To be fair Watkins has done ok . He does have all the attributes to be world class but he doesn't show them anywhere near often enough.

Currie can play second row or centre , and Percival deserves a run out at some point. He may now get a place on the wing if McGillvary gets a ban

What damage would Bateman do whilst playing out wide in the back row against Australia or New Zealand?

The OP's team looks a damn sight more effective than Bennett's selections so far.
Never rated Hodgson, can't remember when Whitehead last had a decent game for England, and as for Heighington.......the less said the better. As for Gale, I think we need to persevere - he clearly is a decent player but not sure if Bennett knows how to get the best out of him. Whilst Sneyd can be predictable, he has a proven big game temperament - which seems to be lacking in Gale's skillset right now.

Agree with this. As does the World’s most successful coach, Wayne Bennett.

He made plenty of ground last season against them and he did last week as well. He also had a superb game playing against a back row of Wade Graham, Luke Lewis and Paul Gallen over here in the WCC in Feb (with a busted shoulder).

He's never a centre but to write him off as an international back rower is way off imo. As I say he's producing far more statistically then a top NRL player in Elliot Whitehead.

Just to add some statistical context in regards to carries/meters-

Vs Australia

Bateman 19 carries for 152 metres

Whitehead 8 carries for 59 metres

Vs Lebanon

Bateman 11 carries for 118 metres

Whitehead 9 carries for 72 metres

Currie 14 carries for 136 metres

Maybe Bateman might end up not being big enough to play 2nd row at this level....but I'd rather try it first than just dismiss it without giving him the opportunity.

Nicky - Whitehead is playing more centrally than Bateman, and making a shedload more tackles. If you're going to try to use stats then at least be fair. Bateman's on line defence is poor IMO, but he may improve as he's not used to defending as wide as he is for England.

I understand your point but Bateman has been running into the teeth of the defence throughout both games. It's not like he's been making easy metres with 50 metre line breaks so I think the comparison is a valid one. The point re: defence is a fair one but to level this up Whitehead has given away some stupid and costly penalties.

One position in side?

Compare him to Currie then he's if needs be and leave Bateman out of the debate. He's been dreadful with ball in hand so far. His work rate with the ball is poor. I'm judging Whitehead against his billing. I keep getting told he's one of the best in the NRL and that's lads like Bateman, Currie, Farrell etc aren't in his class, so if that's the case I expect contributions in both attack and defence. I'm seeing lads like Frizzel, Gillet, Wade Graham, Currie, M'au etc do that so I don't think I'm expecting too much.

Exactly.

Bateman has been getting bashed for not passing to Hall and constantly running in side. It's because he's a back rower and he's playing like one.

hmmmm, just trying to think who we can give you next time around, if we give you Craig Bellamy will you still bitch & moan?

You may be a WUM but you're right on that. We are nowhere near Australia. Our best chance to beat them in this WC was the first game while they were scratchy. We have no chance if we meet them in the final, although I think we'll lose to NZ in the semis.

You might be right but lets get to the semis first then we can hope

Roby has to play 9 in the bigger games.
His reading of the game, ability to scoot, distribution and defence are far superior to anything we saw on Saturday and that was against lesser opposition.
Against Aus, our offence was far sharper with Roby on the pitch.

Although Widdop looks good, our halves are just not creating anything and if Bennett wanted a look at Williams, why did he not start the game ?

Don't want any of them, I want an English coach and English players thanks

I’m no fan of McNamara, but to be fair to him he got the best out of the England players at this level. Bennett’s coaching record is not in question, but maybe he just can’t coach an English team with backgrounds in this league. Probably why he picks NRL players over talented SL players, he can get them to execute his game plan better.

Has Bennet's results been any worse than McNamara's? Probably not. I don't think an English coach could get better results than a Aussie or a Kiwi. I just think we play at our level. The NRL players in the squad are there because they have proven themselves to be able to play consistently against high quality opposition. As a coach, you're always going to go with that experience above anything else.

Widdop fullback, Ratchford on the wing and Bateman still at centre for the France game.

The team just announced as-

Widdop
Ratchford Percival Bateman McGillvary (hopefully)
Brown Gale
Hill Roby Graham
Currie McMeekan O'Loughlin

Subs
T Burgess Walmsley Taylor Williams

At least he’s giving everyone a chance. Glad to see Roby at 9.

Good to see Taylor and McMeeken get a chance.

He dropped Roby vs Lebanon because he wanted to see what Williams could do but now picks Brown ahead of Williams in this??? Daft.

Has Ratchford ever played wing before?

Maybe not. But Bennett is probably seeing how Ratchford performs there in case McGillvary is suspended by the judiciary.

Williams was man of the match verses Scotland last year then got dropped to the bench for the Aussie game. He came off the bench for 30 mins in that game and played a blinder. His reward since has been 20 mins against Lebanon and Kevin Brown now getting a start above him.

I'm only surprised he's not stuck Heighington on the bench in front of him.

I think having any coach who is not based here is a problem. How can you really get a real feel of players when you are based in Australia. Great coach yes but not right fit for England.

Picking Kevin brown in front of Williams is embarrassing! Sorry but that stinks of Dennis betts input. Bennett obviously hasn't watched any Warrington games this season.

Brown had one great game vs Brisbane and that was it

If Bennett gets you through to the final he will have a game plan he has been working on for a long time, and it will all become clear after the game.
He generally wins the big games because he takes a long view and has people working on the role he wants them to play for weeks in advance, while not giving away too many clues to what his game plan will be.
As a rule, he doesn't like any low percentage/high risk plays. He hates offloads, especially compulsive offloaders. He loves old professionals who rarely take risks. If he could, he'd grind out a boring, forward dominated win every week, but if the big game comes around and he doesn't think he can win that way, he'll have some other plan that will play to your strengths in some way.

In short, he has a plan, and if you win the final, you can watch the game replay 2 or 3 times and you'll probably work out what it was.