Quote ="Rogues Gallery"The rumours started here about 5 p.m. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=559361&tsmp=1382475774&start=130'" Mine wasn't a rumour mate. My info came from someone directly involved

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"The rumours started here about 5 p.m. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=559361&tsmp=1382475774&start=130'" Mine wasn't a rumour mate. My info came from someone directly involved

I know i couldn't see any bite marks

No Graham, Hardaker or McIllorum for Saturday...

At a time when all available funding streams have been diverted to McNamara and his England team, the net result having a serious impact on the junior game, this is not the kind of start we wanted. Smacks of a group of players with little to pn respect for the coach IMO. We will be lucky to beat Aus with our best 17, let alone with one our starting props on the Touchline. Crazy behaviour by the players.

Being reported that Graham was banned for one game for drinking offence, with Hock.

Banana trying to play at having a pair.

Presumably his puritanical and ego-trip takes precedence over team bonding. Given the previous widely-reported issues about 'camps' within England squads, there were apparently 4 players from different clubs having a quick beer & getting along with each other.

Total over-reaction - but sadly predictable. Our sport is a sodding joke, with positions of power packed with self-important, pompous pillocks

I agree entirely. He is trying to assert control and authority through absolute jurisdiction rather than through being a leader, coach and mentor they look up to and respect.

I have no problems with him excluding Hock, he should never have been selected on form and previous anyway. But to rest Graham from the toughest match in the group and the one that winning could force Aus and NZ into a semi together is just silly.

If England rally and beat Australia he can claim vindication, but if we are trampled in the pack (Which looks very likely with Mossop starting prop and Farrell on the bench) he will lose any lingering bit of respect anyone had for him. Instead of that pair he could have had Graham and Crabtree. The mind boggles.

He shouldn't be in the job in the first place as he has no CV or capability to do it. This is just adding stupidity to the embarrassment as it's self inflicted.

Or any credibility as he showed at the press conference looking like a water carrier with e eyes of the world on him, throwing his toys out of his pram.

Cheeky sod has also asked for a contract renewal.

Predictions for today anyone?

I got evens on Aus with a -12 handicap. I'll be amazed if I don't double my money.

Great start!

That Slater try was a hammer blow - England switch off from the scrum: Cudjoe slips, Sam Burgess falls off the tackle.

Overall a great start & superb to see England go toe-to-toe (and be on top). But the convicts cut out the errors, England started to rack them up. It put pressure on the defence & sapped stamina levels. Missing Graham's 'old head' IMO.

Is there some unwritten law that whenever there's a crucial game between England/GB and Australia that's close, the convicts will ALWAYS get a dodgy decision go for them that tips the match fully in their favour?

FFS, they're good enough without needing help from the officials.

And again - how the feck it can be judged England knocked on when the convicts dropped it...

Mossop & Hill offer very little at this level. Can't help but think that Graham would have made just that little bit extra that we've needed.

The ref's made a few iffy calls, but we're still in it and Australia haven't looked overly good.

What's bloody annoying is that when Charnley was judged to have skimmed the whitewash (following which came the convict 4th try), the ref didn't even consider the video ref (which, from subsequent views, would likely have gone Charnley's way). Yet, when the convicts knock the ball on near our line (knocked dead) the ref goes to the vid ref to see how it should be restarted.

Ominous now, the convicts made far too many easy yards that post-pen set.

Familiar story of England putting up a valiant but ultimately futile fight, coming up short due to a combination of a few moments of Australian class coupled with almost all the 50:50 decisions going against them.



PS - it'd be typical of my luck for the convicts to win by 12 points - worst of both worlds: England lose but not by enough to win my bet

Aaarrgghh! Why didn't Charnley go under the posts; surely he could have beaten an Aussie hopping on one leg!

Same old same old for me. Australia trying to do their bit by not having a warm up game and easing themselves in, which made England look like they were competitive. Ultimately though, the Aussies could score whenever they needed to, nothing has changed.

The officiting annoyed me, which it always does in internationals. The NZ and Aus referees act like they are trying to bend over backwards to ensure they don't attract any potentially career-damaging criticism from the Australian officials and players and the English officials overcompensate by simply making things up to placate the Aussies. The foot in touch decision against Charnley was scandalous, firstly from the touch judge to give it when he simply didn't touch the white line, and from the referee who had no interest in going upstairs to get the call right. There were tons of little things he gave the Aussies the benefit from all game long, forward passes particularly, he had no interest in calling any of them.

As for England, the Burgess brothers have improved us, but still way off the pace ultimately. Westwood was appalling all game, a total liability who should be dropped. Ferres went well.

Whilst I agree it's 50/50 that Charnley was out. It should not be that close. He had 3 or 4 footsteps right on the margin.

He was far too slow chasing the kick so it then became panic stations when he eventually got to the ball.

Took a nice chance for his try but really was in my bottom set of players.

I don't understand why so many of our players go into their shells when we play the Aussies.

I thought we did ok but it was clear the Aussies have more quality all over the pitch compared to us.

We will go out in the semis.

Scores on the doors out of 10:

Tomkins - 8
Charnley - 5
Watkins - 7
Cudjoe - 6
Hall - 6
Chase - 5
Sinfield - 6
Hill - 5
Roby - 6.5
G Burgess - 8
Ferres - 6.5
Westwood - 6.5
S Burgess - 7

Mossop - 5
T Burgess - 7
Ablett - 5
Widdop - 4

From the Australians, I thought Morris, Boyd, Cronk, Scott, Smith, Tamou, Fifita, Lewis & Parker were all only 5/6 out of 10, very ordinary. The difference today was simply down to Thurston & Slater.

I wouldn't give tomkins a 8. I think he did ok but nothing more than average. I don't think he will have the same impact in the NRL as here as the isn't much broken defence in the NRL.

Cudjoe and Ferres was better than the scores you gave them IMO.