Three games played at the start of two hectic competitions is NOT a good qualitative indicator.
Whilst the NRL clearly has access to a larger pool of players and greater wealth - this alone cannot explain GB/Eng's shockingly poor record in internationals.
Between 1978 and the beginning of SL I could understand why we fared so badly. The standard of coaching in the UK was demonstrably abysmal and the Kangaroos, who'd looked outside the game to find new ideas and techniques, capitalised every time.
But ever since we turned fully pro it's become harder and harder to explain our ineptitude. I mean, it's all well and good that there are ten or twenty times the number of juniors playing league in Australia.
They can only field thirteen at any one time.
If the size of a player pool was the deciding factor in international competition - Brazil would have won every World Cup. England would have dominated world cricket for years. Shouldn't NZ have a far better record in the RWC? Conversely, shouldn't Australia have a far WORSE record? The last time I checked you'd struggle to fill Wembley stadium with the total number of Aussies playing Union.
We love to create narratives which explain our dysmal performance against the Aussies. They certainly sound plausible. But how many of them are true?
From my experiences playing Union in South Africa I'd argue that the WEATHER is a far bigger factor than the size of the player pool.
A warm/hot & dry climate is beneficial in so many ways. Naturally talented players can practice the full panoply of their skills (could Jamie Lyon have developed his soft hands equally well slogging through the mud and dog turds at Blackbrook?). It encourages not just fast hands but expressive play. Kickers can gauge the contours of individual pitches better and don't have to worry as much about the kinds of wild weather variations which are the norm over here. Harder pitches bring out the best in quicker players and don't sap the strength of the bigger guys down the middle.
A sub-tropical climate makes hard training almost enjoyable whereas it's tough to motivate anyone in the type of weather conditions we've endured over the last three months. You get less muscle tears, injuries heal faster ... the list goes on and on.
I'm not saying weather is the deciding factor. But I think there's plenty of observable evidence that it's a far bigger issue than many think.
I also suspect that much of the problem is psychological. After living abroad I quickly realised that English people have an inexplicable inferiority complex which you just don't find in South Africa or Australia. I think this mindset is endemic within SL and contributes significantly to our downfall.
We already know that mindset plays an important role in professional sport. You can't tell me that British fans consistently proclaiming their inferiority and a submissive media which treats Australians like visiting gods from Mount Olympus doesn't leave some kind of imprint on the minds of players.
