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Rovers Return - "COME ON ENGLAND!"

Listed below are comments made by Rovers Return - "COME ON ENGLAND!" between Wednesday, 4th November 2009 and Thursday, 26th November 2009.

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Are Hull finally on the up again? 4:11pm on 26 Nov 2009 Which means? City are a valuable member of the Premier League.
Are Hull finally on the up again? 2:16pm on 26 Nov 2009 City will be fine. They need to tighten up in a few areas but with Duffen gone there appaears to be a cloud lifted off them. Ironic? Coincidence? I don't know but if last night is anyhting to go by they are in with a great shout of safety.
The SFA should sacrifice their blazers 11:47am on 23 Nov 2009 Excellent article, straight to the point, pulling no punches. Jim Spence is one of the best BBC bloggers here at the minute.

Best of luck, Scottish football.
That was horrid, Henry 11:48am on 20 Nov 2009 It has taken a major event to bring this long-running and often 'swept under the carpet' issue to light.

Cheating has gone on in sport since the word was invented. Ben Johnson, Bruce Grobelaaaaaar, Dwayne Chambers, Ryan Hudson - the list goes on.

Cheating goes on every week in the Premier League and this debate has only exploded now because the rewards for victory in last night's game were huge.

Henry, like many before him, should be ashamed of himself.
What England must do to beat Australia 12:01pm on 16 Nov 2009 "From England's point of view it was a crushingly disappointing end but, looking at the bigger picture, I thought the team showed plenty of potential that they can look to build upon."

I'm glad someone else is on my wavelength!
What we can learn from Rooney, Dan Rooney 1:44pm on 11 Nov 2009 "Whoever wrote this article should be sacked and reported to the police for trying to incite hatred." John.

Don't be daft.
What we can learn from Rooney, Dan Rooney 12:45pm on 11 Nov 2009 "Rovers Return (90) - V good. And as I've said a few times now, I look forward to a time when this will all seem like a bad dream." Matt Slater.

Paul Ince has been using his race to meet his own ends for a few years now. Maybe, just maybe, there are simply a larger number of white managers than there are black managers, hence why the numbers are somewhat contrasted.
What we can learn from Rooney, Dan Rooney 08:16am on 11 Nov 2009 It is the white managers I feel sorry for, not getting enough media attention based on their race...
Hats off to England - but can they beat the Aussies? 09:25am on 10 Nov 2009 My Aussie mate in Brisbane text me during the England/Australia game asking why we were trying to play the green & gold NRL style instead of SL style. I couldn't answer the question because I did not know.

What I do know is that we played SL style against the Kiwi's and came away with a resounding victory. In order to be the Aussies, we have to start well, turn them around and put them under pressure in their own half. That is how SL is played and that is how we have to approach the game.

I'm going to Elland Road and can not wait!

Come on England!
England give us reasons to believe 2:34pm on 04 Nov 2009 Before the game we spoke of the England forward's size and strength and how we could match the Aussie pack down the middle; this was proved correct. We also spoke of our inexperience and vulnerability in the three-quarters; this too was proved correct.

It was very much a 'game of two halves'.

The first half was an exhibition of Australia's attacking power and their ability to cut through players, as seen with 4 tries down the right hand side inside 25 minutes. England gave them way too much space and time; they failed to close the middle men, i.e. Lockyer and Thurston.

I thought James Graham was awesome throughout and although his efforts were in vein he deserves much credit. At one point he was leading the chase after a kick through and made the tackle whilst his team mates were still 9 or 10 yards behind him. Big Eorl Crabtree did very well when he came on and the biggest man in Super League justified his selection with some good runs and his defence was pretty sound.

After a shaky start Sam Burgess put some big hits in, ran the ball well and scored a good try. He seems to have impressed a few Aussies too which is good. I though Morley and Peacock were Morley and Peacock; hard-hitting and uncompromising. Ellis was quality too.

The second half was such a contrast from the first as England settled down, structured their plays better and built a bit of confidence. My Aussie mate was texting me from Brisbane all the way through the game and he kept saying that England were trying to play the Aussies in an NRL-style when if they played in the accustomed Super League-style (complete sets, good kick and pressure the ball-returner) something we did not do for the whole of the first 40.

He said that the Aussies hate to play against a team who pressurise them. They don't like it 'up them' and when England started to do that you saw an Aussie side that had to defend for their lives for long period in the second period.

Australia was explosive for half an hour, England gradually improved over the remaining 50 minutes. England was arguably the better team for 50 minutes and Australia failed to score a single point in that time. I take a lot from that.

Australia are not super-human, they are beatable and I believe that the young lads, Eastmond, Briscoe, Tomkins etc will come away better off after the experience. These lads can play; they are good players so we can now forget about wrapping them up in cotton wool and babysitting them. If you were to ask them, I'm, betting they would say the same.

Next up is New Zealand and all together different proposition for them. If we can sneak a win, we have every chance of beating Australia in the final knowing what we know now. We have to start believing in our own abilities and our own capabilities. We have to stop hiding from the Aussies or else we will always be in their shadow.

In 5 years time, with the conveyor belt of young, English talent coming through, you will start to see the reduced SL overseas quota paying dividends - I guarantee it!

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Rovers Return - "COME ON ENGLAND!"