England finally get a consistent NRL stand off who could be part of the setup for the next decade, but instead choose to start a converted loose forward in Kevin Sinfield. Gareth Widdop is twice the player Kevin Sinfield/Rangi Chase are!

One prop on the bench? Gaz Carvell not used?

It's so frustrating because we actually do have a decent side IMO. Swap Widdop for Sinfield, swap JJB for Gaz Carvell and we have a real shot.

Chase > Widdop
but
Widdop > Sinfield, by a substantial margin.

1 Billy Slater
2 Akuila Uate
3 Willie Tonga
4 Chris Lawrence
5 Darius Boyd
6 Darren Lockyer ©
7 Johnathan Thurston
8 Paul Gallen
9 Cameron Smith
10 Matt Scott
11 Luke Lewis
12 Sam Thaiday
13 Anthony Watmough

Interchange
14 Cooper Cronk
15 Keith Galloway
16 David Shillington
17 Tony Williams
18 Beau Scott
19 Greg Inglis
20 Corey Parker

Is this backline as fearsome as some in the past? Still very good, but one we could get at imo.

No Carvell, and Sinfield still at 6, McNamara is gonna step on a huge McBanana skin soon if this is genuinely what he sees his best team to be. And even if it isnt, and hes still experimenting with this team because he thinks we will walk over Wales, then hes an even bigger fool, because the game after Wales we play Australia and by then we need a team that has a bit of experience playing together (what little you can at international level).

Back on the matter of Carvell for a moment, what does the lad really have to do?? Hes been the best prop behind Graham ALL season pretty much.

Its awful mate!!

What would be wrong with just a simple red v in similar fashion to the old GB jerseys?

Actually, whats wrong with just going back to GB full stop!! I fail to get anywhere near as excited about England v Australia/New Zealand as i ever did GB v Australia/New Zealand. It just isnt the same!

spot on. You forgot to mention swapping McBanana for .. well anyone

uate and tonga have been pretty good every time i saw them last season, boyd is solid but they are lacking morris who would be first choice on one of the wings. think its a pretty good 3 quarter line though and thats without even mentioning the chap at 1

99% of people want Widdop at 6 and Carvell on the bench but I think Macca doesn't want to go with the masses as he needs to try and put his own mark on things.

Sadly his mark is going to lead to us getting walloped at Wembley and follow that up by crashing out against the Kiwi's.

We're finding some handy players by hook or by crook at the moment but we're in desperate need of a good coach.

ahh a clever clogs. Even if sinfield had have scored fifty tries and 50 goals against France it would tell us absolutely shiit all. He has never even shown enough in his natural position internationally never mind at 6. But if you think seeing him against Frnace tells us anything then you've obviously got shiit for brains

.

I would add for what it's worth that Sinfield is a good leader of men and I have a lot of admiration for him at SL level. But an international 6? I don't think so

Correct.

I have no problem with Sinfield being in the 17 but just not as a starting 6 or 13. He could start at 9 or play as cover for 6,7,9 or 13 off the bench but he isn't quick enough to play as a first choice international 6 or big enough to play as a first choice 13.

I agree, said on the Saints board ironically the best thing we can do is promote McBanana, he seems to do some stuff well , like finding players and pushing for the exiles thing, make him manager and find a proper coach who knows how to get the best out of a group of players and is up to date with current tactics

Gareth Widdop - a halfback who is consistent for the team that finished top of the NRL, who is coached by one of the best coaches in the world, who plays alongside some of the best players in the world and faces the worlds best in high intensity clashes every week.

Rangi Chase - plays for Castleford, whose biggest game of the year is against Wakefield.

Ask ANY NRL club who they would have - Rangi Chase or Gareth Widdop - they'd take Widdop every time.

It's a shocking selection to put Sinfield over Gareth Widdop. The bloke faces Darren Lockyer, Jonathan Thurston, Keiron Foran, Benji Marshall every week - get him starting!

Chase is a better player than Widdop from what I've seen of them both.

I'm not as downbeat about a Sinfield/Chase combo as many on here. Widdop has had a couple of decent games in the NRL as Cronk/Smith/Slater's bag carrier, but he's never looked anything remotely special whenever I've watched him play (either in the NRL or for England).

Am I reading this right, you wouldn’t start Sinfield over Widdop or Heighington but you would be happy to start him in front of Roby at 9?

The Kangaroos are never going to put a poor team on the park but it is all about relative strength

You read down that team sheet and 5 players stand out in Slater, Lockyer, Thurston, Smith and Inglis (but the latter must be a serious worry otherwise he would surely be in the starting line up)

Each of these would compete for a place in some of the best Kangaroo teams I have seen... of the rest, I have to say they wouldn’t get a look in

at the end of the day, we have 3 games ahead of us in the group stage, and in reality the only crucial game is the one against NZ in 3 weeks. I have no doubt that Carvell will play a part in the next few weeks as injuries and fatigue set in, so perhaps McBanana is just keeping some powder dry 'just in case'.

There is no point in flogging 4/5 props against Wales.

Whats happened to Ryan Atkins?

I know McNamara likes the Yeaman / Briscoe combination but although Yeaman has had his best season for a number of years his form dipped towards the back end of the season and was rather forgettable against the French.

Atkins on the other hand has been v.impressive all year for Warrington and would certainly provide a real threat out wide. With Jack Reed in the other centre we would have 2 big strong centres that IMO would cause both Aus + NZ problems.

I was certainly keen to see Atkins in the squad as I think his game has come on this year. He is not though and I don’t think Yeaman will let anybody down. The thing I like about Yeaman is he can be really punishing in defence... despite being a little smaller than Atkins he will get stuck into the Aussie and Kiwi backs and shake them up a bit

Think Yeaman is the safer pick but for me if we are going to beat Aus or NZ we cant afford to play the equivalent of 5-4-1

the only problem I have with the team is Kevin Sinfield is not a stand off but I suppose give them another chance to prove the,selves.

I thought Yeaman looked quite good outside Chase against France. Made some breaks, very solid in defence apart from the try from the tap penalty and he works well with Briscoe. Against top class opposition you need a somewhat telepathic combination to perform well, and these two have that

Kevin Sinfield is a stand-off.

He asked not to be selected for some reason.

I'm presuming the reason differs to Joel Tomkins.

He's also - it would appear, anyway - the ready made scapegoat for England's failure.

I find it hard to believe how little recognition the guy gets for his ability from fans of other clubs.

Wales squad: www.rlfans.com/index.php?fid=43&id=69

Wales squad: www.rlfans.com/index.php?fid=43&id=69