England/GB have suffered too much by playing people out of position in the past - I would rather have a good player playing in his normal position than a 'supposedly' better one out of position

Hell, even NSW showed that if you play quality players out of position (Lyon and Hayne) then the whole is less than the sum of its parts

and finally... I get what you mean with Ellis but do you really think that Ablett would make a better centre option than Shenton or Bridge?

I have a feeling some TO lads will get a go and maybe one or two from the LER will be included in the squad.

I

What on EARTH have you been sniffing??
Having seen them both every week this year Ryan Atkins isn't in the same stratosphere as Bridge.
Bridge's problem ultimately will be he just isn't big enough at International level; he will be nullified.
Classy classy player but 13 1/2 stone just isn't big enough.
Pryce could be worth a shout

Got to agree with those who said our backs are poor. If we ever want to seriously compete with the Aussies then we need to be producing a lot better. No problems for me giving Widdop a run out either, Briscoe's hardly setting the league alight these days so why not? Good set of forwards though with plenty of go forward, this team should rattle up a fair few points against the French.

Team looks pretty simple to pick:

Widdop; Hall, Shenton, Bridge, Briscoe, Tomkins, Eastmond; Peacock, Sinfield, Graham, Ellis, J.Tomkins, Burgess
Bench: Scruton, Morley, Roby, O'Loughlin.

McGuire and Westwood back-up.

by being comfortably one of the best two half backs in the competition this year. He has been the most important player for leeds this year and i dread to think where we would be without him. He has covered for injuries and loss of form to Burrow and Sinfield, and has played out of his skin at SH for the last few weeks. He is still a much better player than either Eastmond or Tomkins (who has shown just how far from reaching his potential he is this year)

Was he covering them earlier in the season when you were not doing so good?

Honestly think we should line up 7. McGuire 6. Eastmond in this game.
I think Eastmond could do a LOT of damage as second receiver

yes he was. He is the one of 3 big names to show up consistently for us this season, Webb and Eastwood are the others.

As bad as we were earlier in the year, we would have been worse without him.

The case for the prosecution rests your honour.

Not a bad squad. Pretty pleased with the selections. From a personal point of view, it's nice to see Joel Tomkins getting some recognition for his fine performances so far this season.

As long as Gareth Widdop is sound defensively, has some pace and good support play then he will be better than what we have currently. Cameron Smith has been quoted saying he is similar to Billy Slater. Michael Shenton and Chris Bridge are sound defensively. I'm gradually growing fond of Chris Bridge. He's proving to be a classy player. Ryan hall had a good four nations too. Unsure on Tom Briscoe. He still has a lot to prove, but he's better than Peter Fox. Tomkins and Eastmond in the halves again.

Nick Scruton seems to have earnt his shot so I hope he goes well. Personally, I don't see what Eorl Crabtree has done wrong. I thought he had a strong four nations. Kevin Brown could have been given a shot too and I would have liked to have seen Matt Diskin get a shot.

We'll demolish France.

Leeds speaking to RFL about postponing the Quins game - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php

Leeds speaking to RFL about postponing the Quins game - www.therhinos.co.uk/11065.php

Lots of players that were outsiders at best 2 years ago. What a shock compared with the usual choice of "same as the last 5 years"

he's played really well in attack this year and finished a lot of moves. also played well against the bigger teams, leeds and saints. does get caught out in defence at times but he'll learn

Interesting... Widdop in afetr 2 games... he is a good young player and will be interesting to see how he goes... personally would have liked to see him get the good habits of NRL cemented before an english coach gets his hands on him!!

The suprise for me is that Mark Flannagan has been totally ignored despite being a real bolter in the NRL.

About the best squad he could have picked, great forwards, be interesting to see how Widdop goes, doubt he would have been picked if we had a decent English FB in SL.

Not sure about Shenton, but is there anyone else out there, a few years ago players like Hall and Goulding where talked about as the next top centres but they havent developed realised their potential yet.

The only other option would have been to play Pryce out to position at centre.

I think defensivley shenton has been exellent in his international appearances.

apart from getting boomed off ben hannett in the final

I wouldnt fancy trying to bring down big ben either

www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... tmond.html Eastmond out of the England game.

www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague ... tmond.html Eastmond out of the England game.

a real shame, maguire to 7, although I'd prefer myler to be brought in.

Would Myler be back by then? If so i'd put him in. If not Maguire gets the nod.

The difference is that Widdop plays at fullback where his competition is Briscoe, Mathers, Murphy, Smith and Halley, whereas Flanaghan is a backrower and has competition from Ellis, Burgess, Westwood, Tompkins, O'Loughlin and Sinfield. At the moment Flanaghan isn't as good as those backrowers despite playing in the NRL whereas even after two NRL games it is hard to argue that Widdop is streets behind any of the English fullbacks mentioned.

It's a big "reserved" sticker on Widdop to make sure he doesn't get any silly ideas about being Australian.

and going missing at marker that gave a crucial try to Australia