Thats what I was thinking. Hope so

IMO we need Sinfield controlling at 6 and Wilkin tackling at 13. Widdop is a runner not an organiser. One of the reasons we are in with a chance in the final has been Sinfield control at SO. He would not be able to do the same at 13 as he would have to put in a huge tackling stint.

Dont worry, Wilkin wont let us down.

I would have dropped Heighinton anyway.
Best team for me, hope widdop is utilised a bit better.

Got to say i thought Wilkin was very good against the kiwis and deserves his spot.

Would agree. Don't think from the first two games he deserved his place against NZ, however that said he did have a good game against them

Last night showed that Wilkin is too much of a lightweight at that level.
Oh for Burgess (Sam) to have been fit.

OF It would of been nice to have Sam Burgess available but as with Ellis the Aussies can handle them whereas with the likes of Thaiday and T-rex we couldn't handle them.

Watch Ellis on you-tube playing for Wests....he seems to do pretty well there. Too many expectations are placed on him playing for England, which is probably a [iweaker[/i team than his club side.

England just doesn't have the strength in depth to compete [iconsistently[/i

I actually think Wilkin has had a decent series, including Saturday's game. I gives me no pleasure to say so because I think he's a nob head.

I also can't recall the last time Ellis lived up to his potential in an England/GB jersey and you may have to go back to his Wakefield days. I don't care what he produces for Wests, it's about time he replicated that in rep games.

Quite agree. Wilkin did have a good series as did JJB. On Saturday it was the rest of the pack that looked jaded inlcuding Ellis, Westwood and our front row, except Graham who did his best.

I thought Wilkin made up for his slightly lighter frame with a big effort, both on Saturday and against the Kiwis. I thought over the series him, JJB and Westwood all performed well in the 11,12 and 13 positions (which are largely interchangeable at test level these days). Graham and Roby had good series as well. Peacock was very solid, as usual.

Nantwiche -like G1 says it doesn't matter what players do at club level we all know how well thought of Ellis is out there but the Aussie team just handle him quite easily and Burgess also.
I do agree there's some positives for us to build on also agree re-Wilkin and lets face it Hall and Reed have more than shown they can handle this level as have Roby and Graham.
For me Englands player of the series was Hall.

Overall, Hall, Tomkins, Graham and Roby were our best players. Reed certainly adds a threat in the centres we haven't had for a while. Needs to work on his defensive reading - too prone to rushing out of the line and getting caught out, but a big plus. Despite a wobbly night on Saturday I also thought Briscoe had a decent series.

I too think Wilkin & nob head. But I think he is a waste. I can't think of one threatening run he did in the series, whereas JJB ran win incredible commitment throughout. England's plan on Saturday seemed to involve taking the ball to the left from a scrum for WIlkin to come back inside & get creamed.

look no further than Sinfield and chase for Englands poor showing, not a clue the pair of them.

See posts elsewhere on witch hunts.

I think England picked the best available side, and it wasn't good enough. If you think that's down to any one or two individuals you could name then I wish you well but I don't personally think you (and what appears to be a majority of RL fans) have a clue either.

What are you expecting from him G1?

He's not the sort of player that Thaiday is who'll run over people all day for fun. Neither is he a Lauitiiti style basketball player who produces miracle offloads.

What he is, and always has been even at Leeds, is a workhorse with a terrific attitude and a low error rate. IMO he played well for the time he was on the field at Wembley, and didn't look 100% fit on Saturday.

He was however nowhere near being England's worst player or biggest disappointment in this tournament.

Agree. I'd give that honour to his club team mate.

A level of performance that matches up to that he gives at club level. IMO he's not done that in rep football for some time.

I understand his role and I am not saying he was any where near our worst performer, just that I think over the last few series he has been a bit underwhelming. It may well have been injury related but he was behind JJB, Westwood and Wilkin as back rowers. Interestingly, the two poorest back rowers for England, IMO, were the lads who ply their trade in the much vaunted NRL.

I thought Ellis looked short of match fitness on Saturday and we lacked the punch that Australia had in Thaiday and Gallon.

Add Sam Burgess to the pack and it improves a bit but we need a to find a few more big tough hard running forwards soon just to stay as we are as Morley and Peacock are just about done at this level.

I thought Ben Harrison at Warrington looked like he had potential a few years ago, maybe Lee Mossop can step up? There's nobody that stands out much though.

IMO the most impressive English backrower for me has been JJB.

JJB is a machine. Fact.

We do desperately need some big, dynamic ball carriers though, somebody who's going to run over the top of people with reasonable frequency and make holes in the defensive line. JJB and Westwood were both good I thought, but that isn't really their role. As Leeds are discovering in trying to replace Lauititi, game-breaking forwards are not actually all that easy to come by.

Thaiday and Williams in particular were frightening in possession, although the latter is still a little on the raw side. Imagine what he's going to be like if he cuts the errors and penalties out.

Williams could be amazing, he's a real handful. That Aussie pack has a lot more power in it than ours. I was struck with how much they dominated each collision and got a quicker PTB than our forwards. Thurston and Lockyer got far more time on the ball to effect good kicks thanks to them. I wonder how good they'd look behind our pack?

Good to see the clueless bell--end is back to his best

Sam Burgess will help, as stated above. Wasn't Ben Harrison in the squad? I hope Louie McCarthy Scarsbrook can take the next step and there's obviously Bailey on the periphery if he can maintain last year's form.

Isn't Ben Harrison Irish? Still that type of issue hasn't stopped Danny Brough and Rangi Chase "volunteering" for England.

Harrison is a decent player, but isn't at the right level just yet. With Graham, (Sam) Burgess, Bailey and LMS wehave a reasonable 4 to play, but IMO there is little if any depth behind them.

Stick a fork in Peacock and Morley at this level, they're done.