Looking at the squads...... theres some pretty good half back combos.....

Australia 6) Thurston 7) Cronk
Scotland 6) Brough 7) Wallace (that could be a the suprise package)
England 6) Sinfield 7) Widdop
NZ 6) Johnson 7) Foran
Wales 6) White 7) Seamark
Ireland 6) ??? 7) Finn
Italy 6) Campese 7) Gower

Some really good combinations......

England Wales and Ireland look the weakest to be fair

Ireland may use Grix as stand off

Play Sam Tomkins in the half backs
keep Sinfield away from 6 !!!!

And where does Sinfield play then? Lockers is better at 13 and Roby better at 9 - so the captain doesn't get a game??

The problem is, with sinfield being captain he has to be shoehorned into the team by hook or crook.

I'm not so much saying sinfield shouldn't be captain, he is a tremendous leader and after peacock left he was the logical choice. It's just if he wasn't captain, it would be easy to select a team without him. But it is what it is.

With that in mind, that set up I would have is

13. Sinfield
6. Widdop
7. Chase
8. Roby

That means leaving O'loughlin out, which sucks as he is a quality player. But i think widdop must be selected at 6. He starts there week in week out for one of the top NRL teams so i don't think we can turn our noses up at that type of quality in what has been a weak position for us for many a year. I'd hate to see him have to come off the bench like in 2011.

But if widdop is at 6, and you still accomodate sinfield and o'loughlin into the 17 you are going to end up lacking muscle in the pack, as o'loughlin ends up coming from the bench most likely.

If sinfield is at 13 (a position where you rarely see ball players these days), then you are going to want plenty of muscle off the bench. But what about some impact like a burrow?

Probably for the first time in a long time, england actually have lots of selection choices and headaches, between players that actually play the positions in question, that can only be a good thing.

I mean, no disrespect, but remember a few years ago when we had wellens, wellens, and wellens to choose from at fullback? That's a pretty grim choice for an international fullback, someone without any pace.

Now we have the class of tomkins and hardaker. Both fast, skillful, exciting and very good fullbacks. Even widdops done good stints there in the past before settling in at 5/8.

We may not ultimatley be up to australia's standard, but the quality of the national squad has improved, without a doubt.

If I was picking the team I would have:

1) S.Tomkins
6) Widdop
7) M.Smith
9) Roby
13) O'Loughlin

The players which I think will play are:

1) S.Tomkins
6) Sinfield
7) Chase
9) Roby
13) O'Loughlin

I don't think Sinfield or Chase have done anything exceptional at international level...... Sinfield is way too slow....... and Chase doesn't have the right head to play at international level......

doubt we will see widdop partner sinfield. would like to see it though

I think Sinfield's importance is more as goalkicker than Captain tbh.
Yes Widdop can kick but is nowhere near as good as Sinfield and not a regular kicker for Melbourne, so is decent back up but that's about it. In tight games you need an A+ kicker under pressure

Personally I don't buy into the Sinfield bit. IMO he has had more than his fair share of chances at international level and has failed to shine. As mentioned above, you could pick a stronger team without him. So, for mine I'd give the captaincy to someone else, maybe lockers, even though I'm not a fan by any means but, lets face it, Wigan look a different team when he's leading and he gets a place in the England team on merit.

So, back on topic, I'd probably pick Chase/Widdop.

Every time I've seen the Sinfield/Chase combination I've always thought it completely kills Sam Tomkins' threat from full back. This could be down to coaching and the attacking structures but I think a lot of it is down the Sinfield being too slow and Chase being too off the cuff. England need to play in a similar style to Wigan, and maximise Tomkins' efffectiveness chiming in from the back.

I really hope we don't see 6. Sinfield 7.Chase with Widdop completely wasted and sat on the bench for 60 minutes, but I've got a feeling we will.

Wow, dumbest post of 2013. Well done.

Whilst Sinfield's squad number is 13, he's not a loose forward as long as he's got a hole in his .
He's a half back, he has been for years. Even when Leeds used to select Burrow and McGuire in the halves, they'd split them left and right and Sinfield would play the central role that is more aligned with that of a scrum half.
Playing with 3 ball players is redundant now anyway, especially given the extra creative input full backs have these days, so the idea of dropping a player with the power and ability of someone like O#Loughlin, Westwood or Burgess is a nonsense imo.

