What we need is a coach with a proven record of getting a technically inferior team up for big one-off games like cup finals and pulling off an upset against "better" (in theory) teams.

Step forward John Kear!












Is it wrong that I'm only half joking?

I think you're in the majority there.

The only player i reckon the Oz would fear is Ryan Hall, he's the only player we have when you line them up man for man that would in their squad.
As a modern winger he has everything, very quick, great hands and speed of thought, jumps like a basketball player AND CAN DEFEND.

On Tomkins, i really worry about his defensive positioning. In attack you can't fault him, but every time Wire have played Wigan, Briers has made him look silly, you don't think Cronk/Smith/Thurston will do the same?

They'll be putting up some huge bombs for Tomkins to get under that's for sure. They picked that weakness last time and I'm not sure if he's got any better under the high kick.

On current form, Brough has got to be in the team.

It is 2006 since we beat the Aussies and was at the SFS.
GB were fortunate in that Lockyer at 6 had his worst game in a green and gold shirt. Ben Hornby played 7 for his only Intl game and his game showed why he's never been picked since. Jamie Lyon played at 3 having just left Saints and Longy working the left side ran Lyon ragged all game.
Their biggest threat came from Inglis who scored a 70 mtr try. Mason belted Fielden and elbowed Long who came out for the 2nd half wearing a bandage around his head. Didn't stop him winning MOM though!
GB were a massive side and Pryce was at 6.
Intersting that when it was being replayed on delayed transmission later Phil Gould was raving about Hock and O'Loughlin. Also praising GB who had been written off.
In the halves this time around I'd go with Widdop at 6 and Brough 7. One has a great running game the other can take a powerful pack around the field. Kickers would be Brough, O'Loughlin, Roby and maybe Tomkins. Tomkins at 6 is an option and his 1 shirt could be under threat if Hardaker shows up well in defence.
Hock would be in there with O'Loughlin but the likes of Sam B, Graham, maybe George B should be playing due to their NRL experience.
As has been said though, my worry isn't the players it's the coaching staff.
McNamara, Lowes and Powell, good grief!

Correct

Easily the first name down on Scotland's starting 13

Brough's chances are bound to suffer with Huddersfield's annual late summer and early autumn implosion.

If you ask me, yes, he might show the leadership qualities to GUIDE HIS TEAM in unlocking most Super League teams on his day, but Sinfield has had opportunity after opportunity in challenging the Aussies and has come up short each time. Him and Widdop do seem like steady players, but I think highly-conservative rugby is exactly what we need to get away from, and has been pretty much our game-plan when we've folded against the Aussies over the years.

Now onto the halfbacks I would choose. Considering Brough at 7, it's no fluke that he's been named captain of the Huddersfield side. He has the greatest kicking game in the competition (yes, even greater than Sinfield's). The control of the ball that is shown when he kicks is for all to see, and he has the nippy, pacey Rob-Burrow-effect to unlock defences. I'm sure others will agree with what I'm saying. Brough has proven his ability years before this season, and it's unjust for him not to be considered for the England team based on Huddersfield's tendency to choke near the business end of the season. The England side should be picked with the game-plan and individual form and ability in mind, not the successes of the side the players for. (The Briscoe versus Charnley debate is tainted with this mindset. Briscoe is streets ahead of Charnley in all aspects of the game. Briscoe has amazing strength, speed, and will be able to relieve England of a lot of pressure from picking up doggies and scooting when Australia have us camped in our own 20, although Charnley will be picked based on the successes of the team he plays for.)

Our best player with the actual undoubted ability to challenge the Australian side is obviously Tomkins, everybody knows that. Because every one knows this, McNamara must do what he can to limit the weaknesses of his game while maintaining his strengths. We can't afford our best player to experience lapses in confidence when he's dropped a high-kick near his own line. Due to that fact, and that Tomkins shows some frailties in defence at fullback, and that he displays every week his ability to not only be devastating in broken play but also to create a situation of broken play, he has to play at 6.

What you will also see throughout the remainder of this year is also Lomax demonstrating that he has the ability akin to Tomkins in terms of seeing the gap when he's in space at fullback. Albeit, not as great, however his defensive prowess and safety under the high ball over Tomkins warrants his selection as fullback for England. Lomax wasn't as successful as Tomkins when he played 6 for Saints because although he had an eye for a gap, he didn't have the elusive running style to create space for himself like I've explained Tomkins does. He does though, have the momentum-based running style that's so important for a fullback nowadays, and why players like Greg Inglis in the NRL now flourish in that position. This along with his safety in defence and under the high-ball is enough to warrant his place as fullback with Tomkins switching to 6.

So when I say that we need to stray away from a highly-conservative game-plan I'm not advocating that we throw the ball about like fools. I'm saying that the rest of the team, (Burgess, Graham, Westwood, Ellis, Roby, Farrell) a pack with brains, the urgency to play the ball quickly and a great work-rate is needed to maintain a steady ship until some opportunity arises where X-factor is needed. This will certainly not be there should we need it if Sinfield and Widdop play. If England receive several penalties, camp on Australia's line and fail to score, you can bet they will punish us with a try not long after. We cannot afford this to happen, we must take our chances when we are gifted the field position. Concentrating too much on defensive safety in the pivotal positions such as 6 and 7 will be the downfall of our World Cup.

Ok so a few things here. First Sinfield playing his natural game has had limited chances against the Aussies.

Second you say Sinfield has come up short every time? What about the other 16(14) blokes for the last 30 odd years? What about Edwards, Hanley, Schoey, Scully, Farrell? they and the blokes around them all came up short plenty of times.

As for Brough, compared to Sinfield. Brough poor defender, Sinfield one of SL's better defenders. Sinfield, has more big game experience than any other England player, Brough has about 80? 160? 240 mins of big game time Tops.

Sinfield's international career consists mainly of getting embarrassed by the Aussies. Also, Danny Brough is not poor in defence. This is simply a myth. He regularly tackles over his weight and height and dominates the collision. I'd like to see his stats in comparison to Sinfield this year on defence. Apologies for the whole rant above, but some things needed to be said.

I'm sure Sinfields defence stats are far better that Brough's so far this year, his defence has been exceptional to say the least.

EDIT: when has Sinfield specifically been embarrassed by the Aussies?

And vice versa.

I agree with pretty much everything you've written apart from the above. In the last sentence of the quote you refer to game plan and form. How can any coach base a game plan around Brough? On form, I'd agree he's brilliant but I wouldn't want to stake my mortgage that he would be playing well come the end of the season. And no coach can wait until a fortnight befor the World Cup kicks off to see who's playing well and then start formulating their game plan. I too have reservations about Sinfield in the halves but I have more about Brough.

Who is Ward?

Plus Chris Hill is now a better than player Morley is.