Feel free to name the players that are better than them in their positions.

looking at that, there is only 3 recognised front rowers, Graham, Hill and T.Burgess, but yet what i'd consider 7 back rowers, although i appreciate that Cooper could be both.

i've always said that the England squad is more about who you play for than how good you are, it's taken McGillvary years to get the recognition he deserves, despite playing pretty consistently, yet Burgess played something like 20 games for Wigan before he was called up.

not too many surprises though apart from maybe Ferres and Westwood and Smith, but pleased that Gale is in.
squad does seem a little bit too imbalanced for me though.

Joe Greenwood, Jordan Turner, Dougie Charnock, Jon Wilkin and Mark Flanagan.

To be fair Wigan finished on the same amount of point as Leeds. Not like they were average all year.

Bateman has been excellent all year and was great yesterday too. Deserves to be in.
George Williams is a great shout. He will be England's 6 at the next WC. Expose him to international level and see what he can do.

Smith and Westwood are baffling selections. Would have liked to have seen Ablett in there. Not seen Hodgson play, but having seen Mcnamra prefer Brett Ferres at hooker last year, I'm not filled with confidence in him.

Always debate about who should be in and who shouldn't. But some exciting young players in there.

One worry is there only being 2 centres and I can see McNamara putting Hardaker in centre and Tomkins at full back which will be a travesty!

...Cuthbertson?

The problem is it can't be done, because the make up of the 24 is completely wrong. 5 halfbacks and 7 backrowers means they're perfectly reasoned in their inclusion ... But being 5th choice is totally unnecessary in the squad. Going with Widdop, Gale and Smith as the halfbacks is perfectly reasoned - and the result that Watts adds depth to the props means that Williams loses out.

2 centres....yes, Watkins and Cudjoe, although There's Bateman, Ferres, who can cover. Maybe Leeds pairing on one side and Huddersfield on the other if he's actually gonna paly people in their positions.

...Cuthbertson?

nope, Cuthbertson isn't in.

Do we want to build a squad for the future or do we want to just win a test series vs NZ? If it's the latter, Danny McGuire should be in there on form, well ahead of Matt Smith.

Agree with that, only Smith can be put in the lucky to be selected bracket but it seems Mcnamara is to keep faith in him and continue with him at 7.

very surprising Cuthbertson isn't included.He brings far more to the table than Ferres who hasn't been great this year.

Hopefully Whitehead actually gets to play this time, rather than just making up the numbers like he did last year.

The issue is squad balance. There are too many backrowers and not enough props. We don't need Farrell and Bateman because there are already 4 better backrowers in the squad. What we need is more props, and greater cover in the halves and centres.

As for O'Loughlin, his day is well past. Hard to see what he offers except for a couple of penalties for head-high tackles. Maguire should certainly be in there on form, and he can be an old head to steer a team around the pitch as well as anybody.

If McNamara plays Matty Smith at 7 ahead of Luke Gale then it really is all about club colours.

Few stand outs that shouldn't be anywhere near the England squad in Cudjoe, Farrell, Smith & Westwood.

Outside of that it's a strong looking squad.

Is Shenton unavailable for selection? Because Cudjoe over him is pretty laughable if not.

McGuire for Smith
Cuthbertson for Westwood
Shenton for Cudjoe
Watts for Farrell
Would make the squad much better.

He's Australian !

He's been around for 10 years or more and wanted to play Origin and rep for Australia. In those 10 years he never felt patriotic enough to say he was available for England because he's not English.

Now, in the twighlight of his career when Origin and Australia are never going to happen he suddenly feels English.

Nope, not for me!

Apart from that, in the second half of the season his form hasn't been good enough!

Cudjoes been in outstanding form both in defence and attack

I shouldn't have to go into again but i will, his father is England so that entitles him to play for England or Australia.End of.Mcnamara has made no qualms about selecting non english players in the past,some far more non english than Cuthbertson so we can only assume he has deemed him not good enough,hence my surprise.

I'm not bothered about his eligibility under the current rules, I'm more interested in maintaining the integrity of the honour which should come from representing your Nation!

Someone who clearly sees England as his second choice shouldn't be considered. My opinion is that he's Australian and therefore I don't want him in the England team, same as Chase, Heighington etc.

He won't, he will play Widdop at 7 and Tomkins at 6, you know, because Tomkins has had a truly superb season and fully deserves to be in the squad..........

Well said.

Looking at that squad I'm in full agreement that it looks unbalanced.

Only 2 centres suggests either Hardaker or Bateman have been picked as a centres. The big worry is not enough props. IMO there should be a minimum 5 in the squad.

I think we should be building towards the four nations next year and the next World Cup. For that reason I wouldn't have Westwood or O'loughlin in. I don't think Smith's form has warranted selection, neither do the Wigan fans after a quick read of their forum. I think he's been selected because McNamara was happy with him in internationals last year rather than just because he plays for Wigan as some suggest.

Genuinely surprised that there is no Liam Watts. He would be better to have in the squad that Westwood, considering the lack of props.

Can't believe Smith is still getting selected. He didn't seem to do anything last night, besides a few errors.

Hardaker
Burgess / Hall
Watkins /Bateman
Williams / Widdop

Graham / Roby / Hill
Whitehead and Farrell
O'Loughlin

Burgess / Cooper / Hodgson / Currie

- Shame that Burgess and Walmsley miss out through injury. He hasn't selected much depth up front.

- I can't see how Tomkins can play over Hardaker and I can't see how he can play over Williams, at #6, who has been outstanding. So I wouldn't pick Tomkins at all.

- How players like Smith, Cudjoe, Westwood and Ferres can get selected I don't know. Why continue with these players? This is the perfect opportunity to give younger players the chance to experience an England camp. From Saints the likes of Greenwood and Percival would benefit greatly.