McGuire over Pryce??

McGuire's been off the boil for a while but who else is there to play 6? Pryce is superb in SL but like someone said the other day his dummy and step near the line just doesn't work at international level, saying this England on the whole don't do they.

err – as someone pointed out above, this is just the first 17 names in an elite training squad that will eventually be 30-strong – not a match squad. Match squads may include players from outside the training squad (TS says they'll be picked on form, but I suspect some of may be a bit cynical about that …

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A couple of noticable absentees

Not me.

Theres 2 from my club i can think of straight away.......allegedly.

Was gonna post the same thing.
This is part of a squad of players that will meet up regularly to train together and receive use of Englands "specialist" facilities

Great minds and all that

The tea room at red hall?

Danny McGuire is world class, head and shoulders above Leon Pryce whose just a great pretender that looks good in games against mediocre opposition.

Danny McGuire came back with a better reputation than Leon Pryce who looked lost in the world cup. I don’t even think we’ve seen the best of Danny McGuire yet and hopefully it’ll come at this 4N which like the world cup we have the team to win. This time however we have the advantage of playing in England.

You should look at this as a combination of players who will form the backbone of the future squad, the likes of Graham, Burgess etc and players who are in need of the development and coaching the setup will provide Fa'asavalu, Shenton, Myler etc. (Who's been playing very well recently)

I think you need to go back to bed

I don't see the point in announcing this squad at all, that's if you can even call it a "squad".

indeed.

he needs to add more players before the France test, unless we are playing with a prop on either wing - so why not either name a bigger squad now, name a 17 for the France game closer to the time, or just not bother.

It's the 17 bit thats confusing because i think it's making everyone think it's a squad for the France test.

Don't see why they could have named 20 and included a few more backs like Ryan Hall and Lee Smith/S Briscoe.

The fact that Maurie gets into the squad ahead of someone like Lynch, Crabtree or Moore is rediculous. I mean i know the people will be added to the squad but the fact he is even in is a joke for me.

Rant Over.

As for the rest of the squad its nice to see a wildcat in there, didnt think ryan would get in for me, hell have a hard job to stay in there and make the match itself.

Sad note though, id like to see Briscoe added. Possibly even Ryan Owen think hes been a good performer. Might be a bit premature too but Ainscough?

Even if this is going to increase to 25+, why name a player like Tom Briscoe at this stage when he won't even be playing again until August? Nothing against Tom Briscoe, I think he's a great prospect, but why not give a player who [iisn't[/i injured a boost by naming them instead?

when you put it like that, 17 is a completely random and irrelevant number - i would be interested to know how has he come to that number?

Is this every single player that Tony Smith considers worthy of being in the squad at the moment, and it just happens to be 17? or was he told to pick 17 by the RFL? or was he trying to pick a squad for the France game and got confused.

all very random.

Richard Horne has been fairly good this season. Why not give him a shot?

Morley and Fielden are the two most consistent props in the league.

Sadly for Fielden, he's on the wrong end of the scale, Morley is not.

If you look past his "aggressive" nature, he's one hell of a second rower. I certainly don't like his name to be missing in a Warrington squad.

Think of it as kinda like the centrally contracted England cricket players or the RU elite train on squad rather than the England team

Probably because the second you see a players club as Hull FC, you automatically think "injury".

Don't see what the point of Morley is, he's on the slide these days. Westwood is in on effort. I don't think he's anything special but you can't knock his work rate.

The real worries are that we're thin on the ground for genuine international class backs and halfbacks. I'd like to see Pryce used as a centre at international level, I think he could be genuine international class in that position. But then I don't think we've got a single genuine international class scrum half or standoff.

Atkins is probably the best of the specialist British centres running about at the moment, so no complaints there. I'd like to see Richard Horne stake a claim at fullback, I think he's another one like Pryce who could be international class outside of the halves.

No Lee Smith is probably the biggest shock. He’s no doubt the most talented English rugby league in this country on form.