Atkins was by far the biggest failure last year on the tour. He was ripped to shreds.

Not that I am suggesting Ablett should be anywhere near the England setup, by the way. Guess it will have to be Jack Reed.

I know that the club partnerships are a passion of yours but both the Yeaman/Brsicoe and the Ablett/Hall partnership are left wing and centre and in this case I think there is justification to switch Hall to the right wing and play a natural centre inside him in Reed

I would have:

Tomkins
Hall, Reed, Yeaman, Briscoe
Widdop, Chase
Graham, Roby, Morley
Westwood, Heighington
Ellis

Ablett, Carvell, Peacock, Sinfield


Sinfield to interchange hooker, we need the extra big man in the pack at this level and would have liked to have seen Mossop in the team

Reed and Yeaman are both left centres though.

why do we need an interchange hooker, when Roby can play 80mins to the same intensity every game. There is no need to take Roby off the field at all, so it gives us the opportunity to have an extra prop/half back on the bench.

Tomkins
Hall, Reed, Yeaman, Briscoe
Widdop, Lomax
Graham Roby Peacock
Heighington Ellis
Sinfield

Carvell, Morley, Wilkin, Chase

I'd agree Roby seems perfectly capable of playing to a high standard for 80 mins. Also if he does need a break move Sinfield to hooker for 10 mins until Roby comes back on again.

What makes everyone think Ablett will be picked as a centre? He has covered very well there for us this season but he is also the best 2nd row forward (IMO) we have at the club. He is very skillful and looks dangerous whenever he takes the ball up. I think he will be used (if he gets used) off the bench as an extra forward.

I understand that Reed has played some right centre for Brisbane this year

Reed started on the right and only moved when Hodges came back from injury

It’s a good point and would certainly allow for another attacking option off the bench alongside the typical three forwards

No Westwood in your team?

Fair enough. I've only seen Reed on the left.

maybe Westwood over Wilkin

Cant see room for either of them to start with Ellis and Heighington in the squad.

Sinfield at 13 isnt ideal - but dont think there is a viable alternative.

From the squad selected this is about right - gives us good cover off the bench to cover all positions.

If Roby can play a good 60-80 minutes, I think Sinfield is wasted on the bench

For me, with Sinfield, you either start with him and have him bossing the team for 80 minutes or you leave him out. This is his natural game

How the hell Bailey made the squad over Mossop I have no idea...

Because once you get past the hatred and the villain act, he has actually played some very good stuff this year.

1. Tomkins
2. Cudjoe
3. Widdop
4. Reed
5. Hall
6. Sinfield
7. Lomax
8. Peacock
9. Roby
10. Morley
11. Westwood
12. Ellis
13. Heighington

14. Graham
15. Carvell
16. Ablett
17. Chase

We have the stand off from the NRL table toppers and the man of steel to choose from... why would we play Sinfield at 6?

Will Danny Brough find he is Scottish again now?

lol

McNamara.

Looking at the squad & omissions I reckon he's planning on playing Widdop at centre too.

(Tomkins; Briscoe, Reed, Widdop, Hall; Chase, Lomax; Graham, Roby, Peacock, Westwood, Ellis, Sinfield; Morley, Carvell, Heighington, Wlilkin/Ablett/JJB)

Because it gives the team the best overall balance.

We're lacking quality in the centres. Yeaman's very ordinary (only gets a sniff due to the paucity of good English centres in SL) and Widdop's as good a centre as he is stand off.

Sinfield has shown time and again that, given the right role, is a top player with a great rugby brain. Make him the fulcrum of the side, with Lomax playing the probing role from scrum half.

If England are to stand any chance, they need to be organised early on in games. Whilst Chase is a top player when running with the ball, his distribution isn't top drawer and he can be a bit of a maverick. Him coming off the bench will give England a more potent attacking weapon when the opposition isn't as fresh (and haven't prepared as thorough a gameplan to counter his threat as they would if he started)

How do you know he is as good at centre than 5/8, he's barely ever played there!!

one person puts cudjoe in there team at centre!

cudjoe is a massive talent...was oustanding for us the last two months and won the player of the month for aug/sept

hope he gets in and shows his talent -

back line of...

tomkins

hall
cudjoe
reed
briscoe

Ablett and Bailey ? Lol