maybe the same reason that he has picked JJB and Burrow which is nothing to do with form.

My worry is that he has picked him and will play him at centre (which is not his best position) and then will drop him for his love children like ablett and wilkin.

How is it nothing to do with form. Why has everyone who played for Leeds suddenly become off form? Up until the last 4 games Leeds were unbeaten in 8 and with winning their two games in hand would have been joint top of the league. A poor performance against Hudds, an unlucky loss against Wigan and two close losses v St’s and away at an in form Hull and all of a sudden they are off-form. Win those two games in hand and Leeds are 3rd. Out of Leeds last 12 games only 5 are against top 8 sides. It is easily conceivable that leeds win all of those. They do that they have more league points than Wigan did last year.

If you look at form other than over the last month Leeds are one of the top form teams.

Can you please stop it with the facts, they just get in the way Smokey. When picking the national squad you know we should only look at the last couple of weeks, thats how we'll build a good side.

So your "facts" are that Buroow et al have only been playing badly for four weeks. My facts are that Lunt and Houghton have been playing consistently well all season. So on form they should still be ahead of Burrow

Theres a big argument for Lunt or Houghton to be in ahead of Burrow I agree, but theres also a big argument that Burrow is and has been a proven game changer and match winner at the highest level in domestic RL, so should he get dropped because of a few off weeks? I think thats more what Smokey is alluding to

DP

McBanana picks Widdop (NRL quality) to warm the bench pretty much, he certainly wasn't going to pick Brough. Hes got his Squad regardless of what he spouts about picking form players, bar one or two, unfortunately. If there is any half back injuries hes going to be foobarrded for a good kicker! as hes not picked the best infield kicker, I honestly don't think McBanana likes any potential aggro which he might feel he'll get from Danny, it was mentioned on Backchat.

Ferres has been in great form, so was picked on form (I honestly thought this was less likely than Brough mind) and I'm astounded that neither Houghton or Lunt have made it in though. And why pick Morley, match practice!? Bet hes injured before the WC.

My views on McBanana are coloured by a number of things
I want England to win the World Cup becuase it will be huge boost for RL in this country and i believe will revitalise the international scene.

I dont think Mc B should have got the job in the first place. He was hardly a roaring success at Bradford ( and yes i know about the problems he inherited etc).

I was told by a young player from Bradford that all the players thought he was difficult to work with. He made the game very complicated and gave long team talks on tactics etc that went above the players heads so much so that, " we used to stop listening to him". They then went and did there own thing. If players like that ignored Mc B then god knows what some of the big names in the England squad think of him.

additionally i do not see anything new coming from Mc B in terms of the team selection, tactics or strategy that fills me with any confidence.

What will Mc B learn from playing Roby or Morley. Morley is NOT international standard now , he should not be in the WC squad so why pick him.

Roby is great player and should be in the WC squad but just coming back from injury and playing straight away is not a good thing. Why not play another hooker who might end up playing in the World cup if someone picks up an injury.

Why is there only one centre in the team. You dont use a big game like this to try out utility players , you should be looking for settled wing and centre combos so they can be ready and battle hardened. Does anyone think that Hardaker or Ferres will be number one choice for a centre berth?

Failing in the world cup wuill be a real set back to RL in this country, winning it could well be the springboard to the game getting the recognition it deserves.

Is Mc B the man for the job. I dont think so.

Did Lunt play well when Hudds had 43 points put on them by Bradford? When they lost to Salford? when they were stretched by Widnes? Did Houghton play well when Hull lost by 30 points to Leeds, when they drew with London? When they lost 36-16 to Widnes? When they lost at home to Hull KR?

No player plays well all season, it is ridiculous that some people are pretending a team in the position leeds are in can have had their major players off form for a meaningful period of time. If Sinfield has been as bad as some Hudds fans are pretending Leeds simply wouldnt be in the position they are.

