Heighington recalled?! I can't spake!!!

He certainly wouldn`t be in my 17 that`s for sure.
Not sure what he offers tbh.
But he is pulling on the England jersey and I will support the 17 on the field.

How great is it that the teams are released 4 days before the game btw? None of this 1 hour before kick off bollox we have in SL. Gets people talking about the teams and how they might play with more transparency for fans.

I don't agree with it. We have English options instead of an over the hill Aussie. Only my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree

heighington has that wealth of experience at the top level in the NRL, plus he will be one of our freshest players, something we are lacking right now

Looking at the team sheets England should win this easily.

None of the Australian team are in super league. Instead they are in a foreign league that's so good sky dropped it. It's on a mad channel Boone has heard of along with Irish hurling and portuguese division two football.

They are reliant on players that can't get in other teams like Tyson frizell who isn't playing for wales even and they are crap.

They've lost their best player in Hayne to Fiji and they can't even keep hold of players of the same calibre as that Fifita to tonga. He can't even keep hold of the ball.

Not 'our' player in my eyes. Born and bred Aussie who has only ever been to England when he's been playing rugby. Not English to me. Before anyone quotes 'heritage' and 'this country/sport does it, that country/sport does it', I couldn't care less. We have English lads who must be shaking their heads wondering what they have to do. Plenty of options available using players already there and in the travelling squad. Bateman to back row (where he belongs) and Percival in the Centre (where he belongs). Scott Taylor/Mike McMeeken sat doing nothing. But, no, Bennet brings in a washed up Aussie. I know some of you might say I'm stupid for thinking like it, but thats my feelings and thoughts and I'm as entitled to them as anyone thinking the other way is entitled to think how they do. It's took a little of the shine off a World Cup Final appearance for me, but I shall still be up and watching it live and shouting England on whether I agree with the selections or not.

Personally never been a fan of a 4 forwards bench especially if you've got some forwards that are likely to do big minutes as the likes of Graham and S.Burgess most likely will. Would always prefer a hooker/hb. Roby can do 80 mins but if he picks up an injury just like Hodgson or one of the HB's then looks pretty awkward that bench. Could shift O'Loughlin but his fitness is questionable, even if he starts how long will we get out of him?

Happy with the 17 man squad. We certainly need to have 4 forwards on the bench.

oh yeh bateman to back row all of a sudden for the final !

he has been going fine at centre too.

how is heighington a washed up aussie, he has over 300 nrl games to his name, the only other two to have that are cooper cronk and cameron smith

he will only have a cameo appearance anyway abit like currie in the final

This. Heighington was next to anonymous during the 2011 Four Nations along with Chase and deprived an Englishman of the chance to wear his countries jersey. If we need win using old washed up Auzzies that's a sad state of affairs.

I hope he doesn't just have a cameo otherwise that is a definite waste of a jersey.

You can say what you like, but it doesn't change the fact that he is a born and bred Aussie that has only ever visited England when he has played rugby. I also didn't realise that a suggestion of a back rower actually playing in the back row and a centre actually playing in the centre was crazy. Oh well, we live and learn!

Correct.

I think 4 forwards on the bench smacks of desperation not sure how we could change a game going against us with that bench. Also if a back or two gets hurt, what happens?

Heighington is a kind of default player because he's generally error free. An international version of Ian Kirke.

Four forwards on the bench shows we have a very clear (transparent) game plan. I don't see an issue.

It shows our plan s damage limitation and hoope of sneaking it. Once the Ausiie forwards get on top (which they always do as the fans goes on) they will run amok and we gab do nothing to respond with.

Prediction: Australia will try to shake England out of their rigid, monontous start to the game. They will target Sam Burgess and / or James Graham to try to cause them damage / role England.

Would have thought Williams would have been a shout for the bench. Can cover 6/7/9.

An injury to Gale, Brown or Roby means O’Loughlin will have to fill in at those positions which is not ideal

FB - Currie to RC, Watkins to FB
W - Currie to RC, Watkins to W
C - Currie to C
HB - Heighington to LF, O'Loughlin to HB
H - Heighington to LF, O'Loughlin to H

Not too bad really. If two backs get hurt then we are down to less desirable changes, but that is the same for most teams every week really.

For FB/W/C I think those would be the changes even if you went with Williams on the bench. The issue with HB and Hooker is the questionable fitness of O'Loughlin. Do you want somebody carrying a thigh issue as your backup plan for those positions?

He's either fit to play, or he isn't. Not sure his injury would hit him any worse at 6, 7 or 9 than it would at 13. After all, he wouldn't be taking the line on much if he ended up playing in one of those positions. He has played well in the halves for Wigan when called upon. I can only remember a handful of games when he has played hooker, but he did OK.

I will wear a Hull FC shirt for a day if we beat the Aussies. I'm confident that the closest a Hull FC shirt would ever come to my skin is to wipe my booty.

Depends if we're still in the game with 20mins still to go and how much there's in the tank. Also depends how clinical we are near their line on 4th and 5th tackle. We aren't going to get a lot of chances and it's going to be up to Gale, Brown and Widdop to unlock that Aussie defence or at least get repeat sets. Heighington has the experience under pressure and Bennett obviously doesn't want to change too many things. Bringing in a Williams or Percival at this late stage is obviously one gamble too many. Bennett's first objective was to get us to the final. We did it. His second is to win it and we have to believe he can bring the best out of them.