In the last 12 months his defence has improved no end imo, yet people can't let go over past performances. He has matured as a player since he last pulled on the shirt, he may be slower but that has added to his game in other areas, he no longer relies of raw pace to cause problems. Brough has been dismal recently so I don't see what the sudden push for him to be picked has come from. Too many posters just don't like where the players come from rather than looking at the players themselves.

I can't quite get my head around why McGuire gets so much stick, especially regarding his GB/England performances. Yes he had a sticker against the Aussies a couple of years ago but he has no where near been as bad as people make out.

As for his Leeds form his record over the last 7 years speaks for itself.

as it goes I dont think he will be first choice SH or SO but I think he was the best player to fill the gap left by lomax.

So, given the players missing through injury (as per Charlie Sheen's post) who would you take out and put in instead?

Lets hear it?

Can't disagree with any of that and agree that Brough was definitely not in form at the close of the season.

I think so too!

teamsgood especially with rangi chase, we're gonna win!!!!

Can't wait for the games ecpcially at wembley, futures bright

Because as much as you'd like to believe it, the likes of Cudjoe, Brough, Brown and McGilvaray, Crabtree are nowhere near good enough.

I assume that's what you were implying.

I don't. He's been tried and failed before at that level, so why bother with him as backup?

Why not give one of the exciting young players a go for the experience of being around the setup?

There are far too many Leeds players in the squad and it's never healthy to have one team dominating like that. Had the squad been selected before the Warrington game, would there have been any bar Peacock, Hall and Sinfield? Had Saints won the GF would he then have picked Scott Moore and Paul Clough and LMS?

Just smacks of a man who doesn't know what he's doing. There will no doubt be more pulling out, who would want to play for him when they are guarenteed to be smashed?

Cannot believe the Wilkin - Bailey situation hasn't been sorted either. We've been through this before with England, with the two camps not getting on.

Ablett, Bailey, BJB, Wilkin, McIllorum. Want to tell me what they will bring to an international squad? Neither of the two warring parties are good enough, yet he sees fit to pick them both.

Yes. In the GF he stops the man but thats it. Have a look at his tackles. Every time he ends up inline with the person he is tackling. Never is he infront. He is content to let the man half past him before tackling.

In the wet conditions of the GF it worked. In dry conditions the attacker will either offload or get a quick play of the ball in before the marker can get set and gain momentum. He needs to stand up to the attacker more.

That's poppycock.

This squad will set international Rugby League back years!

When we get record home defeats against NZ & Aus it will make the rah rah boys world cup performances look respectable.

If I were in charge at the RFL, I'd be forced to act now and replace SM before we even get near the tournament.

If alarm bells aren't ringing at Red Hall then we are totally clueless from the top down and all is lost for decades.

I'm yet to see anyone offer any viable alternatives to some of the debatable selections. The only thing people can spout is the usual "give the young uns a chance, these players are tried and failed" Yet they're only 6 players over the age of 29 and only 5 or 6 players with 10 caps or more!

Who would you pick then??? Too many people saying the squad is awful, more young ones should play, but who has he missed out??

Foster isnt international standard, neither is Arundel....who else is there?

The only one I can think of is Bailey over Mossop or Luke Burgess and McColorum over Houghton. But, you can make a case for both.

Houghton playing International Rugby League

1. Sam Tomkins
2. Ryan Hall
3. Jack Reed
4. Krik Yeaman
5. Tom Briscoe
6. Gareth Widdop
7. Rangi Chase
8. James Graham
9. James Roby
10. Jamie Peacock
11. Gareth Ellis
12. Ben Westwood
13. Chris Heightington

14. Kevin Sinfield
15. Gareth Carvell
16. Adrian Morley
17. John Wilkin

I wouldn't start Sinfield at loose the majority of his rugby has been played at 6 this year! keep him on the bench for utility reasons.

All we can look for as England fans is improvement in the team year on year

Compare the team above (the starting 13 I agree with... maybe switching Sinfield and Heightington over) with the team that lost to Australia in the 4 Nations last year

S Tomkins
D Goulding
L Cudjoe
R Atkins
T Briscoe
S O'Loughlin
L Robinson
J Graham
J Roby
S Burgess
G Ellis
J Tomkins
B Westwood

S Lunt
S Fielden
E Crabtree
B Harrison

In the halves and backline, the 2011 team looks far stronger while the forwards look as strong and maybe a bit stronger with the return of Morley and Peacock. If we can get this team on the park, I think we will be very competitive

Not at all , on form we shouldnt have anyone in the squad apart from Cudjoe, i wasn't implying Giant players should be in, the point i am making is for years we have had the same players playing International rugby without any success....then we get a new regime coming in saying its time to ditch the old and get the new , upcoming exciting players to take their mantle ...what we find is that after 1 failed tournament they are ditched ..and replaced by or places continously taken by players who have failed many times in the past !!.

Anyone who puts McGuire in before Brough is mad.

Brough came back from injury and was playing in a very poor side. We had NO go forwards from our pack for the last two months. Any good half will struggle when their pack is on the back fot. Roby would have looked crap behind our pack in the last two months.


Brough has the ability to kick and pass and do something different that would have given the England team options. McGuire will only do something if someone else creates the space for him.

McGuire has been a FAILURE at INTERNATIONAL level whenever he has been picked.

He is a back up player and offers litle else.

Dont talk about organising things as Sinfield does that for Leeds. Mc Banana has taken the easy option and done nothing to shake things up.

The squad is full of Leeds players who it is hard to make a case for. Winning the GF does not make them international quality players.

I think we are still short of a few more Leeds Players in the team.

1 more assist than Brough this year. 7 games less

I don't have many issues with the squad considering the players we have missing. How they are coached is a different issue entirely but I hope he can at least let players play to their strengths at this level ie Sinfield and McGuire at 6 and 7 or not at all.

Our national coaches seem to like picking half backs for GB/England that do not have the allround skills to play at that level. We have done it for years i think. This year we pick Lomax, who like Eastmond is a talent but does not seem to have the full range of skills especially a kicking game to do well in internationals at this time. And then we pick McGuirewhen he gets injured. We seem to fall into the same trap every time.

Both nonsense.

And if we are picking players who haven't failed at international level the squad would be very thin indeed.

go on then who would you have picked that is eligible that has these all round skills to play at that level?

If you say Brough, what are you basing it on?