Would suggest the same.

www.rugby-league.com/england/art ... -announced 10 UK-based players announced in the train-on squad so far from teams who's season finished in R7 of the Super 8's: Luke Gale (Castleford Tigers) Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants) Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants) Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos) Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos) Brett Ferres (Leeds Rhinos) Stevie Ward (Leeds Rhinos) Tom Briscoe (Leeds Rhinos) Zak Hardaker (Leeds Rhinos) Kevin Brown (Widnes Vikings)

www.rugby-league.com/england/art ... -announced 10 UK-based players announced in the train-on squad so far from teams who's season finished in R7 of the Super 8's: Luke Gale (Castleford Tigers) Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield Giants) Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants) Kallum Watkins (Leeds Rhinos) Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos) Brett Ferres (Leeds Rhinos) Stevie Ward (Leeds Rhinos) Tom Briscoe (Leeds Rhinos) Zak Hardaker (Leeds Rhinos) Kevin Brown (Widnes Vikings)

Jordan Thompson, Jack Hughes and either Ryan Atkins or Joe Burgess.

Neither Leeds or Hudds finished in the super 8s.

Ooooo, we've got a pedant in the house.

And, you're wrong:

"Super 8s" is the all encompassing term for the league structure.
"Super League Super 8s" is for the top 8.
"The Qualifiers" is for the 'middle' 8.
"Championship Shield" for the remaining Championship Clubs.

Jordan Thompson

Yeh, I couldn't quite believe that either, and I'm a Hull fan. The lad has struggled to even get into the 17 at times this season.

Alright then - Mike McMeeken at Cas.

I don't see why the likes of Farrell and Watkins should be in there when a) they have been either dogturd or anonymous at international level, and b) in Watkins' case particular they've been e in the domestic league. It's similar to when Roy took Gerrard and Rooney to the 2014 World Cup, both didn't deserve to and both proved utterly useless.

Really good shout. McMeekan I have no doubt will play for England. Perhaps a year too soon, but he has all the attributes to play at the top level. Ginger Thompson works hard but lacks the quality.

McMeeken is a good call, he's still young and I think he's showed constant progression in his career so far. If he played for a bigger team than Cas he would probably be in the squad now, possibly needs a little bit more time, or maybe he needs to go to the NRL to hit the next level. I think Farrell is a very good SL player but I have my doubts about whether he is really physical enough against full strength Aussie and Kiwi sides, I have same concern about Bateman. Perversely I'm not a great fan of Ferres, but I think he's a bit more robust than Farrell or Bateman.

I see that argument about Bateman a lot, that he lacks the physicality to take on the Aussies.

I'm not so sure. Whilst he is smaller in stature than other back rowers, he most be one of the most difficult men to put down in the whole of SL. He makes tackle busts for fun, loads of offloads, & scores and assists plenty of tries. Defensively he very rarely takes a backwards step. I think Aus/NZ will hate playing against him.

Agreed - I don't like the lad, but he's one of the most difficult players in SL to defend against, because he refuses to go down, or give ground; tough as nails.

I saw him at Leeds last season & he was like a fish out of water. His development since then has been staggering.

Agree. I don't think he's quite ready for International level yet, but if he continues to add to his game like he has done the past 18 months or so, he should be in contention for a WC spot.

Is O'Loughlin now available for the four nations?

Good question, he was never ruled out. Wane said something like he would talk to him about it. I didn't include him as the info at the time was he was out for the season. I think it would be a huge gamble to pick a player who has only played 1 game in the last 5 or 6 weeks.

www.loverugbyleague.com/news_237 ... gland.html

www.loverugbyleague.com/news_237 ... gland.html

Hope not. But he's the Captain, so he's automatically picked regardless, a bit like Rooney.

Another one.

We don't require run of the mill NRL forwards we have more than enough quality, would be disappointed if Bennett picked any of those 3.

I'm sure William Eve will be along shortly to slap me down and claim any NRL player is above any Super Dooper league player and should be playing if they stick their hand up

David Gower, we were gonna sign him a couple of seasons ago. Personally don't have a problem with Aussies with an English parent being up for selection as long as they haven't played for another Country. Saying that don't think we need him tbh.

Denis betts on 5 live this afternoon said no Aussie born players have been included

SSN reporting that Ratchford and Sarginson have made the squad. Not sure how accurate that is or if it's just guesswork.

I'd have potentially included one of them for their utility value but not both.

Sarginson could play centre. I thought he was very good there for England in the 2014 four nations. Not sure i see where Ratchford fits in though, especially if Hardaker is in the squad who can cover the three quarters. All will be revealed shortly i suppose.

A few papers are reporting the same.


I hope Betts' reported comment proves to be true. I don't have a problem with picking Australians with an English parent but if we do they need to be better than what we've got, the three mentioned in the article IMO are not.