With England going agonizingly close yesterday against NZ, i was optimistic about future and feeling that we have a good core of players to take us to the next world, and some excellent young talent underneath that in Clark, Bateman, Ward, Currie etc.

But still the half back proves the worry for me. Sinfield will be 37 by the time the next WC comes a long, and as well as he played yesterday, i think it's time to bring some new blood. But who have we got?

Widdop's performance should hopefully show everyone he has the 6 nailed down. But we need someone to play 7 and a couple more underneath that to provide cover. At the moment Smith, Myler & Brough are the obvious choices. At 30, Brough is the obvious choice short term, but will be 34 at the next WC. After watching the epic test yesterday, i wondered how Myler would have done, I think his lack of kicking game hinders him a lot when it comes to selecting him at international level. Matty Smith possibly, a very good half back, but again, how would ha have gone yesterday? It's hard to say without giving him a chance, but i just watched it yesterday and wondered whether he could have done it at that level. I would like to see him given a chance though which is why i think it maybe time to move on from Sinfield. We need to use the next couple of years to see ow certain players wold go at the elite.


But apart from that, realistically we have no one. We just don't seem to develop enough half backs. Hull this week announced another 21 year Aussie half back. This highlights what is wrong with our junior development. Your not telling me that in a hot bed of RL like Hull, they can't find a decent half back! I am not having go at Hulls, i'm just using them as an example as they made the signing this week.

Why are coaches so afraid to give half backs a go. My own club Bradford persisted with Addy this year. While he did "ok" it was clear he wasn't a half back. Coaches seem afraid to give half backs a shot, they would much rather put a loose forward/full back/hooker/second rower there. From what i've seen, this never works. I would love to know the reason. They have no worries about throwing a prop in there. Yes a half back has more pressure, but surely it is better giving an 18 year old half back a shot rather than seeing a Wilkin/Addy/o'loughlin lumbering round.

Even when we unearth a HB, we seem obsessed with putting them at FB to protect them. Lomax and Tomkins you could argue it's their better position. But what about Gaskell, Sneyd. I hope Wigan don't move Hampshire to FB.

I just think the lack of genuine halves coming through is a worry and what other fans thoughts are on this.

Word is tomkins may play there for NZ warriors, which with widdop helps solves the problem.

Liam Sutcliffe looks a cracking prospect at Leeds. Could see Widdop play scrum half with Sutcliffe at stand off?

I think SO is his best position. He has so much more to his game than running in to the line from FB. I have been so impressed with his kicking game this WC.

Gareth O'Brien and Ratchford

Like rathcford as well. Plenty of potential in future for half backs. Some another couple of centres to push in along side Watkins.
More clubs need English halfs but when the likes of hull just keep signing repeatingly poor overseas players, for one season and not developing there own it's very difficult to increase our player pool.

Imo at Hull in recent years we've been guilty of moving our promising HBs to hooker when they do get a chance, Tommy Lee as an example. As it happens we have 2 fantastic prospects coming through atm in Reece Dean & Harry Tyson-Wilson but they are both only 16 and only in there 1st year as professionals.

Harry Tyson-Wilson will be an England halfback in a few seasons without a doubt.

Tomkins should move back in to the halves IMO. I feel his game has been worked out a little from fullback so he's mixed his game up and is playing as a creator getting good ball out to those on his outside. He's got a better kicking game then he's given credit for as well.

Other then that we've obviously got Widdop who was excellent yesterday. I don't think Chase cuts it at this level and Sinfield may decide to move on. After those there aren't a whole heap of options tbh. I do feel Matty Smith could have done a good job for us in this World Cup as he's really developed his game this year. I've never been fully convinced by Richie Myler but I do rate Ratchford very highly.

There are some very good young halfbacks coming through like Liam Sutcliffe, Ryan Hampshire and George Williams. I'd hate to lose the last two but a couple of years in the NRL wouldn't do them any harm at all. They really are special prospects.

I think so to, the lad has grown up over the last 12 months, he can get in the game much more. Any sniff of a gap and he,s a threat especially against some of the less mobile forwards.

By the time the next World Cup comes around there will be another five or six names at least over and above the ones mentioned. Rugby League is a short career and another four years is a long time, giving others an opportunity to make their mark.

In four years there will be at least two current under 16's at clubs who will be high enough regarded to be pushing for spots.

Possibly, but which half backs have broken through since the last WC 5 years a ago?

If Tomkins does play 6 for NZLW I think that could be a solution, especially given the depth we have at FB with Hardaker, Lomax and Ratchford - although he looks like he'll play 6 in 2014.

It's hard to judge where we will be in 2/3 years in the build up to the next one. Eg, Sam Powell looked handy for the Knights v Samoa in the warm up game.

We have a 4N at the end of next season, so it will be interesting what next season gives us from an England perspective.

