn’t quite as strong as it could have been: underlined by some of his bizarre selections. With Wane, there’d be no repeat of that.

The GB brand still matters

Even though the Great Britain banner has been dormant for most of the last 15 years, it is still a name which evokes memories with a lot of players, coaches and supporters.

Great Britain tours were a staple for many growing up, and representing the Lions was an honour seen to be bigger than playing for England.

If the powers that be can restore that sense of importance – and there is no better opportunity than an Ashes series – then it can lay the foundations for a strong Great Britain for years to come.

There is player support to put 2019 right

Internally, there is great frustration at how the last Great Britain tour was handled. There was a feeling everything could have been done better – and the players share that frustration.

Some who were on that tour, who are likely to be part of next year’s trip, would relish the opportunity to wear the Great Britain shirt once again. If there is buy-in from the players, that would be a great start as to convincing the public the Lions is a concept worth sticking with in the modern age.

MORE GREAT BRITAIN

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The obvious player pool issue

Let’s address the gigantic elephant in the room, shall we?

If it’s Great Britain, there really should be at least one representative from Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Unfortunately, unless there’s a heritage pick – Bradman Best, anyone? (No, we know) – that seems incredibly unlikely.

The best candidate from recent years, Regan Grace, is now a rugby union player and if it’s just going to be an England team under a different name, can it really be taken seriously? That’s perhaps for the court of public opinion.

Will it be a ‘proper’ tour?

Historically, Great Britain tours have been, well, exactly that: tours.

Think midweek games, warm-up matches against local or representative sides – the full works. At the moment, there’s absolutely no suggestion that would be the case next year: it would just be the three Ashes Tests and little else.

On the one hand, that’s understandable given head injury protocols in the modern era and the fact a player would risk missing a Test if they suffered a head knock in a warm-up match. But on the other, the big lure of Great Britain is its nostalgic value.

Without that old-school feeling of it being a proper tour, it may not have the same pull.

It’s all a bit last minute.. again

It’s only 17 months until a Great Britain side would head Down Under – and it’s under a year until England’s women are scheduled to go to Las Vegas to play Australia, which would also become a Great Britain side if the plans are approved.

We’ve been here before, haven’t we? It feels a bit rushed, and not really thought out – which could be a fitting epitaph for rugby league at international level, in truth.

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