Sunday night’s destruction of Super League champions Leeds Rhinos by their Australian counterparts, Manly Sea Eagles, left little doubt as to who is in charge when it comes to the crunch.
England’s World Cup shambles exposed British rugby league’s deficiencies and all Manly did at Elland Road was to confirm what was blindingly obvious last November – in far too many areas, we are still light years behind the Australians.
Leeds were committed, determined and full of character. There can be no doubting their effort or enthusiasm.
But Manly were in a different league. They beat the Rhinos in just about every aspect and then ripped them apart with three superb tries in five minutes at the start of the second half.
Remember, too, that this was a Manly team that is still in its pre-season and had flown around the world. The battle-hardened Rhinos, meanwhile, were already three games into their title defence and were cheered on by more than 32,000 supporters in their own back yard.
While the Rhinos made the scoreline more respectable in the final quarter, there was always the feeling that Manly could simply step on the gas at any given moment had they felt the need.
Manly coach Des Hasler was right to claim that the scoreline 20-28 “probably did not truly indicate the way the game was”.
Yes, Leeds were without Brent Webb and Danny Buderus. And, yes, their problems were compounded when Rob Burrow was forced from the field inside the first quarter.
But does anyone seriously think that Manly’s all-round superior skill-set would have been genuinely troubled by the inclusion of those three players?
They’d have had to deal with a few more problems, of course – the missing trio are probably Leeds' most potent weapons – but the Sea Eagles were capable of soaring against a Rhinos team that could only charge.
When Super League’s most athletic and skilful side is put in their place with such ease, it really is time to worry.