Wilkin offers slightly more than your average second rower as well in that he can play as a pivot if necessary and has a kicking game of sorts.

He doesn't play for either Leeds or Saints, so irrespective of how mediocre his performance is he won't provoke the same levels of vitriol as we've seen on here this week.

Both in coaching and the lack of players brought through to play test level around that time.

Bridge had a superb second half of the season and will surprise many of the people who haven't seen much of him. Strong in both defence and attack, just what you need against a big Kiwi side

Neither does myler but he's got plenty of stick, as would crabtree, shenton or burgess if they had bad games. people can be critical if a player has a bad game without bringing which club they play for into it.

Why is it the RFLs fault that clubs would rather take a punt on an assistant coach from Australia who has never had a head coach job in his life rather than promote from within?

Is it the RFLs fault that Hull FC wasted time and money on the likes of Peter Sharp? Or that Leeds employed Dean Lance?

Personally I would like to have seen John Kear given another stab at the job. He has a reputation for being able to produce sides for one-off occasions.

With our tactics that doesnt matter, the ball does not go out wide if we can help it.

Think he deserves a shot. I have been impressed at how he has done at Wakey on limited resources. He also did alright at Hull until disruptive influences like Thackray and co wrecked the dressing room.

Which he will handle supberbly as he has done all season.

Hmmm, it was Kears job to sort the players out, and he couldn't, so no way should he be anywhere near the England job again, ever.

The RFL are at faulr because the coaching development opportunities in the UK are, by and large, garbage.

Gregory - on the basis he was a good player? He might have made a top coach but there was little evidence before his tragic illness.
Hanley - who knows? He might have been asked, it all depends on what Ellery wants at the time.
Harrison - impeccable credentials. No really.

Smith was, as far as I know, the best qualified of those available.

Assuming a coach does emerge through the system, where do they get an opportunity to put theory into practice in a pro or semi-pro environment, when even Championship clubs giving jobs to antipodeans with no career record of achievement?

The RFL system could be churning out quality coaches by the bucketload. Unless they watch constant reruns of Animal Hospital to get the accent right they are competing for jobs with one hand behind their back.

must admit have seen very little of him but what i have seen he's looked decent enough. surprised at the extent of the animosity towards him being in the squad/team over the last couple of weeks. why the hell peaccok is in the secnod row when we have wilkin burgess and westwood on the bench is beyond me.

I hope sinfield plays a lot at dummy half and lets eastmond and tomkins have the ball in space. We were much better when he was distributing from the ruck and those two were plenty of ball. Agree as well with everyone that peacock shouldn't be in the second row and don't mind wilkin on the bench.

speaks weird and is a terrible landlord by all accounts. not for me.

No, they aren't, the simple fact is that the standard of coaching at amateur level in the UK is too low, when was the last time a British/English coach won something other than a knock out tournament, I think we have to go back to Noble at Bradford?

tbh, as a wire fan, i'm made up for bridge, but i'm more made up that he's in the side without mcguire, bridge has slotted into the gleeson role pretty well, so with eastmond, i can see eastmond creating space for bridge to exploit.

would that be Jon Wilkin who made the 6th most tackles in Super League this year? 865 tackles at an average of 35 a game, that Jon Wilkin? the same Jon Wilkin that made 80 more tackles than his nearest England teammate (Sinfield)?

you can criticise Jon Wilkin for many things - his defence isnt one of them.

like what though? i'm not saying he's world class but i dont understand why people have such strong opinions against him playing for england/gb.

I'm not slagging him off at all, i'm just concerned that we are not putting a bigger forward out against the kiwis who have bigger forwards than he will generally be facing in sl. If the aussie kiwi game is anything to go by they are going to bring an extremely powerful game, more so than the aussies.

I’m happy with that side. Not before time we gave youth a go. For to long we have played players out of position etc.

That is an exciting team, whether it can do the job or not we will see.

This is what I've posted on the thread on the saints board
Fortune favours the brave, and I think this is a positive move for us.
Eastmond, despite what people say about his inexperience, is a much better at 7 than in any other shirt. I've a huge amount of time for SamT and think he's got a lot to give.
I'm also very happy bridge is playing centre, as I think he's got a lot of potential there.
I'm just happy to see England trying to play to their strength rather than worrying about the opposition.

Bridge is a good option at centre, I'd have taken him before Smith befre the Aus game. I think he'll suprise some on here.

With regard to Wilkin, he is light which is a concern, but those who think he's a flat track bully should watch him through the season for saints. He's consistantly top tackler and does an awful lot of intellengent running off the ball (something that british players tend to lack) that will create space for the team. Also, from that selection, it looks like Sinfield will be spending time at DH, so Wilkin will step into the role of supporting the distribution. One thing I don't think people appreciate about Wilkin is that (I get the impression, anyways) he's very good at doing whatever role the coach decides is best for the team.

Peacock in the 2nd row makes me a little uneasy, but cometh the hour, and all that. I'd rather he'd start Burgess or Westwood.

Same reason people slaughter Sinfield, he doesn't stand out and do flashy individual things. What a lot of fans don't seem to be able to get their head around is that quite often players like that are the glue that holds a team together.

on that argument you wouldnt pick anyone from Super League.

This NZ team isnt superhuman - they have Thomas Leuleuia playing for them FFS, an average super league player playing out of position.

Pretty much my thoughts. It's pointless clamouring for players to be included that don't exist...