1. Where else to start but Tommy Makinson?

Three well-finished off tries, safe as houses under the high ball, plenty of hard carries and three try saving tackles. He is not the biggest of players but the way he stopped the Kiwis runaway second row Kevin Proctor in his tracks was as good as any of the tries.

He got walloped a few times, but picked himself up, played the ball and carried on.

Rugby league's image is crying out for superstars - people we can sell to the wider population, potential sponsors, new fans, television audiences and wider media.

Makinson's style and courage certainly won over plenty of new followers on Sunday ­— whether they were intrigued Scousers watching a first live game or the from sports followers from the home counties who kept the game on BBC2 after watching the highlights of England and South Africa.

2. The performance helped, but Sunday showed the importance of two things - international rugby league and terrestrial television coverage.

And the two work hand in hand.

Nothing shows off the elite of the sport more than a test match - and Sunday's had everything, plenty of niggle, some massive shots, the odd naughty one and some real finesse finishing. You don't have to know the rules or any of the players are to become transfixed by a contest as compelling as Sunday's match.

Just look at the reaction on Twitter from numerous sports followers who tweeted 'Not usually a fan of rugby league but.... '

And that is where being on BBC helped. It was on a station that was mainstream - not one that you would have to go looking for.

When people talk of the lack of recognition of RL personalities compared to the 80s and before, let's not forget your Big Jims, Hanleys, Gregorys, Offiahs and Lydons were on Grandstand most weeks in a multitude of competitions and regular test matches.

3. Wayne Bennett spoke afterwards about the importance of international rugby - and in the afterglow of a winning test match we can all agree.

We need more international rugby league.

It is not simply because we want to see the best players in this country face their counterparts from the Southern Hemisphere.

But we also need that level of competition to grow the game beyond the already converted.

Just look how rugby union has built and grown its game on the back of internationals - the Six Nations, Autumn internationals and Lions Tours.

They build recognition - and those players take that back into club rugby.

And that is the first nut to crack, can we - long term - live with fewer league games to accommodate more international games.

The attitude of the Aussies would be the second nut to crack.

4. Hopefully England's success in this series can stir a few Down Under into what the game globally sorely needs - a restoration of the Ashes series.

The Ashes was the biggest thing we had at international level - and swapping it for World Cup-lite Tri and Four Nations fixtures has never had the same meaning.

Now that we have a credible team that can have a genuine crack at the Roos we need to go back to having regular Ashes cycles, under the umbrella of Great Britain.

5. There was plenty of discussion beforehand about the choice of venue, but as it it 26,000 at Anfield turned out to be respectable. Do we focus on the full seats or the empty sections?

There was nothing wrong with being ambitious and taking the game to big venues - but when you take that bold decision the events have to be built, we cannot expect fans to just come.

Had a portion of the tremendous work done in the last week been done months earlier then I think we would have been looking at a different mood in the build-up.

And with internationals, there is huge potential to go to a different audience, not simply go to the same people we sell Magic, Wembley and Old Trafford to.

And I reckon there's a fair few from the nearby rugby league heartlands who probably wished they had gone now.

6. Makinson aside, there was plenty to like about Sunday's game from a Saints perspective.

Jonny Lomax was outstanding marshalling the defence at full back; safe as houses under the high ball and as the last line of defence.

But he was smart and skilful in attack, playing a key role in Makinson's last two tries with some fine running, awareness and execution creating the opportunity.

And once again Luke Thompson had another strong, aggressive game against the big Kiwis set.

He was everywhere in defence and took the ball in at speed, like a cannon ball as the English pack sought a way though a smothering, hard-hitting New Zealand defence. He kept going too, with his engine serving him well for this elite level showing he is fully equipped to deal with this level test rugby.

If ever there was a silver lining from the horrible season-ending neck injury sustained by Alex Walmsley in March, it has to to be the way Thompson has taken a lead - in the red vee of Saints and now as a solid brick in the Wall of White.