When has brough choked in a big game? - how many big games has he played in that you are basing your comments on? Perhaps I missed all those scores of international games and finals he's played in that give evidence to your claims.
When brough first came to giants he had a reputation for being a "sulker" if things didn't go his way. I must admit i wasnt hapoy we signed him for this reason, but he proved me wrong. Since being at the giants I can't remember a time he's done that. Brough is a changed player mentally- he channels his frustrations in a different way to previously.

For what it's worth (and to try and get back on topic

) I'd go with Reed on the left & Watkins on the right if both are on form. If Reed & the Broncos don't improve however I'd look at bringing in either Goulding or Cudjoe. Haven't seen a lot of Cudjoe this year but from the sound of things he's in great form & improving as a .

Connolly and Newlove were our only good pairing in the era you mention. Until them two Australia cut us to bits through the centres. Connolly wrapped up one side with his defence. Newlove was big and offered an attacking threat.

There have been many - Big Mal, Eric Ashton, Reg Gasnier spring to mind for me.

Chase and Reed should not be let anywhere near our international team IMO.

Why Reed? He was born here
(Unless you just don't rate them of course)

Reed offers nothing any other centre in Super League does
If he wasn't in the NRL he wouldn't even be mentioned

In his first season he was brilliant, second season the team was pretty poor and he struggled with injuries, I don't think writing him off so soon is the right move. Defence-wise he's a cut above most in Super League for me

I agree with this, should not be written off yet, we have a full season ahead and is plenty of time for him to find the form he was showing a couple of seasons ago.At the moment he is fighting with Atkins,Cudjoe and maybe Goulding to partner Watkins.Things can change quickly though.Hopefully the form players will be selected.

Hopefully, but given Maccas squads, I doubt it.

I would agree that Watkins seems to be nailed on for me atm, was outstanding in the WCC. Slightly club biased maybe, but I'd go for Cudjoe atm, especially going on form. But there's a long time between now and October.

Reed made a clean break in Brisbane's match today, showed absolutely no pace whatsoever and promptly fell over his own feet.
I'm not convinced he'd offer more than Bridge/Goulding/Atkins et al.

Agreed.

I don't think Goulding will be anywhere near the side baring injuries. He does the basics well, but he's too small and too slow for international rugby. If he plays it will be like when Lee Smith played but unlike then we have better options available.

We are short of quality English centres.
McNamara will have a difficult job on knowing who to pick.
Watkins and Atkins are the best attacking centres we have but neither are defensively up to Intl standard.
Watkins attempt to tackle Farrell last Friday was dreadful. He would be our worst nightmare facing Inglis who will play at 4 for the Aussies.
Atkins maybe better but not by much.
Against the quality teams we will get chances to attack but we will be defending far more than having the ball in hand.

We're talking about England centres and you rubbish Watkins defence because of an error he made while playing at full back, a completely different position that he isn't particularly familiar with, has very different demands and in which he's also done some excellent defensive work. Watkins defence at centre has improved greatly over the last couple of seasons and to say he'd be our 'worst nightmare' against Inglis is sensationalist nonsense.

Well at the moment it's looking like an easy decision for me: Briscoe, Cudjoe, Watkins and Hall.

But there is still well and truly a good fight on for the rest of the season though.

Its a bit harsh to judge him on Fridays game after he hasnt played for a month and not even trained for much of that time due to serious illness. He very rarely has a bad game and certainly doesnt have the major flaws that some of the other centres do such as Watkins and Atkins defensively.

Watkins doesn't miss many one on one tackles these days when he's playing centre. On that miss Friday you have to ask the question, why did he have to cover a hole that big in the 1st place and where were Ablett and Vickery. If he was already in the line I have no doubt the attempt would have been a hell of a lot better.

And while we're talking about defensive efforts, what about his tackle on the same player in the 2nd half? He didn't panic and pulled off a superb tackle on Farrell.

I agree with Father Ted. The English centres will get absolutely wasted by the superior Aussie centres in the World Cup no matter who gets the gig for England. They'll get wasted by the Kiwi centres too (if they decide to turn up). Watkins, Atkins, Cudjoe, et al... all look good in SL but will be found wanting against superior opposition at international level, particularly in defence where they are clueless turnstiles.

When was the last time a pair of New Zealand centres "wasted" ours in a match over here?

The previous occasion when the teams met in a World Cup match over here actually. The result was England 6 New Zealand 49 and our centres got wasted, as did the rest of the England team.

That was 13 years ago for goodness sake. Deary me....why don't we just call the whole thing off?!

I wasn't aware there'd been that huge an improvement in English RL playing standards during the last 13 years in comparison to the Aussies and Kiwis... when did that happen? Some might argue we've gone backwards during that time.


No need for such drastic action. We just need to be realistic about England's chances of winning the World Cup this year which remains at precisely ZERO.

I think we are more than capable of beating the Kiwi's on home soil, as we have done a number of times in the last 13 years. I don't think we will win the tournament, but I wouldn't be so quick as to dismiss our chances against New Zealand, should we play them.