Since Super League season 2008:

Luke Gale
Stefan Ratchford
Lee Gaskell
Rangi Chase
Liam Sutcliffe
Stevie Ward
Marc Sneyd
Gareth O'Brien
Richie Myler
Sam Powell
Ryan Hampshire
Joe Mellor
Danny Craven

None of which made their debut in 2008 in Super League. Whether they are international class now is upto you, however, there are some on that list that are only young and raw and still have time on their side to develop with experience and quality.

6 and 7, Widdop and Eastmond

No one has broken through in the past two years or so due to the obsession by McNamara for Sinfield and Chase as England's half backs. England lost Brough because of this obsession.
We had two far better in Widdop and Brough, or Ratchford or Smith, in this time but he ignored them, until last Saturday.
Half backs who could have been included were Ratchford and Smith where the form of both has been excellent this year. Myler has promised as usual.

Talking to an U19s coach a few months ago and he was saying the shortage is due to a lack of patience with young lads to make it at 6 or 7. That having the ability to steer a team around the park takes years to develop and most clubs will not wait that length of time but move the lad to hooker. Hence we have loads of quality 9s around but no quality, crafty half backs, especially with pace.

There are plenty young lads around who have been mentioned but the England Knights squad v Samoa had Dan Sarginson and Sam Powell as half backs. The current England U19s half backs are Ryan Hampshire and George Williams. Sarginson is quick and Hampshire has real pace.

We just need a change of coach and an International itinary for the full England squad plus the Knights. I've always felt an Intl series between Ireland, Scotland Wales and England Knights, rather than England, might be worth trying.

Once McNamara has gone and we have a coach who will pick players on current form then I think we will have some real talent coming through. McNamara has been the problem, once he's gone I don't think we'll have a problem developing half backs.

Its not Steve Macs fault decent half's are not filtering through its the SL clubs for bringing in aussie's who are not good enough to play in the NRL so they flood our game think we struggle in the centres for this reason also.

How on Earth can Steve McNamara be at fault for the dearth of young, English half-backs coming through our game? Absurd. It all comes down to getting children interested in our game from an early age. It's a fundamental grass-roots/foundation problem. But saying that, I do think the originator of the thread is being a bit dramatic. As has been mentioned, Myler, Ratchford, O'Brien, Ward, Sutcliffe etc. They are there, they need game-time with their clubs and be allowed to continue to improve.

Spot on.

Both Ivan Cleary and Stephen Kearney are worried about the same problem in the NRL and in New Zealand. They both think there is a lack of quality half backs in the NRL and coming through. They both attribute this to problems at grass roots level. Too much emphasis on competition and winning has led to big powerful Polynesian lads being the ones to stand out at kids level and so they're the ones who go up the hierarchy, some of the more subtle skills are being lost in their opinion.

We have a similar problem here. Obviously not with Polynesian lads but the same issue of the big, powerful lad running through. This wins games for the team so he's the player picked out and the player who gets the most attention.
An academy coach from a super league team said to me that they've been having to teach lads the basics rather than taking the basics in a player and improving/polishing them and adding other skills.
Until our amateur clubs change their attitudes we'll still struggle to produce enough skilful players.

As rugby league is the national sport of Australia and New Zealand, children aged five, six etc. are taught to pick an oval ball up, not kick a round one. This is why mainstream exposure/coverage and publicity is crucial to our game.

Well I've just watched the NZ game again and you can bag Sinfield all you want but he was easily the best halfback on the pitch in that game, Brough has never shown snyhtuung in his career that suggests he could put on as good a performance at that level.

Anyway going forward id like Sinfield to go on for one more year with the 4 nations next year being his last with Widdop but we do need some new blood in the England set up.

Sam Powell is short of a yard of pace that would take his game on. In truth I think he'll have an issue cracking it at Wigan let alone for England.

Hampshire and Williams are the two I'd look at. Ryan Hampshire is rapid and tests the line but the thing that had impressed me most is his range of passing. He really opens up space for his runners and throws some fabulous flat balls at pace. As for Williams he's a nugget of a player. He's as strong as an Ox and commits defenders. I feel he may end up moving to hooker but he will be a top line player.

Sinfield was immense and deserves huge credit. I can't blame him for a missed tackle. He was too desperate if anything to make the tackle and win the game and you can't bag a guy fur that. He was superb in the 79 and a half minutes before that and ran the game for us.

As for him playing on I'm undecided. You can't always play for the future because we need to win something so if his club form is good why not I suppose. We need competition for places though so if he's being outperformed at club level pick the form man. We don't have enough games to have that test match cricket mentality of picking with continuity and giving people time to come good.

I thought Sinfield was superb yesterday and throughout the tournament. Hopefully that will put to bed all the trash he has been given about not been able to hack it at that level.

that said,I do now hope he calls it a day.we need a new leader to move forward with.and now is the time to build a new half back partnership with widdop being the new linchpin. Chase shouldnt be near the England squad again on the evidence of yesterday and the WC as a whole.

I agree, Sinfield and Widdop were great yesterday. They really clicked as a partnership, resulting in some of the most exciting attacking play I've seen England/GB produce in many years. I genuinely thought we could score every time we received good field position.