The Brown/Mellor/Farrell combination just now was excellent!!!!

How good is Matty Smith?

Had a good game vs the Kiwis last November but not good enough to lead England to a tournament win imo.

Not good enough to lead Wigan, let alone England.

this

Yet Smith performance vs NZ @ Wigan was the better of any English HB efforts throughout the series. Smith has his weaknesses but has always been a steady performer for England. Admittedly I'd have gone with Gale last Autumn and said Smith was done after his Grand Final howler. I'll leave it in the hands of Mr Bennett.

England's scrum halves should be between Richard Myler, Lucas Gale, and Daniel McGuire. All three are talented and have performed well in 2016.

England's stand off/five eighth should be between Kevin Brown, Gareth Widdop, and Samuel Tomkins. (I am assuming that Zachary Hardaker is the first choice full back for England).

Personally I would like to see a Gale-Tomkins combination, a Myler-Tomkins or a McGuire-Tomkins combination.

Of those three scrum halves Lucas Gale has an advantage. He is a very good player with a good field kicking game, and, very important, goal kicking talent. Samuel Tomkins is a very elusive attacking player. Because Tomkins is not a goal kicker, if you chose Tomkins then you would need a goal kicking scrum half. Gale is the only candidate. Those two would add a great spark to the England attack.

One thing is for sure: Matthew Smith is yesterday's man, and Gareth Widdop, unless his form improves, is heading in Smith's direction.

Who the heck is Lucas Gale?

Why the full names, are you their mum?

Some of the less fashionable clubs have got off to a flier with some of theirs halves showing some real form. Hopefully the new coach will see past the usual suspects from saints, Leeds, Wigan etc & them a chance.

in all of my 25 years watching the game, that hasn't happened, apart from maybe once in 2010 when Huddersfield had something like 6 guys called up.
as i said previously i can't see what Widdop offers any more than any other decent half back over here.
we have had some good half backs over the years but they have never been used, possibly due to their clubs colours, Briers, a perfect example, recognised as one of the best half backs of his era and yet he never got a call up for GB as far as i can remember, at a time when we were shoehorning wingers/loose forwards/props etc from Wigan,Leeds,Bradford and saints into the side!

Not at the moment

Who's the form English FB then? Matty Russell is Scottish isn't he?

Maybe Josh Hodgson will get a go at 6?

Jordan Tansey

Or Elliot Whitehead?

For me:
Hardaker FB
SO Brown
SH Gale

If i was England Coach i would put Brough at 7, as I'm not sure what nationality he is this year, i would give Mellor a chance.

brough wont turn his back on scotland now after he helped them qualify for the 4 nations and he is good mates with mccormack the coach of scotland

id like to see gale given a chance, no qualms about brown being given a 2nd crack too for england

but it bennett watching!!

he might want hardaker and tomkins in the side but only one can play full back so tomkins may go stand off

Widdop and Tomkins

I'm intrigued to see who Bennet will pick. One thing is for sure, he knows a whole lot more about the sport than anyone who posts on here. He has already said he is looking for signs of good coaching and good habits from the players as he wont have time to drill those habits into the players. For that reason I think that the spread of players won't be from too many clubs and will give a good indication of who Bennet thinks are good coaches.

At this moment in time Brown and Mellor are untouchable. If it continues. They must be selected over other mediocre performing halves. Simple.

Form is temporary, class is permanent !!!! Mellor doesn't stand a chance imo

That comment would be more convincing if there was a significant list of other good options available. But there isn't.

Chucking Sam Tomkins into a Test side at a position he hasn't played for years seems quite a risk to me. Don't get wrong, I'd like to see him in the halves for England. Eventually. But I'd like to see him there for Wigan first.

More of a risk than throwing in debutantes Mellor or Gale? I'd be amazed if Mellor is called up to be honest. He's had a decent start to the year but his lack of upper-body size and kicking game will probably mean Bennett will go with Widdop (Dragons/NRL connection) and Tomkins/Gale.

Widdop's a very good player though, he'll get better this year as he did last year. As a Widnes fan I'm not putting Mellor in the same breath as him. Nor Luke Gale to be honest.

The problem with picking Brown (he's deserved it over the last 2-3 seasons in my opinion) now is whether we can expect him to be this good next year. I'm positive Bennett will be looking to RLWC 2017 - I'm not sure whether Brown can look as far forward as the end of next season in terms of form and health.