firstly peacock should of come out of retirement and secondly tom burgess hasn't shown any more than crabtree has done for a couple of years.

This is the most interesting call, last year McNamara opted to go with Sinfield & Chase with Widdop on the bench and the option of Sinfield to 9. If he was looking at repeating this, the selection of 3 hookers in Roby, McIlorum and Burrow seems a bit ridiculous so will be interesting to see what he is thinking with this.

On the whole agree its a good squad, would have personally included Luke Burgess and Crabtree before Hill and considered a couple of others but overall looks half decent. Glad to see Farrell in there think he has been outstanding this year whenever I have seen him, and think the exclusion of Morley is a big plus as he shouldnt have been anywhere near England level for a couple of years now.

The main worry for me is centres as I dont think either are defensively good enough to stop the likes of Inglis, Hodges, Matai etc...wonder if we will see somebody like Ablett in there for Australia game? That said, he appears to have picked more on form than his previous squads so cant knock him for that

I agree 100% with that & I would have both Lunt or Houghton ahead of Roby. also is Jack Read injured? as he is the best English centre available.

Two small gripes for me, Hock and Briscoe in the squad. Other than that pretty happy with it really. Shame Reed is injured though

I agree regards Hock not being as good as those two this year but he does offer more than them off the bench which is the role in which i think he will be used so i can see why he has got the nod.

I would have had Racthford in there, maybe instead of Burrow, as we already have 2 hookers, plus Sinfield.

I would say crabtree should be the one to feel most agrieved.T Burgess didnt get a mention for internationals while at Bulls yet after a handful of NRL games,which yes he has done well,means he is now ready.

Regarding the centres, I think we need to think about winning games rather than not losing them. Watkins and Cudjoe are both good athletes, Watkins more dangerous going forward and Cudjoe better in defence. The bottom line is that with Reed out and Atkins out of favour they are the best options we have (I would rather have two in there who are specialist centres than utility players like Hardaker, Ratchford etc)

Picking any team to defend against the likes of inglis etc is difficult if not impossible and I don’t see any English centre having him in their pocket so again we go back to having the best options in attack and good structures in defence

I'd have said the same at the beginning of the year, but from what I've seen this year he's been a liability in terms of his ball retention. Ferres can offer similar things as an offloading bench second-row but without losing it so much.

And if "bench impact" is a criteria then not sure how Tom Burgess and Mossop get in before Crabtree and Carvell. (Graham and Hill are lined up to be starting props IMO, with G.Burgess and one other on the bench).

Tom Burgess played for the Knights last year which is generally seen as the pathway to the full squad. If we say the above about Tom then the same can be said for George. Although I agree that Crabtree is very unlucky not to be in the squad

Its a decent squad and agree with those praising the omission of Wilkins, Moz & JJB. The team needs to evolve and in the Burgess twins, Chris Hill and Liam Farrell etc. we have the next crop. Main area of concern is in the three quarters and the halves. He's overlooked Brough (fair enough) and that's all behind us. But how many times in the last 20 years have we tried and failed to beat the best with a 13 playing at 6 and a 6 at 7. Our pack can match it with the best. It's what he does with his choices at 6 and 7, and out wide.
No idea how Briscoe makes the cut.

Still, it is what it is and let's get behind the boys.

Not really. George Burgess has played a full season first grade and is likely to win the NRL equivalent of young player of the year. Tom Burgess has played how much first grade and to what standard?

Fair enough and i dont for one minute think Tom will let us down.prop is one position where we are blessed and there will be a few who can feel a bit disapointed and unlucky not to be selected.

Tom Burgess has played more first team games than George

Tom 55 first team games, 46 for Bradford & 9 for Souths

George 28 for Souths

I agree than George is the better of the two and I also agree that Crabtree is unlucky but Tom has more first team experience than George and has been strong in his NRL games this year - I think he deserves his place in the squad

Ahh... that old chestnut about our pack which has been doing the rounds for the past two decades.

Only really disagree with the squad apart from T Burgess being included. Crabtree has been the second best prop in Super League this season behind Peacock in my opinion.

Would have been tempted with Ferres over Farrell but think the latter is a safer inclusion.

I think we need the likes of Hock and Westwood in there - as they can come up with the outlandish plays that many other back rowers can't.

its a 24 man squad i expect him to utilise this fully, some of the players will be playing in the smaller group games against fiji and ireland plus the quarter final (the likes of briscoe and ablett) whilst they will probably be omitted from the bigger games, they will do ok in the 'easier' games. once you whittle it down to 17 for the big games despite the lack of quality at centre it is a very good team

Its a good balanced squad, enough experience without too many of the old guard like Wilkin and JJB.

There are weaknesses in the squad. Does Sinfield have quick enough feet to put a decent kick in under extreme pressure, Sam at full back makes me nervous, and our threequarters make me nervous defending at Test level intensity for 80 minutes.

Probably the best we could put together though unless you really want to nit pick.
Glad Luke Burgess didn't get in

But it's true - it's only when we get near the Aussie try line that we don't have the gameplan/tactics/moves/nouse to get players over the whitewash. This is why the half-back (and back) choices are vital...

Fair point.

The last time we played Australia in the World Cup, we lost 52-4.

At least our forwards matched theirs.

Is Sean O Loughlin actually fit for the WC then? I thought he was done for the season?
Also, what is Tom Lineham's injury status? If fully fit I would certainly have picked him ahead of Briscoe.

No surprising additions, no glaring omissions.











Same old result.

Been carrying an injury all season so has had an operation so definitely out. Briscoe will do well with some decent ball which he hasn't had all season

Just announced that O'Loughin's injury has fully healed but is still a doubt for the Grand Final. That suggests he should be ok for the World Cup.

Also I'd still have Briscoe over Lineham fit or not but I'm a big fan of Briscoe and may be in the minority. Definitely Englands third best winger.

A decent enough squad, but still some gripes. How T Burgess is ahead of Crabtree I will never know. He was dropped by us towards the end of last season. I just cannot see how the NRL made him into an international prop in 12 moths.

Lunt should be over Mcclorum everytime

Surprised Matty Smith isn't in as if Sinfield gets a knock, we've no kicker!

Would also have chosen Ratchford over Hardaker. Ratchford has been better this year and offers not versatility than Hardaker.

Just my opinion of ciurse