Yes. Without a doubt. As I said international coaching is a Bobby's job.

Bennett is supposed to be the Alex Ferguson of RL coaching. Take a look at Alex Fergusons international record. Or Jock Steins. Or loads of examples.

Do you get the idea that Bennett.is in this for any other reason than to get back at Australian selectors for not giving him the job?

Daryl Powell & Dennis Betts as a part time role. It is only a part time job to be fare would top both there pension funds up as well (Dennis is already doing it).

Bennetts motivation may be up for discussion but, his pedigree as an International coach is not and as for Sinfield or Sculthorpe.
Great players they may have been but England coach, not yet and maybe never.

Also if the post is a "bobby's job", why haven't we won anything of significance since the 60's (apart from the series against the Kiwis last year)

Just as with the round ball game, people always say we want an English coach and in an ideal world I would agree but, we should always appoint the best coach for the job and not because they are English.

Powell would be a good shout.
He has Cas playing some great stuff and he's had a few good seasons at Cas and remember that he searve his "apprenticeship at Fev after taking the Leeds job too soon but, would he want the post, maybe not.

There's a simple reason. We haven't been anywhere as good as the Aussies. I'm afraid the modern myth of the super coach is all pervasive. The team that has the best players usually wins. Nothing to do with coaching at international level. Whereas at club level it very much is.

we won a test series against NZ in his last set of matches, came within a whisker of making a WC final and beating both sides away from home in the two years before that so i don't see how you come to that conclusion.

If we get well beaten against the Aussies at the weekend i don't even think you can argue Bennett has taken us backwards since. He may be a great coach, no disputing his record, but i've seen absolutely nothing to make me think he has made a difference yet.

And Japan in the Union world cup or, Iceland in the recent football debacle.
A top coach is the person who can get the best from their players. Get them in the right frame of mind and have them achieving 9.5/10 performances when they take the field.
Of course, if the coach of both teams does this then, it will come down to ability or maybe a game plan ?

You see it in lots of sports where a group of players enjoy playing and will do anything for their team, something instilled by the coaching staff and the players themselves.
Although they have to have some ability in the first instance, it certainly isn't just down to how good they are.
Also, certain players perform better with other individuals around them, again, something which a decent coach will spot.

Just because a team has the "best" 13/17 players does not mean that they will win and it's naive to think so.

Can't see many changes from the original line up vs NZ. Percival and Williams did enough, but that's it for changes I think.

Lomax
McGilvary
Watkins
Percival
Hall
Williams
Widdop
Hill
Hodgson
Graham
Whitehead
Bateman
Burgess

Clark
Burgess
Burgess
Cooper

We're not exactly playing worse than under McBanana, so if anything Bennet's taking us sideways, not backwards. I wonder if Bennet wasn't Australian would such a fuss be made after two competitive games?

It was his "work" in front of the camera that has caused the biggest problem.
We are supposed to be trying to get more exposure and become "friends" with the media but he acted like my kids used to do, if they didn't want to be somewhere.
Having said that, if the guy can achieve World Cup success, which is why he was appointed, then, anything will be forgiven.
It was embarrassing though.

I was making the point that international coaching and club coaching are very different. Rugby League games tend to be won by the better team on most occasions. In football it is possible to organise your defence and hope for a set piece goal and win with only 20% possession. You can't really do that in RL. If you only have 20% possession you lose. Hence my belief that coaches can only achieve so much in RL.

If we are saying that motivating the team is the coaches primary focus then I really don't see Bennett being of much use to England. I hesitate to say it because I'm a Wigan fan, but Shaun Wane is really the obvious choice. Mind you, I rather hope he doesn't get offered the job, I'm sure he doesn't need the aggravation. And because of Australia's clear superiority in quality and quantity of choice he would be very unlikely to succeed.

Didn't McBanana get criticised for exactly the same thing in the last tournament?

You've attended the training sessions then? What was it like?

I'm taking a guess mate based on his demeanour. Are all your posts well informed or do you occasionally offer opinion?

My opinion is that on this issue you are talking crap. From what I have read the most successful coach in RL history is far more relaxed away from the media & doesn't have problems motivating his players.

Why the need to be abusive? I am just holding an opinion, which clearly you don't agree with.

The video of Bennett laughing along with the team when Burgess was leading the post game sing along suggests he has a very different relationship off camera.

We lost by a point against a good Kiwi team where in reality we played far better than the score line suggests and but for a few handling errors and 1 misplaced pass could have been 18 point plus ahead.

We had a poor 1st half against a fired up Scottish team with a point to prove but sorted things out in the 2nd half.

He made a couple of changes that reflected what most people were saying : our centres were poor and our half backs lacked spark. That's a big plus on what we've seen before with some other coaches reluctance to change.

He obviously knows how he wants the team to play and has given them clear directions.

The only valid criticism I believe is is interviewing persona which is not great from a PR viewpoint.

For Saturday I'd keep Percival at Centre and bring in Cooper/Taylor moving Sam Burgess to SR and playing Cooper/Graham at 13 for a bit more size.

I'm undecided about full back and the halves. I'm not a fan of chopping and changing those positions as players need to develop an understanding, however, I'm not convinced by Lomax or Gale & we are yet to see Williams against Australia or NZ. I'm leaning towards Widdop at FB and Gale & Williams in the halves.

What I think is more important is the tactics. Although many people are commenting how good Australia are they play a very similar style to Bennett of playing for position and completing sets. They are without doubt better at it than we are and I don't think we can match them playing the same way. I feel we need to offer something different and take a few chances, I think they can be rattled. We need to play with a bit more fire and really get stuck into them, we have seen in the past they can be put off their game.

Quick line speed is a must. Need to be far sharper and more aggressive in defence.

Agree Steve, this is an absolute must. Intensity and line speed has to be absolute red lining and we certainly need to up the aggression and NOT stand back and show them respect like we have in the past and start playing when the game is gone.

Yep. Up in their faces every tackle. Hitting them after they've passed/kicked etc etc.

Pressure and hit Thurston. He was playing on one leg v NZ. He's obviously got a knock of some kind.

Robert Hicks is the referee for the game.

Benett is on record that Williams and Widdop are not 'half backs' (i.e. Number 7) so he'll never play them both in combination. Gale has ben disappointing but he's clearly not been allowed to steer the team around the field as he does for Cas, Hodgson seems to have that role. Give Gale the main playmaking responsibility and I think he'll come good.

Looks like Bennett has pretty much confirmed Widdop will be back in and he mentions giving lads a game last week so they didn't feel like the month was wasted so I expect we'll be back to the side that played the Kiwis (expect Percival for Sarginson and maybe Farrell for Bateman or a prop).

Graham looks like he'll be ok also according to the interview I read.

I read that has well and it says if we beat the ozzies by more then 12 points they might be in trouble for the final I know its a big IF but it has got to happen some time why not Sunday

whenever i've seen Graham in the nrl he sometimes operates as an extra half to move the ball about a bit, he has a great pair of hands. hope he can do this a bit more for england if needed