Jamie Shaul would have added at least some chance of making a break to the team.

Danny Brough also is a massive influence on the Scottish team, something we severely lack!!

McGilvary, Williams, Brown, Bateman (Aus only), Whitehead, Graham and Hill.

Sam Burgess thought he could take on the world, same with Hodgeson, JH was trying to run the game single handed which suffocated our backs I thought.

Brown

Admittedly his kicking game was poor, but our kicking game was average the whole tournament. But if you actually look at what Brown did with ball in hand it was about the same as Gale, Widdop etc.

Agree about Hodgson and Whitehead looking tired. I've seen Hodgson win games single-handed for Canberra this season, but instead of wanting to do too much, I don't think he did enough this series.

Ignore him.. He's anti anything Widnes. Probably was hoping he'd get smashed by the Ausies everything he had the ball, and could imagine him throwing his can of mild at the telly if they so happen to show Betts in the frame.

In all fairness Brown does lack the long kicking game but his passing skills and dummies are second to none in SL. He showed this against Aus when he sent Hall down the wing and when he nearly broke through after his dummy, plus his dummy against France where he scored. He does lack pace also but I thought when he had the ball he looked dangerous, a lot more so than Gale who doesn't lack effort, he lacks a rugby brain.

Lomax was good.
Hall and McGilvary were very good with the small amount of ball they had.
Percival and Watkins were fairly bobbins when they actually got the ball passed to them but most of the time they weren't passed to.
Widdop was boring but fine for me, Williams should partner him but Bennett doesn't seem to think two Stand-offs should be playing together, Gale and Brown were poor.

Hodgson was extremely underwhelming, Clark was criminally underused and when used against the Kiwis was used at the wrong time.
Graham and Hill were fine.
Bateman and Whitehead were very good, Cooper was good, the Burgess twins looked like they were playing with lead weights strapped to their legs, Sam Burgess was rubbish.

None of them, to a man, were aggressive enough though.

Going off that showing i'd have Clark and McIlorum as the two hookers next year but Hodgson will probably dance around the tidy NRL rucks again next year and get himself picked again and will then do nowt in the WC with the untidy rucks that only having one ref allows.
I reckon Hardaker will be in contention (although i think Lomax is a really good player) again.
If Taylor and Watts have a good season there's no reason why they should push for the squad and Currie and Ward (who are far far more mobile and more skillful than the Burgess twins will be in contention.
I've got a feeling Sam Tomkins legs have gone but if he manages to get himself fit he'd be a good shout for the squad.
Farrell is a penalty machine in SL but he's very very effective with ball in hand.
Manfredi is a very impressive player too.
Hopefully Dec Patton can push on next year too.

Watching Brown at club level it is quite obvious that kicking is not is strong suit so I wasn't surprised by the lack of decent kicks from him. He is a "take the line on" type of halfback. His best kicking game is when we are well inside the opposition half and he can look up and find a runner in space. He also is quite dependable in defence as he doesn't go hiding like alot of halves do. It was no coincidence that the Ausies targeted Williams when Brown went off and subsequently the floodgates opened. Not Williams fault but they were having no luck with Brown on cause he was better and more vocal at organising the defence on our left.

Oh look, another poster who gets too sensitive when their player gets criticised.

Id also add that in Williams defence, it is hard to defend in that part of the pitch, let alone when thrown on at halfback, next to another rookie, trying to get up to speed with the Aussies seizing the game.

It was very bizarre of Bennet to bench Williams for most of the game, then bring him on when the game was pretty much lost and the floodgates had already opened.

