Do you think he will get another chance at first grade this season?

Just watched the Raiders game. That was quite a show from Hodgson! Whitehead wasn't too dusty either.

yeah i like what whitehead is doing at the moment - growing into the nrl nicely, and showing some utility value too

Hodgson was official MoM from Fox Sports. He won the Returned Serviceman's League Centenary Medal.

I think he is playing NRL today against the Dragons in front of a massive ANZAC Day crowd.

Joseph Burgess played today but got few opportunities.

Gareth Widdop played today and scored a try from his own grubber kick. Gareth was so dominant that he won the RSL Centenary Medal for the MoM. He has rediscovered his best form now.

So out of eight games played this weekend, Englishmen played in four games (Souths vs Brisbane, Canterbury vs Gold Coast, Canberra vs Wests Tigers, St. George Illawarra vs Sydney Roosters) and have won MoM in two of those four games. This augurs well for the upcoming international season.

I saw the last 25 minutes and Burgess was quite inolved bringing the ball back and solid defence, made a good jinking run that should have led to a try but the half got greedy and went himself with an overlap, and The Roosters halves tried a few cross field kicks for him late on that were quite abysmal when it looked on. Hopefully he gets more chances because what i have seen he hasn't let anyone down so far.

Hodgson is top of the Dally M leaderboard on 13 points, 3 points clear of anyone else.

He certainly hasn't let anyone down so far.

If Joshua Hodgson can keep this up for the remaining two thirds of the competition he will win the Dally M Player of the Year and that will be sensational for English rugby league. He looks almost certain, barring injury, for the Dally M hooker of the year.

Coach Ricky Stuart spoke very highly of him in a press conference on the weekend, naming him as the most consistent player, who had been strong in preseason training, and as the benchmark for the other team members to follow.

Best player in his position in the world, on form, is Josh Hodgson. Can't believe I'm typing that.

Yes, right now I'd say him and Jake Granville are top dogs.

Fair play.

I'm sure Jake Friend and Cameron Smith would have a thing or two to say about that!

Maybe they would, but I can't argue with richardviking there. JH has been superb.

And surely, Jake Granviille, rather than Jake Friend?

Cr@p is Widdop.
Just a try, 2 conversions and 2 penalties in a victory against an albeit depleted, nevertheless top of the table Melbourne Storm.

Depleted doesn't really do it justice - their starting 1,4,6,7 and 9 were missing, which is horrendous for any team - but particularly Melbourne who's whole game plan is built around set structures around their spine. Once you take Cronk and Smith out of that Melbourne side, there's not much left, the next level of players are Chambers (out long term injured), Munster and Green, who were pulled out last minute, leaving only really Jessie Bromwich (genuinely class) and at a push Proctor and Koriabete as top drawer players. The other 14 players from this weekend were generally squad men at absolute best.

And St George still made hard work of it, and as always Widdop looked at his usual unspectacular average best... He's try came from a rubbish chip kick attempt of his that bounced of a defenders back and into his arms in open space - hardly a creative masterstroke.

St. George always make hard work of it.

Whatever, apart from the fact that he'd stroll into any SL team in our comp even at his usual unspectacular average best.....

With the current state of standard in Super League, particularly in the halves, it's hardly a ringing endorsement that he'd get a game over here...
He's a steady Eddie every day of the week.... He has the odd good game, but more often than not, he's just a plodder a longer.... No frills, will rarely win you a game, will rarely lose you a game..... He's certainly showing he's no game manager.
And just to add to the point about the Melbourne team at the weekend - they had a squad man 2nd rower in Kenny Bromwich at hooker, an 8ft, 20 stone 2nd row in Tohu Harris at 6, an 18 year old kid on debut at 7, a reserve grade winger playing fullback and a reserve grade 2nd row playing his first NRL game in 3 years. If ever there was a game for Widdop to stand up and own a game, this was it.... He didn't... As per usual...

And yet they keep picking him. Do these Aussies know nothing!?

The Dragons are a conundrum. They continually seem to be less than the sum of their parts. Widdop and Marshall, whatever you say, are by no means the worst pair of halves in the NRL, they have two of the most potent strike players in the comp in Dugan and Nightingale, decent go-forward from the likes of Ah Mau, Cooper, and Frizell (rated highly enough to get an Origin start) , and yet... again and again they fail to trouble the scoreboard.

St George are not exactly flush with options in the halves... Widdop and Marshall 1st choice, Sam Williams as back up.... And as Marshall has been in then out of the team injured for majority of season, they've no real option but to stick with Widdop.

Put it this way, if Widdops contract was up, I doubt there'd be a clamour for his signature in the NRL - he's shown he's not a game manager. See how he goes this weekend against Newcastle, one of the worst NRL teams in history - he should be having a field day....

So, for those that are interested - Widdop was at his spectacularly anonymous best again today against Manly... A couple of school boy errors being his only contributions of any note...
Last week, they played Newcastle - arguably the worst team ever to play in the NRL, and again he was largely a passenger, with Benji Marshall running the show...
If Widdop really is the best option we have at 6 for England at the end of the year, we're really really struggling.

Superted. Did widdop bang your missus?

Regards

King James