Man of the series imo has to be between Ellis, Crabtree & Sinfield. When the games started I thought what the f/uck is Smith playing at, Sinfield proved me wrong tonight, and even as a Bulls fan Ihave no problem admitting that it was a top class performance frm yoir skipper tonight.

Not only is he a fantastic player but he would make a fantastic captain.
Its always been my opinion that when possible a captain should be a Loose Forward or Hooker anyway, for communication reasons if nothing else.

I think Peacock serves the armband with pride but for the sake of England I feel its time to hand it to Kevin.

Excellent game from Sinfield tonight (and across the board from the England side for that matter). I really like his control of the game from dummy half. Making Roby look distinctly one dimensional. I'm with Rogues on this...I hope it's the start of the death knell for the 'scooter hooker'.

Sinfield has really stood up at international level this series. He has performed well in all 3 games. His second half performance against the Aussies was class. His kicking yesterday was different class and the Kiwis didnt want to know. His tackling was first rate and he talking to all the players and giving them a "pick up". Really is an all round world class player.

I can't say any more than has already been said about Kev's performance. He was sharp and organised at dummy half and controlled the game when he was playing pivot. 80 minutes of game time as well - credit to the coach there.
But what a great performance from the rest of the big guys. Really stuck it to NZ up front. Crabtree plyed a little longer than he did against the Aussies (think Morley was hurt when he went off), and was absolutely outstanding. He looks the real deal, big, agile and skillfull.

Briscoe seems to have come in for some stick, and I'm not sure why? He fumbled one kick, but in the end didn't panic and made it safe. Other than that he got involved really well (I also though he was okay last week).

That's exactly how I saw it. Briscoe did make the fumble, but that was because he was a little indecisive. He thought the ball was going out of play and didn't want to play it in case he got tackled onto touch and give away possession.

Apart from that I thought he played well.

I thought Kev was truly awesome. He really ran the show. A stunning display from a stunning player.

Good comments. Much has been said of Sinfield as a hooker but for a good part of the game last night he was in his usual position at 13. The key has making him the main playmaker the job he does so well at Leeds. Peacock may have led out the team, but for 80 minutes on the park Sinfield was the real skipper as he led from the front and continually talking to the other players. He stood up to the mark with an accomplised allround performance.

On the money again.

Is there a better role model in RL at the moment? Can't think of one.

The crew of the Marie Celeste – Lord Lucan – Shergar - Richey James Edwards – Richie Ramrod

Leon Pryce has been missing a while, do we have to wait a few years yet before he can enter that list?

Three consecutive GF's...??? he could be in with a shout.

Glad to admit Sinfield has performed better for England than I ever thought he would. He is a better starting hooking option than Roby at that level because he can read a game and looks like he actually enjoys controlling the play. The scott will never be a great starting option IMO, although Roby will still have a role off the bench because his dummy half running can be very useful when an opposing team is tired.

When Sinfield moved to loose forward/stand off I thought he continued to play pretty well although not a real danger man. What he did though was enable Tomkins and Eastmond to play freely, by being the key decision-maker.

Well played Kevin, happy to admit being wrong.

Also very nice to see England's forwards turn up en masse, and Tony Smith finally seems to be finding players who if anything play better for England than for their club in the likes of Crabtree. That's one of the factors that's been sadly missing for a long time.

I doubt England can turn over the Aussies, but it would be very nice if we could at least give them a real game.

Crabtree plays like that most weeks for Huddersfield. Best impact prop and offloader in Super League.

Exactly. If people actually watched the game as a whole they would have seen that.

I posted this about Crabtree a couple of months back only to be crtisized by certain posters who think they know everything, when indeed as usual they know very little, unless it involves Leeds.

Crabtree has been great all year and it did not raise my eyebrows at all when he performed as well as he has, but Ben Westwood has really quite impressed me. Don't think he has given a penalty away yet!

Maybe it's just that I only see him play when Hudds are on sky and Leeds games but I've not seen him play so consistently well before and I wouldn't of been bothered if Smith had not picked him before the tournament but I think he's been great so far, maybe he just has average games when Hudds are on the box?, I certainly hope he keeps it up for next week.

The name 'MR Versitility' isn't used too much these days but it sums Sinny up perfectley.
I would of thought there's not a position he's not played at some stage in his career and still we have the same old moaning about him not being up to it blah blah yadda yadda.................




I bet the good folk at the Heliwell Jones Carnegie are licking there lips at the prospect of seeing Kev pull on that Blue and Yellow Jersey next year!!!




(Shame it'll be Blue and AMBER and not Blue and Primrose tho!!!)

I thought the combination of Sinfield's game management with the potential for the unpredictable of Tomkins and Eastmond worked really well. I'd like to see more of that.

I also don't see why Briscoe is getting so much stick, he wasn't amazing, but I thought he was solid enough most of the time. I was also very pleased with Fox and Hall on the wings for the most part, both looked the part with ball in hand. There are still queries about our defence out wide, but I think these are more systemic than down to individuals - we seem to end up short of numbers too often.

Crabtree has been excellent in the last two games. I have liked what I've seen from him for Hudds this year, possibly Nathan Brown deserves some credit for getting him performing to his potential on a regular basis. I was interested to see how he got on on the international level. Very well is the answer.

My one concern from Saturday was Bridge, who looked clueless in defence at times, but it was hard to tell from the telly whether that was a result of being left too exposed by what was happening to his left? Nice arcing run and pass to put Fox in for a try though.

Agreed... the right centre is a real week point for the team. Bridge did ok when he wasn't giving silly pens away.. but we need to find someone for that position and given him games to get up to speed.. it's no use chopping and changing so much with players who are in expierienced in that role.

Wow is this thread still going?

Clearly the fact that Sinfield has been moved to play at 9 shows how bang on the money I have been all along.

Sinfield has never and never will be a International Number 13 - its great to see how many people now agree, including Tony Smith and Brian Noble, two people who clearly know there onion.

PS

Ramrod (and remember this folks) is considerably more intelligent and richer than yaw!!

I can't be d looking so i'm sure you will post a link to where you stated this.

He's back!!!

I take it someones lifted up your rock to give you some fresh air!!!