Should he step down?

Bamford said he felt "humiliated and embarrassed" by the defeat, and called on Waite to tender his resignation.

"He has to go. The way we played angered and annoyed me. It's proved we're not as good as we've been led to believe and I don't know where we go from here."

Bamford also felt the decision to pick versatile players for certain positions rather than specialists backfired badly.

Few would argue that Waite's side got it badly wrong in Sydney, but should the coach pay with his job?

This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails appear below.

The quick fix - rugby league's answer to everything! Calls to sack Waite off the bat are typical of so many people involved in rugby league. It is decisions such as this which consistently land our game in so much trouble.

I was at the Test in Sydney and have to say I was as humiliated as I think I ever have been. As far as I'm concerned, we can lay blame on the coach or the set up but at the end of the day I was utterly disgusted with the efforts of the players and anyone else there would tell you the same.

Supporting your club/country is fraught with pain and anguish and it's something our fans have come to expect but I would not have made the trip had I not thought we stood any chance of beating the World Champions.

We saw the lads in their Manly Hotel the day before the game and they all appeared to be in fantastic form... then come Friday night we showed a total lack of conviction and of any pride and were absolutely dominated not only physically but more so mentally by an Australian side playing what was essentially training ground footy.

It's great to hear so many positive comments but reading the Sydney Morning Herald the following morning the headline read "RIP: International Rugby League" Surely this says enough to the people who run our sport?
Ian Allison, Penang, Malaysia

Don't look down on the British players or the coach; rather look at Australian rugby league. They have been selfish, in the way they have run the international game to the ground (along with the British rugby league and NZRL).

For too long there has been a concentration on Australia and a self congratulation of all things Australian to the detriment of the international game.

Australia have been the leading nation for 20 or more years and in that time they have not tried to build the game through allowing touring sides to acclimatise to Australian conditions by allowing these teams to play a number of games prior to an important Test, and thereby allowing such a one sided game to occur.

The Brits were in the game for at least 20 minutes but ran out of puff. Their side has skills, size and speed but are not able to backup after arriving in the country only a week before and having no practice matches. Australia should be ashamed at trying to stack a game such as this - as they have done repeatedly in the past!
Raphael Fonua, Australia

I am an exiled Brit who was at the game in Sydney. I have been to a few 'Ashes' Tests now and the display on Friday was the most gutless performance I have ever seen from a GB national team.

To sit there for 80 minutes listening to the Aussies beg for competition is enough to make you want to watch union. At $53 a ticket that is, undeniably, the last time I bother to see a Lions game. I can accept the defeat but not the manner of the defeat. Sculthorpe aside they stank!

I have been watching 'Ashes' Tests for over 10 years now and far from closing the gap we have dropped as far behind the Aussies as I can remember. What you don't appreciate back in the UK is that they have another two or three squads out here who would do a similar job on our boys.
Steve Camp, Australia

I hate the way that no matter what sport, the coach is held out as the scapegoat when teams under perform. Yes, Waite played a couple of the lads out their usual positions but the one player who played in the same position as he does week in, week out had an absolute stinker of a game.

Andy Farrell seemed to be completely disinterested, he is the captain and I never saw anything that looked close to pride in the jersey that he was wearing. As long as there is no competition for places in the GB Squad the coaches' job is one not to be envied.
Andy Dean, UK

Let's not get into knee jerk reactions. True, Friday's result was terrible but it was partly the result of lack of Lions preparation and an Aussie side who did the simple things very, very well. Sacking Waite is not the answer. Establishing and keeping to a regular international programme, which will better develop and adequately develop our players, is.

A deeper cause of this problem is the glut of foreign players in our game. I think we should be seriously thinking about putting quotas on overseas players, and developing younger players at Super League level rather than giving places to ageing Aussies!
Ian Jones, Manchester, UK

I don't think he should step down. Instead, he and the players need to redeem themselves against New Zealand in November. In hindsight, GB did not prepare anywhere near well enough for Sydney. We should have played a warm up Test in France before flying out, and we should have spent two weeks down under rather than one, with maybe a second warm up game against an Australian club side a week before the Test.

If there is a lesson from 12 July, then it is that we need much better preparation, and that means more warm-up games for the GB team. They played like a team that had never played together before, because that's exactly what they were! Let's make sure we get it right against New Zealand, and then in 2003 the Aussies have to come over to us, and then it is revenge time!
Andy Savage, Dover, Great Britain

Newcastle Knights did nothing with Waite in charge, then Malcolm Reilly took over and the Knights won the championship. Reilly should be given the job. Somebody with 100% pride and passion that is going to get the best out of the players.

We will never beat the Aussies at their own game and we need to look at alternative methods of play. You need skill as well as strength, and nobody in the current British line us has any tactical skill, especially when they are playing out of their normal positions. Waite should never have got the job.
Richard, Castleford, England

Maurice Bamford is talking through is hat if he thinks sacking David Waite is suddenly going to make GB world beaters. Waite is building for the future but he's not a miracle worker. The Test against Australia was ill-conceived because we never had a chance of beating the Aussies with no preparation in their own backyard.

