Not really going to be crucal against France though is it?!

I hope not

With Goulding as France coach I reckon UFC skills will be more important.

I wouldn't worry we don't have a 'recognised first teamer who can kick goals'.

I'd be more worried if a 'recognised first teamer who can kick goals' cant push their way into the England team, come the four nations.

That wasn't Roby, that was Carl Forber.

i stand corrected then sir

how do you know unless you are tony smith

Never kicked goals before for us, but he did say at the last forever reds meeting that hes been practising goal kicking in training.

Sam tomkins used to kick well playing in the reserves.

McGuire must surely be a rarity having kicked an International goal before kicking one in 1st grade club rugby.

It's a strange situation to be in isn't it.

We haven't really got many if any players good enough for the England 17 that kicks goals for his club.

Just about the best option i can think of would be Danny Tickle replacing Westwood/Clubb.

Of course we have, Smithy just hasn't picked any of them, choosing instead to select a team made up of those who should be breaking through and making the step up to rep rugby.

If we need to pick a kicker just because he's a kicker then we really are in trouble.



See above

Like Mozza?

Question is did an injury to LMS create a space for him?

cos Mozza has been pants this season

Much as I will be cheering on the French, I don't see it being a tight match and England might as well not waste their time practicing goal kicks. They should look to develop other areas of their game and worry about a top notch kicker once they have tested out the other positions.

No doubt I'll get shot down in flames for this, but when it comes to goalkicking and kicking to touch Paul Cooke's as good as anyone. He's been decent this year for us, he's creative and has a good kicking game, can play 6 or 13 and his defence has improved tenfold. I'm biassed obviously, but I'd have given him a go in this one.

Burgess can kick really well. He kicked against Leeds when Deacon was out last year.

I don't think Cooke wants to play internationals. At his peak when FC won the CC and came second there must have been a reason why he didn't get into the side and I think it's his choice to a big extent.

I would have thought Burrow and Bough in the halves will sort out your kicking issues as well as giving you the best British halfback pairing.

I'm not sure about that, thats something I've never heard. He was picked for england a few years ago, and I can't see why any player wouldn't want to be involved unless they were approaching the end of their careers.

Injuries, form and off-field misdemeanour's have probably been the reasons he has not been considered for GB/Eng in the past. You can't possibly say the outcome would've been any different, but england lacked creativity and a decent kicking game in the WC, Paul Cooke at his best can provide those things.

I was a massive fan of Cooke and went on about his non-selection at the time. His only England callup was for the Euro-Pacific, which was essentially England-A. He was overlooked when he was at the top of his game with little compettition over his place and had no injuries. I also think this was before bad behaviour got the better of him.

To be honest, though, he's no longer as good as he was then.

as long as we score within 15 yards of the posts i'd expect half the team to be able to poke it over.its on a t and isnt moving,how hard can it be.against class opposition we would pick one

didn't realise he'd actually kicked in super league, just knew he had a good boot on him

was he any better then he is now, or was he just been made to look good by the style hull were playing?

sidenote:
he didn't even get picked tonight for KR

No and we looked void of ideas and creativity without him. Not saying we would have won with him in the side, but he would have definitely given hudds a bit more to think about. He's been very good for us this year and a big part of why we're so high up in the league.