BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Former Great Britain halfback Bobbie Goulding says the matches at the end of this year against Australia should not be called an Ashes series, but that the much-anticipated event is vital for the future of rugby league in the UK.
England, not Great Britain, will face off against the Kangaroos in London, Liverpool and Leeds, in October and November. It is the first time the Ashes will be held since 2003.
Goulding disapproves of the use of England instead of the Lions, and believes it is all down to funding.
“It’s not an Ashes series, this is a Test match England vs Australia,” he told Sky Sports Radio in Australia.
“The Ashes is between Great Britain and Australia. It has been for over 100 years and I think it’s a bit disrespectful to Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and to all the great players from them countries who have participated in the biggest sporting event.
“It’s because, let’s take the NRL and the Australian game out of this, the English game, the British game, is on its arse.
“England are with Sport England, which is with the government and it gives funding to England. This is my opinion, and if Ireland, Scotland and Wales got involved then they wouldn’t get the funding from Sport England, and I think it goes into depth with what they can and can’t do.
“They couldn’t afford not to have the funding from Sport England because the game over here, never mind people putting tassels and silly bows on it and everything, the game’s struggling.
“The game’s never struggled like this for 30 years that I know of. Financially and through the media it’s struggling.
“The boys keep turning up every single year to put a product on the telly like they do, but it’s off the field that is the problem over here and I’ve been saying it for 20 years since I finished playing that it’s the hierarchy that is letting the players down.
“These players should be iconic, they should be walking down every town in this country and getting noticed like they do in Australia. But they don’t.”
Goulding played 17 times for Great Britain between 1990 and 1997, and five times for England from 1995 to 1996. In 1990 he was the youngest-ever Lions tourist at the age of 18.
A former star for Wigan, Leeds, St Helens and others, Goulding believes the RFL needs to be cleaned out and advocates for an NRL takeover of the sport in the UK.
“The players are turning up every single year and putting the spectacle on the telly and the people that run the game are killing it,” he said.
“I take my hat off to all the players, but the game is being run by people who don’t know what they’re doing.
“I don’t know whether the owners of the clubs would be comfortable with [an NRL takeover] but anything – absolutely anything – is better than what it is now.
“The game is not far off bankruptcy and people don’t realise… I think the NRL should come, takeover, and get a bloody big brush and sweep everyone from the RFL out and get new people in. New people who can run a game.”
Goulding expects England to win one of the three Test matches against the Aussies this year, but has tipped the Kangaroos to claim the series 2-1.
Great Britain last held the Ashes in 1970, with the green and gold winning every series since.
“I think England will win a Test match, like we have done for the last 50-odd years,” he said.
“Australia always seem to have the edge over a three-match Test series and I think that’s what it will be.
“I’m sure the lads for each Test match will give full effort for 60 minutes, but the game doesn’t last for 60 minutes it lasts for 80, and that’s where they seem to get us every time.”