I'm a Saints fan, so I've suffered at the hands of Sinfield's qualities more than most, but I don't automatically buy into that transferring to his international game. At Leeds he's had years of consistency to develop himself into a certain role, working with the same players year in year out, player that are signed to compliment the player already in place.
A great of Rugby League, there can be no doubt, but unquestionable talent? Not for me.
That said, his kicking game is excellent and, as Shaun Wane has shown with Matty Smith, a player with a the correct basic skills can run a game and come out on top. In fact, give Shaun Wane the England reins and I'm pretty bloody sure we wouldn't be losing to Italy. But England lost and McNamara will do his usual job of sounding very poignant and thoughtful and tell us how we'll use it as a learning curve. I hope his input doesn't spoil what's gearing up to be a cracking tournament.

Italy would have had a great combination if Gower and Campese had been able to play (both injured).
Good thing they don't need those guys to win.

That boat has already sailed. In the real world, he's not going to just strip sinfield of the captaincy days before the opening ceremony.

Fair enough. Why not install Shaun Wane as coach and fill the squad exclusively with Wigan players. I'm sure your idea will work if this happens



You don't happen to support Wigan, do you Craig?

What I can see as clear as day is in the likelihood of England getting beat by the Aussies and Kiwis, it will be Sinfield & McNamara's fault before the WC has started. It's dead easy to play out the back for both Chase and Sinfield. Maybe it could be Tomkins fault if your a Leeds fan?

Basically when your own team gets beat very seldom do people blame one player! What happens after every England/GB loss Is the player or players from the team you hate the most becomes the scapegoat.

It's as predictable as the sun coming up.

I do, obviously. But for the next 6 weeks I'm an England fan. I think Sinfield and Chase at half back nullifies Tomkins' effectiveness from FB. I'm not just saying more Wigan players should play. Maguire moved Tomkins to FB to maximise his effectiveness, and playing to similar structures he's been arguably the best player in SL despite playing with at least 3 different HB partnerships.

There's plenty of fans of other teams criticising some of the selections, mostly the half backs. But Super Kev can't be criticised can he.

Wigan fans = Tomkins is great
Leeds fans = Sinfield is great
Giants fans = Brough is great
Saints fans = Roby is great

Get the picture? From an England point of view Sinfield and Chase shouldn't be anywhere near the halves, if McNamara hadn't blown Brough out I would say the form halfbacks this season have been Smith and Brough.

As Brough chose Scotland I think Smith of Wigan and Widdop should be halves and would rather have Myler at half as oppose to Sinfield or Chase.

I wouldn't play sinfield ,hes not a leader,today we saw twice be caught he so slow he only there for his kicking
borrows/widdup half backs for me.

scotland and usa have some decent half back combinations

paulo of usa been great

That's a new one.

So Close yet so far away? This England squad has/had the potential to win this world cup against, what are pretty ordinary Aussie and NZ teams compared to previous teams, they have had!
Unfortunately, our coach McNamara is our weakest link both, on and off the pitch! Nobody knows why he is the International coach and, just what has merited him to be head coach?
Without doubt our biggest area of concern is the halfbacks! I'm lucky to have seen the likes of Helme,Murphy,Bishop,Nash,Millward,Gregory,Edwards and Long so, just were does Sinfield compare at Scrum half to those world class players!
Tomkin and Burrow at halback for me with Roby at hooker and lets go at OZ and NZ with pace and flare!
Do what Bobby Goulding says and, leave super Kev out, there are plenty of candidates for captain; Tomkin, O'Loughlin etc....
Do it now McNamara before its too late !

I'd hardly say they were poor teams we face.
Greg Inglis would fit in with any of the teams of the past couple of decades I'm sure. Billy Slater and Cameran Smith would be up there too. Thurston is no Wally Lewis but he's better than anything we have and better than 'some' of the English one's you mention too.

As for Tomkins and Burrow at half back, they would be mashed
And although I'm ok with O'Loughlin being captain, to suggest Tomkins means you haven't seen him as a captain. Outstanding player, but a long way to go before he is a decent Wigan captain never mind England captain.

Poptart for a moderator your not very moderate!! I did not say OZ & NZ were poor teams they are your words!!!
There is no such thing as a 'poor' OZ team! Greg Inglis is indeed a super player however, I would select Reg Gasnier and Mal Meniga at centre before him! You find anyone in Australia who will tell you Billy Slater is better than Grahame Langlands! I'd have Thurston in my team too however,Its my opionion he would have his hands full marking Sam Tomkins and, he's also way down the list of Aussie Stand Offs!!
Youv'e really not answered the question of our current halbacks! who would you select there or, are you happy to retain Chase and Sinfield? just reading tonights Manchester Evening News and the greatest player ever, Alex Murphy is also saying our halbacks are not good enough!!
Of course team selection will always be a matter of choice and, unfortunately in Steve McNamara we have got a bad chooser!!!!!!