Missed opportunity. Reality check. So close, but also so far. No matter the cliché you attach to it, the first rugby league Ashes series in 22 years has been a mixed bag of bright positives and brutal negatives.
Negatives, because England were dominated 3-0 by Australia and their 55-year wait to get their hands on the trophy continues.
Great Britain or England have not beaten the Kangaroos in a single match since 2006, and that run does not look like ending any time soon.
The aggregate score over the series was Australia 70 England 18. The gap between the NRL and Super League right now looks like a chasm.
Was this Ashes series a success?
The Kangaroos have looked in a different class to England (Photo: PA)Positives, because regardless of the on-field results, ticket sales have been strong and interest has been high.
The Ashes and the international game command more column inches than anything else in the sport and combined ratings on the BBC for the three Tests will have eclipsed two million viewers.
Sellouts in Liverpool and Leeds, along with the biggest ever Ashes crowd in the UK at Wembley, demonstrate that the demand is there.
The Kangaroos have been a hit with the way they have engaged with fans and media.
They are rugby league’s version of the All Blacks, arguably with a better winning record than the 15-man side, and on this tour they have done their best to sell the sport.
On Friday they held an opening training session at Headingley watched by 150 supporters and several ex-England internationals.
Their stars, such as Reece Walsh, have spent time signing countless autographs, jerseys and taking selfies at every game and every session around the country.
They have been visible, approachable and widely welcomed by the English public.
What lessons can England learn?
Australia’s Reece Walsh has shown what a superstar he is on and off the pitch (Photo: Getty)The contrast with England has been stark. The hosts have been battered on and off the pitch.
England did not hold a single session in Leeds before the third Test and held just one in Liverpool before the second, preferring to stay in their Worsley and Wigan bases.
Despite an engaging online documentary series, access and insight into the national team for both fans and journalists has been poor.
Super League has had a big year with crowds and TV ratings growing. But it still has light years to go in terms of national profile and attracting attention in the 21st century.
While Peter V’landys is the rugby league version of Eddie Hearn, and Walsh the Australian answer to Tyson Fury, the English game is still stuck in the 1970s, parochial and conservative, unaware that any publicity is good publicity.
Aligning with the NRL, who want to grow the sport around the world and know how to garner headlines, can only be a positive for Super League and English rugby league in the years to come.
To Australian halfback Cameron Munster, improving the product on the field and strengthening the relationship between the two hemispheres will bear fruit.
“There’s not a whole heap of difference [between Australia and England], they’re a very good side,” Munster told The i Paper.
“I just think it’s the way the game’s played. With our referees there’s a lot of ball in play, it’s a lot faster, there’s a bit more fatigue in the game. Does that mean we’re a little bit fitter? Who knows.
“Hopefully the NRL can have a relationship with the Super League and build that bridge of international footy and also bring some Englishmen to the NRL, because there’s some very skillful Englishmen.
“You never know. The more the NRL can get involved and financially help them, it’s going to be great for our game internationally. Fingers crossed we can do something special.”
Can defeat be a good thing for English rugby league?
Author Anthony Broxton hopes more English youngsters will follow the likes of Herbie Farnworth (right) the NRL (Photo: Getty)Some will point to the number of people who play rugby league in Australia, which is a religion in the states of NSW and Queensland, and the financial might of the NRL and say England will never have a chance of competing with the green and gold. But that self-defeatism goes only one way.
The rise of Irish rugby union over the past decade shows how a smaller sport, with a smaller base of players, can compete and even beat the best in their respective code.
Ireland’s impressive focus on player development, pathways and raising standards in coaching and professionalism has seen them become one of the best teams in the world.
If England rugby league is ever going to improve, self-interest must be addressed, talent identification has to change and rigid mentalities must evolve.
Anthony Broxton, author of Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain, says there is nothing more effective than an Ashes series at showing where the English game really is at.
“Crowds come out and you get a bigger media profile and scrutiny than ever before,” Broxton tells The i Paper.
“But the focus now has to be on how England close the gap – it’s 55 years and the contest won’t survive another 55 without Australia losing a series.
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“After [the historic defeat to Australia’s “Invincibles” in] 1982, a new generation of British star emerged – Hanley, Edwards, Schofield – who learned from playing with and alongside the best Australian players.
“Fast forward to today, Tonga and Samoa showed that playing in the NRL and having players come through the Australian system is the best route to success.
“England must work out how they do the same – either by improving Super League dramatically or flooding the NRL with young English talent and creating more strength in depth as a result.”
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