i like how we've "grabbed widdop & reed"

You can pretty much add Uate to that list as it's only a matter of time before he plays for Australia.

I agree that size and speed is the way to go and I think a back line of:

Tomkins
Hall/Briscoe
Tomkins
Pryce
McGilvary
Widdop
Brough

would be the best we have put out in a long time. Widdop and Pryce could rotate the strike at 6 and we genuinely have a few players that can cause some bruises.

Widdop has only been in Aus a few years, talks with a yorkshire accent and is secured at 6 with the minor-premiers elect in the NRL. Yeah, England should stay well clear

Because he's better than any other option we have in truth. We're not short of good back rowers and his defensive abilities will definitely be required against the likes of Inglis and Kenny-Dowall

not to mention his attacking abilities...the aussies & kiwis know how dangerous he is and will get sucked in enabling ellis to use his offload

Further to my comments on Luke earlier, we were down 20-0 after 20 odd today and came back to win 34-24 against the Dragons. It was about the time that Luke came on today that we began to mount a fight. He was probably the MOTM, if not the second best player on the field. He's absolutely going enormous.

Might disagree with some of your selections (e.g. Lomax, Cudjoe, Yeaman) but the sentiment is spot on. Our best 17 is capable of beating the Aussies and Kiwis but not when coached by Mr Macnamara. Mind you having said that, even Tony Smith couldn't get the best out of them, nor Brian Waite.

or david waite either........but to be fair he got us closer to beating the aussies than any coach in the last 30 odd years...sure the records say the 2003 series was 3-0...but it does'nt even begin to tell the whole story

All that English quality over Australian quantity, eh?

Hasn't produced a series win for over four decades.

I blame it on all those missed tackles and ineffective tackles.

Think other than Reed it's a big fight for the other centre spot between a lot of players with flaws, Yeaman, Cudjoe, J.Tomkins, Shenton, Atkins, Clubb and Ellis.

Quote ="Sal Paradise"how many tackles did he complete compared to the others?'" live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match10797.html

Quote ="Sal Paradise"how many tackles did he complete compared to the others?'" live.nrlstats.com/matches/nrl/match10797.html

Where a player was born is irrelevant.

Where the player learnt his trade and executes his trade is entirely relevant.

What's that got to do with the quality of Gareth Ellis?

You've lost the argument fella, give it up.

Is this Jack Reed, the 23 year old who has only managed to play 19 first grade games of Rugby League?

Apart from the fact that he plays in the NRL, in what way is Reed better than Kallum Watkins for example who has played more first grade games despite being three years younger?

If Luke Burgess had not played in Super League, people over here would be pleading for him to play for England just because he has had some good games in the NRL

The fact that Joel Tomkins is even mentioned as a possible candidate for England shows how poor our other options really are. He's only been playing the position full-time for 3-4 months

How can where a players born not be relevant in International Rugby League? In fact, any international sport.

Yes this s the same Jack Reed that had to publicly dismiss talk of him playing Origin RL.

Is this Kallum Watkins, the 20 year old who has only managed to play 33 first grade games of Rugby League?

Yes... a 20 year old who has played 33 first grade games and had a whole season lost through serious injury

Why has Reed only played 19 first grade games at 23 years old?

Reed may well be a great player in the making but let’s not judge that exclusively by the league he plays in

On form i'd say Reed is one of the best 5 or 6 centres in the NRL, the best club competition around.

Callum Watkins has got potential, but he's nowhere near one of the best few centres in SL at the moment.

I'm not really sure that we can say when Reed is on form or not after playimg just 19 games, never mid have enough information to rank him in the top x centres

Yes, the NRL is the strongest club competition in the world of Rugby League but this is the problem – let’s not assume that every player who plays in that league is world class because they simply aren’t

I agree with you on that, but I have probably seen Jack Reed play more that I have Kallum Watkins and I think he's a star.

OK, that's a fair point - I hope turns out to be (and English!)

Nice to have a disagreement on the VT that hasn't ended up in handbags!

Only a "novice" (your word) would argue that an error-strewn individual performance which constituted 6 missed tackles and 3 ineffective tackles somehow constitutes as "quality", and the "mashing up" and "crushing" of the opposition single-handedly.