No point in trying to be positive, William Eve is immune to all things positive.

I haven't dismissed England's chances against NZ. You just think I have. If you comprehended what I initially wrote... [i"They'll get wasted by the Kiwi centres too (if they decide to turn up)"[/i... the key phrase being [i"if they decide to turn up"[/i. New Zealand has a habit of turning up for semi finals of the World Cup (both in England and down under) and that's when England are likely to play them.

So if England beat New Zealand it's because New Zealand haven't turned up. If New Zealand win it's as expected proving yet again that England aren't good enough.

Brilliant!

Its a curse that a lot of Rugby League fans seem to have. I wonder why they bother?

New Zealand are better than us are they not? Therefore it stands to reason that if they turn up and play well they'll beat us?

I'm under no illusions about England's chances in the World Cup... I've spent thousands following the national side whether they were GB or England... Four Nations 2010, 2006, World Cup 2008 all down under... consequently, I've got a pretty good handle on our limitations at international level... they've been an acute embarrassment at international level throughout the SL era.

Their chances are improved slightly with home advantage in the WC, but not by much.

Maybe they are better than us, but results over the last few years show this to be inconclusive. I don't believe for a second that all of the times we (England and GB) have beaten them in the last decade has been purely because they haven't turned up.

You can tell you haven't posted much around here Farsley



He's hooked you well and good!

I've been a reader for a number of years, and always promised myself id never get involved! Whoooops!

Watkins attempted tackle on Farrell was a one on one face on and he missed the man. He will have plenty of those to face in the World Cup. His defence at centre may have improved and look good in SL but it is nowhere near to Intl standard.
As for the tackle he made when chasing Farrell, he was chasing him and he's faster than Farrell, that all!
We have to have better defensive centres than Watkins and Atkins where they are if they are out there I don't know.
That's why McNamara has a real problem.

Yes they are out there.

we even have one that offers more in attack, possessing a better all round game

No it wasn't. He was tracking across the field behind the defensive line when the gap opened up. He had to rush into the line and try to make a tackle on Farrell, who was already picking up speed, running away from the covering Watkins. Should he have made a better attempt? Of course! But to say he missed a face on, one on one tackle is silly.

It was a bad miss, and it reminded me of his poor attempt on the Melbourne prop that scored in the WCC.
Defending in the line's a bit different though - for a start, there's not as much time to think yourself out of a tackle.

I can think of one too who is good in attack and has a good all round game.
Trouble is he isn't good enough for Intl Standard.

Just a reminder of the five best centres in Australia:

[iGreg Inglis
Jamie Lyon
Josh Morris
Justin Hodges
Michael Jennings[/i

Not one English centre is as good as any one of these five.

Oooh, let's all suck off the NRL.
I remeber watching Justin Hodges play in a WCC against saints and he didn't fancy it at all, playing against Willie Talau. Talau was a good centre, but not great.

cool story and nice contribution.
you could also name the top 5 halfbacks in the NRL, rinse and repeat. So what?

Yes and Watkins and Hardaker did very well against Lyon and Matai in 2012. I'm sure the Aussies make mistakes too but some are just blinded by NRL loving that they only see the good things they do.

Lyon has retired from rep rugby hasn't he?

Jennings is just fast, he isn't rated in Australia at all.

Yes. But he is still a top class player. If St Helens had him again he would make such a difference that St Helens would be hot Grand Final contenders and perhaps favourites. None of the English centres could match him.

Quote ="The Big Gun"Jennings is just fast, he isn't rated in Australia at all.'" That is flatly untrue. Jennings is rated very highly in Australia and he will be NSW State of Origin centre if he is not injured. Watch him shine with the Sydney Roosters playing outside SBW. video.dailytelegraph.com.au/2350 ... l-Williams

Quote ="The Big Gun"Jennings is just fast, he isn't rated in Australia at all.'" That is flatly untrue. Jennings is rated very highly in Australia and he will be NSW State of Origin centre if he is not injured. Watch him shine with the Sydney Roosters playing outside SBW. video.dailytelegraph.com.au/2350 ... l-Williams

It was nothing like the Bromwich try. He was in a no win situation for that. Had he gone low, Browmich goes in to score but he attempted to go high instead which had the higher percentage of causing the error. As it was, he got swatted by a bigger guy and they scored. The cause of that try came from Achurch and McShane's misses further down field. I havent seen him miss a 1 on 1 tackle in the line for a fair while now. Yes, he misreads the play in front of him from time to time which leads to tries but so does every player in the game. As a Leeds fan, I certainly have no worries about our right side defense when Watkins plays 3. Can he get better? Yes, a lot, but he certainly isnt a weak defender and in the big games has got the better of his opposite number each time, be it Matai or Carmont.

The problem with League fans in this country is that they remember for too long. In 5 or 6 years time, Watkins could be close to being the best defensive centre in the world, but he will still be remembered for missing tackles when he was 19/20/21 years old and this same conversation will still be going on. A bit like McGuire, who is still seen as a 1 trick pony at the age of 30, even though the majority of his tries come from him creating something on his own these days and he has more assists than anyone else at Leeds over the last 5 years. It happens across the board though and IMO it damages our game.

The Aussies are going to be playing 5 people in the centres in the WC?? There was me thinking we only had to worry about two...

I'd go with Cudjoe and Watkins at the moment, they've both looked pretty impressive so far this year, physically, skilfully, and defensively.

I'd have no problems picking Watkins at centre for England. I like him. That doesn't mean I can't be dissapointed when I think he should've done better. Both those instances I mentioned were when he was playing in a alien postion.