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sykes has fck all to brag about after that shocking display

said it before the game that all Wales needed to do was put the ball up and Sykes would drop some. He looks poor at fullback.

Oh come on, his deliberate fumble in the first seconds was the highlight of the whole game. It was a You've Been Framed moment, funnier every time you watched his teeth hit the dirt!

It was hardly shocking.

It wasn't good either, don't get me wrong, but shocking is taking it a little far!

Can't see Sykes getting a game in the Four Nations proper anyway, more likely he's just in to cover a few positions in case of injuries.

Agreed. I don`t think Sykes is really England class anyway, though he was far from the only one who looked the same on Saturday. He`s been unfortunate in the way he`s been used by Smith to be fair.

He started as a fullback in the first team at the Bulls and played there a bit for the Broncos but hasn`t played there regularly for years so why did Smith pick him there for England? It was the same in the last game he played for Smithy, where he was (due to injuries) shoved into three different positions in one half of a game and, would you Adam and Eve it, he made a blunder in defence and then got slated for it.

There`s one thing no one can be blamed for; not being good enough. It`s the coach who picked him in that position who should be called to question not the player who put his hand up and did his best.

agree with all that bulliac. What I find puzzling is that , even ignoring leeds and saints players, tony smith thought the best option for fullback was a player who is at best 3rd choice fullback at his club and hasnt played there regularly for years. Can see the point of having sykes in squad for utility value, which is probably how were going to use him next year assuming we sign a , but surely you'd include a dedicated fullback too. I assume lee smith will be fullback for 4 nations games but why not give richard owen a go in the wales games or even dave halley who switched allegiance to england and is actually a 1st choice fullback.

Sykes had a bad game and he should never get in the England team again, he's not international class in the slightest.

Think he's being penalised for being seen as being versatile by Smith.

TBF he is equally bad in all positions for GB/Ingerland.

He's only looked half decent for us at stand off and even then I don't think he's a long term option in that position.

I agree.
I have a feeling he'll be getting some game time there this year too.

I think a good option (with the players we have at the moment) is to have Kearney and Sykes sharing the FB / SO role during the game.

I think we'll be seeing Sykes at centre again, but I really hope not. Hopefully Reardon wasn't the back mentioned in the T&A and we are signing another, but I can't see it.

I feel that playing Sykes in these internationals could have the effect of making him even less confident when the likes of Slater are using him for a turnstile.

I'd rather Macca got to work on him in a long off season and build his confidence up.

I also think that moving him all over the team is not helping his confidence either. Keep him at stand-off all season where he obviously feels happier and put Kearney at 7. Deacon to miss out.

Didn't he have his best run at Quins at stand-off? I don't think he's defensively good for centre but as a big unit does not need to hide out their as with the likes of Maguire when the team is defending

Maguire (sic) 369 tackles
Nero 347
Sykes 320
Pryce 390
Jeffries 246
Tomkins 328
Briers 187
Chase 367

Call me controversial but the best team in the league also tend to do less defending.

You're controversial.

Seriously, I don't think that says an awful lot, does it?

Tigs is trying to get into the intelligensia

if they're doing less defending then why are the top 2 sides' no.6 the top 2 tacklers in that list?

I think it shows that Maguire doesn't hide in the centres. The green eyed monster is a terrible thing.

But wouldn't it be sensible to try and keep your best attacking threat from doing too much work in defence?

Possibly, but that wasn't the point I was responding to. I will advise HQ.

Who's Maguire ?

Snooker player.

Ahh

Casey Maguire. Ex Cats, Leeds have sigend him as a replacement for Diskin. Do keep up.