Who was good

Lomax
Mcgillvary
Hall
Williams
Hill
Graham
The Bugesses (though not their best still good)
Hodgson. Tried too hard maybe but good

Percival was ok, just
Bateman was ok, just
Widdop was ok, he isn't flashy but he is very steady

Watkins never been good enough. Looks great being put into a gap. Knows nothing about centre play

Whitehead. Mediocre and anonymous. Half a dozen better choices

Gale. Out of his depth
Brown. Should have been in the England camp 5 years ago. Too slow now

Watching the Aussies game back again we weren't terrible, just dumb mistakes those players don't make usually

McGillvary, Hall, Williams, Lomax, Graham, rest were garbage IMO.

I think all justified their selection, some are clearly the best option we have and didn't disgrace themselves, the rest played to their potential. Only possible exceptions are Gale who didn't impress and Brown who didn't take an unexpected chance.

Lomax did well but might struggle to keep out Tomkins and Hardaker if they can get anywhere near their best. Percival will probably keep the shirt because their isn't anyone else.

Not being too sensitive at all. there were 17 players with England shirts on who were not good enough and the only one you could single out and name call was Brown. Grow up

Its been 37 years since Widnes beat Wakefield at Wembley, time to move on and let it go.

37 years!!! is it that long - went as a 'trinity' fan with my then girlfriend who is now my wife.
At that time and her being new to watching RL she could never understand why I disliked Leeds so much. Now I have matured and become a more balanced individual I can appreciate and applaud the qualities of the recent (great) Rhinos team. However my Mrs just hates em!
Strange how things turn out.

Lomax - some nice touches, bad defence for the Kiwi try. Got some competition for his World Cup place.

McGillvary/Hall - happy with both, would expect one of the Wigan wingers to join them in the squad next year.

Watkins - his 'days' are so few and far between, extremely frustrating when we've seen what he's capable of. Looks more of a flat-track bully I'm afraid.

Percival - two poor handling errors on the rare occasion he got some good ball against the Aussies. Centre not a great position for us though, hopefully Shenton can come back to his best.

Sarginson - makes the wrong decision time and again, with and without the ball. Hall could have had 4 tries against NZ if Sarginson had any idea about centre play. Be interesting to see how he goes next year - providing he gets an opportunity in the NRL I'd expect him to improve ten-fold.

Brown - yesterday's man, kicking game was terrible.

Gale - poor, but could still have a role to play given the lack of talent in this position. Thought Hodgson ran him out of the game on numerous occasions.

Widdop - as above, some decent aspects to his game without really standing out.

Williams - I'd like to see a bit more faith shown in him from now on, very talented player who should be our 6 for the next decade.

Graham/Hill - both did well, we know what to expect from these two.

George/Tom - a notch below the other two but have a big role to play in the future. Taylor & Cooper belongs in this category aswell and there are a number of alternatives not in the squad, prop is a very strong position for us.

Hodgson - was very disappointed personally, he's been far better than that in the NRL. Needed to be more direct - he 'crabbed' all around the ruck constantly, running across the halfback and ruining plays. Gale was visibly frustrated with him on numerous occasions.

Clark - criminally under-used and inexplicably dropped - he can cause havoc around the ruck and with the forward-oriented game Bennett wanted us to play it makes no sense not to have him in the team. Will have a big part to play moving forward.

Whitehead - another I expected more from. Currie and Ferres both far better for me and would expect them both to be involved in future.

Bateman - did pretty well and he's another with his best years ahead of him.

Farrell - telling that he wasn't picked for the two most important games and I agree with the call - size matters at the highest level and he'll never have it, talented though he is.

Sam Burgess - for someone of such obvious ability and character he doesn't half make some stupid errors and decisions. We need far better from our captain in the future and I'm sure he knows it.

Wayne Bennett - There hasn't noticeable improvement in the team from last year under McNamara IMO, but that's to be expected given the chopping and changing he's made to the halfbacks. Hopefully he's a decent idea of his best partnership now. I'm glad he's taken steps to improve his access to the squad for next year with the Samoa Test and January camp. We need to prioritise the national team over the club game if we are to make any kind of improvement.

^^^^^^^^^

Can't really argue with most of that. As ever, we still have major question marks in the halves and centres.

