Danny Buderus hopes International Origin can really ‘kick off’
Leeds Rhinos and Exiles star Danny Buderus believes that the International Origin concept is a great idea, and that Friday evening’s inaugural contest can be the start of something special.
The Exiles beat England 16-12 at Headingley in a tense and entertaining game, but the atmosphere in the stands was at times somewhat flat.
Buderus wants the concept to be successful though, and feels that some great players really showed the spectators what they could do.
“Hopefully this is the night that this game can kick off. Hopefully fans walk away from here tonight and say ‘that was a great concept’ and turn up in their droves next year,” he said.
“The intensity and atmosphere of that game out there deserved a big crowd. Hopefully next year it’ll get that.”
Thomas Leuluai & Rangi Chase
Buderus, a former Australian Test star, picked out two Kiwis in Thomas Leuluai and Rangi Chase as the key men in the Exiles’ victory.
“The halves – Tommy and Rangi – I thought they were fantastic tonight,” he enthused.
“And hopefully I can say in a couple of years, when they’re sitting up there on that top, top shelf of players, that I played with those guys.
“Hopefully this game can kick them off into the kind of rep stardom they deserve.”
The former New South Wales State of Origin player felt that England will have learned some useful lessons in defeat, and gained experience which will stand them in good stead for the Four Nations competition at the end of the year.
“Any time you go into battle, rugby league’s a hard game,” he said.
“It’s about where you come from and those two nations are very proud down there. The way we won it – well, I’ve been on the end of those plenty of times before where you lose in the last minute or the last second.
“You’re full of adrenalin when you do win it. That’s why you love playing rugby league, especially on this stage. That’s why you like to play in these big games, because you might come out on the other side and it’s an immense disappointment if you don’t.
“I’m sure England will learn a lot of lessons out of that and bounce back, and we can look forward to a compeitive Four Nations at the end of the year.”
Exiles tries
Buderus also enjoyed the way in which his team had cut loose with some stylish and expressive rugby in the last few minutes, just when it was needed to break England down.
“I guess both teams were in a defensive mentality for about sixty per cent of that game,” he mused.
“But when you play in a team like this you just can’t contain a few of these guys, it’s in their blood – they love throwing it around.
“We could probably have come up with a few more tries tonight, we were chasing the game and that makes you push the pass a bit more.”
The Leeds hooker did have some reservations about the timing of the fixture on a Friday evening ahead of a full weekend of Super League fixtures though.
“It’s all about scheduling and how players can best recover,” he explained.
“It’s just part of it. Going back to when I played for New South Wales you weren’t considered an Origin player until you’d played for your club a couple of days later or whatever it was.
“That was a Wednesday and this a Friday, so I’ve got to go to training tomorrow and get ready for Sunday. That’s tough, in any aggression sport that’s real tough, so that’s for the RFL, but onwards and upwards from here. Let’s hope the concept takes off.”