Exactly

He is contradictory all over the park
Either he is testing fringe players or picking old favourites

If Feres plays ill be surprised, I'll be less surprised if he plays at centre!
Is there really no other centre able to take up that other spot?
Of course there is but they aren't picked? Why not? To keep a core of players together? Then why pick Ferres?

He is demonstrably without a firm plan and at this stage it's just plain depressing

there's always one player who gets picked on form, just so people can throw their names in the ring when the discussion inevitably leads to which players are picked on form.

it has proved that the England squad is NOT picked on form but on reputation.
the fact that neither Houghton or lunt have been chosen despite being the best 2 number 9's at the moment but roby, who has been Injured for 2 months has, likewise morley. good players for sure but form players??

brough was never going to be picked,as McNamara decided that chase,mcguire,sinfield and myler were his half backs months ago regardless of form.

Roby will be the first choice hooker for the world cup so given that this is the last warm up game before the world cup his selection makes perfect sense to me.

It makes absolute sense. As does trying a stand-in centre. You wont have a centre on the bench so you get to see how the team reacts if they lose one. If you start Hardaker there and move Ferres there later on you would also get to see Hardaker and FB and move Tomkins forward. Its about trying a few new combinations, but those combinations are almost certain to include Sinfield and Roby, taking those two out and trying someone else there doesn’t tell us anything about how those new combinations we are trying would fit in to our set up. It needs to be a mix between existing and new combinations otherwise it doesn’t tell us anything.

If that's what he is doing then fine

But it's not is it...

McNamara has (or has tried to) do what Meninga has done with the QLD side, keep them together and back them to succeed. In or out of form is irrelevant for Mal, the main bulk get picked. Form selections wouldn't see Harrison, Shillington, Myles or to a point, Thurston get selected. But Mal backs the group he knows and trusts to get it right when it counts. Mac will try and replicate this in my opinion, wether it works or the QLD bunch are a different breed of competitions is yet to be seen

He's shown the wrong attitude according to Tony Smith

[urlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/22800164[/url

England coach in poor squad selection shocker? I blame KouCASH.

Makes it sound like he's constantly been seeking assurance that he'll be picked whilst also keeping his foot in the door for Scotland, like being in a relationship , where someone can't make up their mind but guilt tripping one of the parties about leaving them

Is this the same Tony Smith who said he was staying at the Giants whilst having talks with Leeds and then moving two days after he said he would stay at the giants. Fooking hypocrite

Not bitter at all then

So Smith has come out and had a dig at an individual player. I can't remember him doing that very often - suggests to me he feels pretty strongly thatMcNamara should be backed up regarding Brough.

Brough has had what 4 or 5 clubs in 10 years with a solitary Challenge Cup medal with a club he was booted out of.

He's in great form but let's not build him up to something he's not.

A bit like a probables v possibles would love it!

Does anybody much care what Tony Smith says on matters unrelated to Warrington? His stewardship of England at the last World Cup, was sub-optimal to say the least and a lot of the criticism of McNamara stems from fears he is following a similar path.

And his recent calls for the RFL to be stronger (ie do what he wants them to do) and less innovative (by sticking with a failed system that nobody trusts) was pretty toe-curling, IMO.

Great club coach, very nice guy by all accounts, and entitled to an opinion like everybody else - just doesn't carry that much weight for me on certain subjects.

Edit - there's also the irony that he's arguably kept out of the team by a player who has chosen England because he wasn't willing to take on the challenge of earning a place in the kiwis team - struggling to see that that represents a better attitude. I've no problem with what either of them have done - just don't see any difference.

The squad McNamara has is significantly better than the squad Tony Smith had in 2008. Are you saying you wouldn't want Tony Smith coaching the current England side?



He was spot on with his comments. We radically changed the format of the competition, attendances, and the amount of players playing the game at all levels increased, yet now because a few championship clubs whinge, we're looking at changing it back to a system that failed for 40 years.