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.

No point in trying to be positive, William Eve is immune to all things positive.

I haven't dismissed England's chances against NZ. You just think I have. If you comprehended what I initially wrote... [i"They'll get wasted by the Kiwi centres too (if they decide to turn up)"[/i... the key phrase being [i"if they decide to turn up"[/i. New Zealand has a habit of turning up for semi finals of the World Cup (both in England and down under) and that's when England are likely to play them.

So if England beat New Zealand it's because New Zealand haven't turned up. If New Zealand win it's as expected proving yet again that England aren't good enough.

Brilliant!

Its a curse that a lot of Rugby League fans seem to have. I wonder why they bother?

New Zealand are better than us are they not? Therefore it stands to reason that if they turn up and play well they'll beat us?

I'm under no illusions about England's chances in the World Cup... I've spent thousands following the national side whether they were GB or England... Four Nations 2010, 2006, World Cup 2008 all down under... consequently, I've got a pretty good handle on our limitations at international level... they've been an acute embarrassment at international level throughout the SL era.

Their chances are improved slightly with home advantage in the WC, but not by much.

Maybe they are better than us, but results over the last few years show this to be inconclusive. I don't believe for a second that all of the times we (England and GB) have beaten them in the last decade has been purely because they haven't turned up.

You can tell you haven't posted much around here Farsley



He's hooked you well and good!

I've been a reader for a number of years, and always promised myself id never get involved! Whoooops!

Watkins attempted tackle on Farrell was a one on one face on and he missed the man. He will have plenty of those to face in the World Cup. His defence at centre may have improved and look good in SL but it is nowhere near to Intl standard.
As for the tackle he made when chasing Farrell, he was chasing him and he's faster than Farrell, that all!
We have to have better defensive centres than Watkins and Atkins where they are if they are out there I don't know.
That's why McNamara has a real problem.

Yes they are out there.

we even have one that offers more in attack, possessing a better all round game

No it wasn't. He was tracking across the field behind the defensive line when the gap opened up. He had to rush into the line and try to make a tackle on Farrell, who was already picking up speed, running away from the covering Watkins. Should he have made a better attempt? Of course! But to say he missed a face on, one on one tackle is silly.

It was a bad miss, and it reminded me of his poor attempt on the Melbourne prop that scored in the WCC.
Defending in the line's a bit different though - for a start, there's not as much time to think yourself out of a tackle.

I can think of one too who is good in attack and has a good all round game.
Trouble is he isn't good enough for Intl Standard.

Just a reminder of the five best centres in Australia:

[iGreg Inglis
Jamie Lyon
Josh Morris
Justin Hodges
Michael Jennings[/i

Not one English centre is as good as any one of these five.

Oooh, let's all suck off the NRL.
I remeber watching Justin Hodges play in a WCC against saints and he didn't fancy it at all, playing against Willie Talau. Talau was a good centre, but not great.

cool story and nice contribution.
you could also name the top 5 halfbacks in the NRL, rinse and repeat. So what?