I'd like to see Gale in his strongest position before writing him off. In game one I don't think he got a lot of service and I think a lot of pressure was put on him from the off based on his storming season. A bit unfair for someone had only played 60 mins of international footy previously (v France).

The biggest areas for concern were hooker (lack of distribution), forwards (no one really showed any aggression or punched holes in defences for quick PTBs), halves (sticking with average players or putting round pegs in square holes (i.e. Gale on his weakest side), centres (lack of depth or size to punch holes out wide).

I would have included full-back as I don't think Lomax really showed great attacking intent that a full-back should in the first few games but I actually think he was one of the standout players in the Australia game. Would like to see Shaul given a run next time.

I don't think our tactics suited a lot of players (we looked flat and boring) with some players underused who shouldn't have been (Clark).

Like many, I'm struggling to name stand out performers. Lots of average performances but no consistency. Just all round bland. George Williams is probably the pick out and I would build a team around him for definite

I think we missed people like Roby who does a lot of defensive work and is very good in making attacking decisions too.

Future spine: Shaul, Gale, Williams, Roby

Roby is done at international level..Still a good club man but over 30 now and we have younger guys like Hodgson and Clark who are ahead of him -

Shaul - the jury is still out, he is young and improving and may well figure by next year.

Gale - did nothing wrong without being too convincing. If he can have another big year with Cas and lead them to silverware then perhaps he will get another go but i don't think Bennett is convinced by him after leaving him out in the last match.

Lomax - did nothing wrong really (apart from a one on one miss against the kiwis), also created a good try for McGillvary. He is the safe option but seems more like he is keeping the seat warm until someone better comes along (Shaul) or Hardaker or Tomkins find form than a long tem answer to me.

Let's not crucify Percival for failing to hang onto a couple of hard-to-take balls in his first Test. He and Shenton look out best bet in the centres next season. Although Shenton is 30+, isn't he? At least, we have a few second rowers-cum-centres who can fill in there (Bateman, Currie, etc).

I'm also in agree with giving Gale another shot. In the first game he hardly got as sniff with Widdop at first receiver, he did a bit better in the second game with the ball in his hands a bit more.

Sarginson a possible left-field option at full-back (but never centre!).

Apologies, I meant Williams rather than Lomax. I must have Lomax on the brain.

As said, Williams should be our starting scrum half and Gale should play on the left as the stand-off (as he does at Cas). Would give us much more balance and Williams excelled on both left side and right side.

Shenton was 30 this year. Still got a few years left in him yet.

If we're going for ones to watch, Minikin at Cas is another name to throw out there. Jake Connor, Josh Griffin, Leroy Cudjoe, Joe Wardle (if he can be persuaded to switch from Scotland),

I think if Watkins gets grief for not taking JM's pass against NZ, then Percival can't escape a tiny bit of criticism.
I also think Bennett would probably argue we didn't look flat. I think Bennett just wanted us to complete our sets and get in good position to execute some moves. If we'd chucked the ball around we'd have made loads of errors and probably been carved up. Australia compete sets, dominate field position/opposition forwards and then they get license to show off their skills.
The basic aim for England was to get into scoring positions (which we did) and execute (which we didn't). It's quite simple. More composure against NZ for example and we'd all be looking forward to the final.
Bennett has quite rightly but also quite subtly heaped the pressure on his players. Even if SL's standard is low, they need to rise above it and show their quality week in, week out and show they deserve to be in the team. He's challenged them, let's hope they respond.

I still maintain that although not everyone's choice, and not the biggest, strongest,most skilful or fastest centre we have, if we play McGillvary then i feel we have to pick Cudjoe too, they have both come up through the ranks together and through the first team together and work very well, although the fact that they both play for Huddersfield would probably automatically rule this out.
I just feel if you have a good partnership at club level then use it at international level, let's be honest we aren't exactly blessed with exceptional backs are we?