To be fair to Smith, interesting to see the next England coach has selected Chris Bridge, Adrian Morley and Ben Westwood as well, and that I'd imagine many people would think Harrison would have been close to selection (he didn't make the full squad last year only some training reserves) and Myler a possibility if fit. Both would likely be in with a strong shout of making a larger 24 man squad if fit

I know the obvious call to make was that the squad was biased towards Warrington by simply analysing the numbers from each team, but looking at the individuals concerned I can't see too many specific complaints about certain individuals being picked?

Eastmond probably wont play.

Any idea how Danny McGuire has made it in there again, after his dismal performances for England over countless years.

Not a bad squad for a friendly, but would have like to have seen a couple of the more experienced forwards rested and couple more new faces in. Can't complain good to see J Tompkins and Scrutton given a a go.

Widdop

Briscoe
Shenton
Bridge
Hall

S. Tomkins
Eastmond

Burgess
Sinfield
Morley
Ellis
J.Tomkins
O'Loughlin

Roby
Graham
Peacock
Scruton

Thats a massive pack with big subs. Its a shame our backs are poor.

If Shenton and Bridge are the best centres we have then I would pick someone out of position to play there
Someone like Ellis/Ablett who is a regular at second row but has played centre in the past

Scruton is currently way ahead of Harrison in terms of metres made and tackle busts. He also makes fewer errors and misses far fewer tackles. All according to www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php Harrison is an excellent prospect and wouldn't have been out of place in the squad but Scruton's form so far in 2010 has been clearly better so he deserves a place in the squad. Bias my ar5e.

Scruton is currently way ahead of Harrison in terms of metres made and tackle busts. He also makes fewer errors and misses far fewer tackles. All according to www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php Harrison is an excellent prospect and wouldn't have been out of place in the squad but Scruton's form so far in 2010 has been clearly better so he deserves a place in the squad. Bias my ar5e.

Centre is where we're weakest but I wouldn't resort to picking second rowers there as they're even slower than Shenton and Bridge.

Ellis is a cert for the England back row so should stay there. Ablett's ok I'd rather not have him in the centres against the Aussies and Kiwis!

Burgess has played all this season in the back row and lately plating between 60 and 80 mins, I'd leave him there.

Quote ="Bullseye"Scruton is currently way ahead of Harrison in terms of metres made and tackle busts. He also makes fewer errors and misses far fewer tackles. All according to www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php Harrison is an excellent prospect and wouldn't have been out of place in the squad but Scruton's form so far in 2010 has been clearly better so he deserves a place in the squad. Bias my ar5e.'" Yes but do the same comparison with Scruton and Crabtree and see who comes out on top

Quote ="Bullseye"Scruton is currently way ahead of Harrison in terms of metres made and tackle busts. He also makes fewer errors and misses far fewer tackles. All according to www.superleague.co.uk/statistics_player.php Harrison is an excellent prospect and wouldn't have been out of place in the squad but Scruton's form so far in 2010 has been clearly better so he deserves a place in the squad. Bias my ar5e.'" Yes but do the same comparison with Scruton and Crabtree and see who comes out on top

Pretty similar



Scruton makes more metres per carry and they have the same number of tackle busts.

Crabtree misses fewer tackles but makes fewer clean breaks.

Both worth taking down under IMO.

=#8000FFShenton is one of the fastest players in the league so a second rower will obviously be slower



Decent squad, with the injuries France have it could be a massacre.

Chuft with that squad! Hope there's some tickets left tomorrow when I try and book ours (again)

I personally would have had Ryan Atkins playing alongside Michael Shenton.

Although does Shenton deserve his spot - his form IMO has been patchy so far this year.

I would very much like to see Leon Pryce as 1 centre come the 4 nations at the end of the year.

Think Leon's burnt his bridges with the England set up.

Are they though?

We have a FB who would be playing week in week out in the NRL if it wasn't for Billy Slater being his competition. The 2 wingers are stronger all round players than any we've really had for a while and the hb's are 2 of the best we've had for at least the last 10 years. IMO it's only the centres and I think Bridge is vastly underrated.

Widdop in, unbelievable!. Two competitive games in the NRL and he gets the nod! Hear we go again over hyping our young players before we have actually seen them prove themselves at any decent level for any reasonable period of time. All the over exposure we give our young lads will probably do more damage to them in the long run. How many players have we overhyped just to see them turn into disappointments? A few I would say. The best thing for the lad is to continue his development at Melbourne rather than bring him half way round the world to play in a one sided joke of an international.

Widdop overhyped??? No chance, he's only been picked for the squad versus France. We're short of fullback options so it's only right McNamara has a look at him.

It's hardly a baptism of fire. If he's not up to it then we'll have to fall back on Lee Smith.

One very very important statistic is not covered and thats who wins the collision leading to a quick play the ball. Momentum been so important in the modern game, and it all comes from this.

International selection on the back of 2 top level competitive games is a sign off an overhyped player in my view.

Just about picks itself but ...


Widdop
Hall
Shenton
Bridge
Briscoe
Tomkins
Eastmond/McGuire (depending on fitness)
Graham
Roby
Peacock
Ellis
Burgess
O'Loughlin

Morley
Scruton
J Tomkins
Westwood/Sinfield

I have nothing against Scruton who is a decent player but unless my maths are wrong he makes 6.51 metres per carry compared to Crabtrees 7.16.

Similalrly if you gross up Harrison's stats so he has played the same number of games as Scruton then he has more tackles, more metres made, more offloads, and more carries. This isn't to say that this is why Harrison should have been picked as I don't think stats tell the full story, but it does discredit your argument re the stats.

Like I said, I haven't got a problem with Scruton being picked who is a good player and my own preference for Harrison is no doubt motivated by bias as I get to see all his matches every week - just as Steve Mac gets to see all of Scruton's as well as seeing him training etc and knowing exactly what he is capable of. To repeat, I think Ben will prove himself in the longer term and expect to see him on the plane down under at the end of the year.

Anyone know when France name their team? It could be an unfortunate scoreline depending on the injuries. Though i'd like to think this international will give the French players a chance to forget about their woes at Catlans and show what they can really do.

The France team will just be the Catalans Dragons minus their Aussies and topped up with Catalans reserves.