@killakiwi_nz - hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you need to think 1st generation in terms of online play. It seems completely random who you play against and there's no accounting for skill level (as far as I can tell). As a result, everyone wants to be a good team (NZ,OZ,SA etc) because they're not sure of the quality of their opponent, which is starting to get a little tedious. Also, even if you and I had a great game, there's not even an option to replay the match, it relies on me having to write your ID down before we start the game!
I was really looking forward to the online aspect, as the AI gets too easy and predictable very quickly, but from what I've seen so far the online play is appalling. I have a wired high-speed 30mb connection and it's so laggy, it's just unplayable and that's only if you haven't been kicked off for no apparent reason. I've posted elsewhere about this, but the things that also wind me up online are the constant need to press x
(on PS3) and wait for your opponent to do so. During conversions, you have to do this about 5 times to skip the replays and cut-scene animations which is just annoying. Also deciding on which option you want to take if you get a penalty needs to be instant as cutting to that 45 secs screen winds me up! When the square icon pops up over the player's head for a quick tap, why can't the other buttons represent the other options and get the game moving?
I'm not giving up on this game yet as I've waited a long time for it to come out, but I hope these issues get addresses soon or it'll be on ebay!