Waite should be judged on how he responds to this defeat. I think he will have learned a lot of lessons and both he and the team will come out wiser and stronger. Give the bloke a chance.
Paul Hartley, Scotland

Of course Waite should do the decent thing and resign. To get things so badly wrong tactically is proof of his unsuitability for the British job.
Marc Bolton, UK

Yes, Waite should step down and hand over the reigns to a British coach. Besides our tactics being wrong, his choice of positions for some of the players was questionable. Ban all Australian and New Zealand import players for a spell to enable our youngsters to get more experience in Super League.

This will also give us more depth to choose from. Let's see that British pride come back into our game which has been missing for oh so long.
Mike Crick, New Zealand

It was ridiculous for the GB team to go to Australia in the middle of the domestic season - the ordinary fans who go to watch their clubs every week deserve better than this. I agree that Test matches should be played against other countries, but let's get the timing right. It is not fair on the players and fans. Think again RFL.
Ann Wright, England

I don't think David Waite should go based on one poorly planned Test. To travel that far for one game was always a risky venture. The Lions played okay for the first 15 minutes of each half but then seemed to run out of steam. That to me sounds like they were jet lagged.

Also, there are many factors that contribute to the UK being behind Australia in League. Saying the coach is the reason for the result a knee-jerk reaction. Is replacing the coach suddenly going to fix everything? If not, find out why the UK game is not up to speed rather that just blaming him.
Raymond, NZ

Give the guy a chance! A terrible result it was, and maybe it highlights the difference in class between GB and the Aussies, but this is the knee-jerk reaction that is has relegated our sport to one line columns in some dark corners of the media.

Rugby league needs a bigger profile, and though results like these don't help, the ground work is there to make are sport take a leap into the big time. That is as long as we don't sack good people because of setbacks.
Darryl Brown, Guernsey Channel Islands

Perhaps he should step down, but who else in there? None of the club coaches are interested in taking the position and Waite hasn't done a bad job. It's the lack of internationals we play and the stupid seeding system in the league that makes us open to thrashings.
Mike Appleton, England

David Waite did the best that he could with his team and should not be condemned. His team should have been allowed to spend more time getting over travel and time zone problems, and they should have played Australia more than once. Waite was once the coach of the Newcastle Knights, and was missed after he left.
C Beal, Australia

For the past 30 years no coach or team has been able to do any good. Australian Coaches are the best in the world, and should be sought after.

The English game may look entertaining, but tactically it is very poor, and your national side would be hard pressed to beat the majority of Aussie club sides. Give Waite another two years - it could not hurt in what is already is losing situation.
Jimmy Simms, Australia

As a lifelong Saints and Great Britain fan, the result the other day hurt very badly. The only expert opinion after the game that made any sense was that of Ray French regarding playing players in their rightful positions.

For a coach to play so many players out of their normal positions for me indicates that he was out of his depth. Let's get the best coach in, regardless of nationality, to help us compete with the Aussies. We are not as bad as that score line suggests.
Les Wilson, UAE

I can't understand the decision to appoint an Australian coach in the first place. There would be outcry if Australia appointed an English coach. By trying to emulate the Australian game GB will always be one or two steps behind. GB need to develop their own successful style and having an Australian coach won't help.

Junior development is the other key. You need to be able to find young players with skill to match the likes of Johns, Barrett, Lockyer etc. That is not easy to do, but it is done as a matter of course here in Australia.
Greg, Australia

When will we ever learn? We cannot and will not beat the Australians by playing them at their game. They are too big - both physically and mentally. The only times that GB have beaten the Australians is when we played good old British style Rugby League based on flair, handling and attack.

Friday's debacle was embarrassing, and the only man for the job is Brian Noble - he had the skills as a player, captain and now coach.
John Rochester, Australia

Coaching isn't GB's problem. The problem is that Australian players are bigger, faster, possess greater ball skills and, most significantly, are much fitter. What's the point of looking good for the first 20 minutes - as GB did in the recent Test - when the game is played over 80?
Chris Wheatley, New Zealand

I don't think David Waite should resign - not just yet anyway. His contract runs out at the end of this year, and I reckon he should see how the British Lions do against New Zealand first. If we win, it should encourage him to carry on as GB coach and take on the Aussies on British soil in the 2003 Ashes Series.
Richard Joyce, United Kingdom

David Waite's tactics in the test were downright awful- one forward on the bench in a match against such a big team having endured a 36-hour flight, and players out of position.

Having said that, to sack David would smack of a short-term fix. The more seasoned observer would acknowledge GB entered the test thoroughly unprepared. I think David should have a chance to prove his credentials against the Kiwis in what promises to be an exciting tour this November.
Andy, Swindon, UK

Bamford is kidding himself if he thinks that by replacing Waite, we are suddenly going to have a team capable of beating the Aussies. Sacking Waite is a simplistic and short-term "fix". The Aussies are in a different class to us at the moment. Union will swamp League in five to ten years if we don't get our act together.
Jonathan Michaud, UK