Gareth Widdop (Storm)
Ryan Hall (Leeds)
Michael Shenton (Castleford)
Chris Bridge (Warrington)
Tom Briscoe (Hull FC)
Kyle Eastmond (St Helens)
Danny McGuire (Leeds)
James Graham (St Helens)
Kevin Sinfield (Leeds)
Jamie Peacock (Leeds)
Sam Burgess (Souths)
Gareth Ellis (Wests)
Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan)

Joel Tomkins (Wigan)
Nick Scruton (Bradford)
Adrian Morley (Warrington)
James Roby (St Helens)

That's what I would roll with.

Yes, definite conflict of interest although Scruton probably also deserves his selection.

What's the problem with Widdop being released by Melbourne? It's not as if they've got anything but pride to play for this season.

Leeds have a option to postpone the Harlequins RL game due to having 4 players chosen, wont take it though.

I should hope not either people have spent a lot of money to go see this game already

Exactly. Would be very unfair to fans, also for the planned double header.

Lynch is carrying an injury.

i'm pretty sure Jamie peacock isnt fit at the moment

Not a bad squad. About the only issues I have are the selection of Chris Bridge for one, which is just a joke.

Also how no Huddersfield player made that squad I find puzzling, especially Cudjoe who I would have expected to be a shoe in.

As for the Leeds team at Harlequine, personally I would cancel it, especially considering how far we are behind in the league and therefore not in a position to take risks. However, that said its hardly any lighter squad than what we have been playing with for most of the season anyway.

Based on what I've seen Ablett should be ahead of Westwood?

What about from a Leeds pov?

I'd of picked Ben Harrison aswell.
I really don't see what we are gonna achieve playing France with the likes of Peacock,Morley,Burgess,Ellis etc etc in the team it should be a squad made up of younger players and "probables" imo.
Beating France again by 40+ does neither team any good.

This is McNamara's first opportunity to get his International squad together. Of course he is going to try and get as many of his likely 1st choices as he can and rightly so.

This isn't about the opposition this is about McNamara's England.

playing the reserves wouldnt do us any good either
the interntional is a waste of time, france were the worst team in the world cup but were promoted the the 4 nations for political reasons
the welsh have been put in the next world for similar reasons
England should go out and massacre the french to show how ridiculous playing them is
BRING BACK THE ROSES GAME

Playing the reserves would expose them to international RL which can be good thing imo as for the French they'd be able to gauge where they are in terms of progress and when they can comfortably beat the England youngsters then and only then should they be considered for a test against the 1st choice 17.

The french game is an international in name only the french thirteen will be inferior to the Catalans team who are the worst SL team, nowhere near the intensity of a 2010 four nations test match

playing a team of unproven or non first choice players would mean that the new players in the england team are not learning from playing with those who will be on the plane at the end of the year

the england coach should do what is best for england, anything less than a 50 point win should be a disappointment, playing the reserves against the french doesnt help us

i myself feel the team picked is all wrong but what do you expect from a coach who imo does not have a clue....

the french game was a perfect chance to test players that you think can step up to the mark towards a full cap in the future but to pick a squad full of usuals barring a couple is just silly,imo players like morley,peacock,sinfield,graham,ellis,burgess are players which are on the teamsheet every england game so should not have been picked cos you know what you get from them.....

players like carl ablett,ryan bailey,ben harrison,paul sykes,scott moore,bryn hargreaves,lee smith,matt diskin,andy coley,joe westerman,danny washbrook,scarsbrook,rob purdham,chris melling,shaun lunt,darrell griffin,luke robinson,kevin brown and stephen wild,i can understand ive not named sum players but they are the ones i can think off top of my head and sum mayb injured or have been given the chance before but under a new coach and new tactics the french game would have been ideal for the coach to see if they could.....

And Burrow still missing so no first choice half backs for Quinns which is a tricky fixture.

Maybe halfbacks of Webb & Ablett but as far as I know they will never have played in the halfs together so very much experimental for such a potential banana skin of a game.Will such a pairing be able to create enough?

I think for once that Leeds might just take the option and pull the plug on the Quins game. I suspect that GH will let Bluey decide if he wants to postpone and he will know if he comes back with a win, nobody will care, if we lose and we had the option, how will that hit our league position and SL ambitions?

We don't need to finish top BUT we should be aiming for second place. We are currently 5 points off 2nd & 3rd placed Warrington & Saints, so that means that we need them to both lose 3 more games than we lose in the second half of the season to go above them into 2nd spot! That is a tall order with just 12 regular rounds left and we need to beat all of the three clubs currently above us, so if we slip up against either Warrington or Saints, we then need them to lose 4 games from their 12 last fixtures.

The more I look at this, the more I think we should postpone the game!

If the game is postponed it will be played midweek, same as the Catalan vs Castleford game.

Rhinos seek discussion with the RFL - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php

Rhinos seek discussion with the RFL - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php

Another fixture change for the Quins away then.

I do feel sorry for those who've booked their tickets already.

Quote ="Frosties."Rhinos seek discussion with the RFL - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php'" Well that nails it for me, GH wants to postpone and is just looking to chat to the RFL to avoid having to play the game on the following Wednesday in London and then again on Friday night at home! I wonder if GH will offer to play on the following Wednesday if he can move the Crusaders fixture at home to Sunday? That would be a good option for us and still give a full week between Crusaders and Warrington away!

Quote ="Frosties."Rhinos seek discussion with the RFL - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php'" Well that nails it for me, GH wants to postpone and is just looking to chat to the RFL to avoid having to play the game on the following Wednesday in London and then again on Friday night at home! I wonder if GH will offer to play on the following Wednesday if he can move the Crusaders fixture at home to Sunday? That would be a good option for us and still give a full week between Crusaders and Warrington away!

I feel for the guys like Abbott and Floydy, spending £200 on hotels and travel.

I'll just take a trip to Sandown races if it is off, but we best get the £50 we spent on tickets back.

Sorry to the folk who have plans, but a date change is the right call for the club imo! if we had some breathing space further up the league then it could be risked. But we don't.

The bye law on re-arranged fixtures is quite complicated -



So we can't play on following Wednesday as it is against the bye-law as we have a fixture on Friday, so would have to play Monday or Tuesday night. Of course the good news is that Leeds & Quins can just ask the RFL board to agree to a new fixture date on which they both agree and I suspect that RFL would struggle to refuse them that right, given that Wednesday is out.

My gut feeling is telling me that GH wants to play on the following Wednesday if he can get the RFL board to agree to let him move the Crusaders to Sunday (and the Crusaders agree as well of course).