I hope it's goodbye to Chase and Sinfield.
With Westwood and O'Loughlin I'd keeep them on for a couple of years. Better to introduce younger players whilst experienced heads are still out on the field to help them. Hill was outstanding.
Also I hope it's goodbye to McNamara.
As Smith won't be in for the England job, who do you Wire fans think should be appointed?

I don't understand this whole "if X isn't going to be around in 4 years he should be dropped now". Internationals should be about competing with the best players you have, it's not just about one tournament every four years.

International league is in a bit of a sad state if we have Tri Nations or Ashes series in the meantime but they are just used as trials or friendlies to experiment with players...surely a Test match jersey should mean more than that.

If some young player wants Westwood's England jersey why not let him prove he's better than Westwood in Super League. Westwood's the old man so why doesn't the young pretender own him in SL and prove his case rather than being gifted a spot in the hope that he will get better just by playing games against the Aussies.

If you get better the more you play teh Aussies then how good is Westwood gonna be in 4 years time.

As far as new England coaches go, who would want it, but I'd go for Daryll Powell.

Shaun Wane.

He did the double with a Wigan side that was by no means an all time great team packed with stars.

I would have Wane as England coach without hesitation, or if Smith left us I would have him as Wire coach tbh.

I agree for England but not for Wire. Wane works better when he has passion for his team.

I thought the performance of every member of the pack varied from excellent to superb.
It was a great team performance all round but, as has already been said, we lack quality at half back and centre. Kevin Sinfield is a tactically aware player of the first order but, at this level, there is no substitute for pace and speed off the mark which, sadly, he does not have. Widdop I have not seen enough of to comment but does he have that X factor?
Chaise is a flair player who against lesser opposition looks good but, at this level, he is found out because the opposition know more what he is about than his team mates do.
Watkins has all the attributes but, at the moment he can be defensively naive and lacks aggression. His defensive awareness has improved though and he should develop into
the real thing.
Cudjoe is baffling because he can be outstanding but all too often, in big games, he becomes anonymous. He has even been anonymous on this thread.
All that said I thought we were the better team on the day and were unlucky to lose.
A contributory factor was the atrocious performance of the referee who made even the clowns we have in Super League look good. There is no way that the penalty count reflected the relative indiscipline of the two teams. So many tries are scored on the back of penalties, not to mention the cumulative fatigue of having to cede territory and defend your own line or niggling from the opposition that goes unpunished, that high standards of refereeing are essential and poor and partial standards have a vital effect, both directly and indirectly, on the outcome of the game.
We have become used to inconsistent refereeing performances in Super League but I thought this ref was diabolical. You can stand controversial decisions but not so many inexplicable ones.
The future though looks bright with an outstanding pack and plenty of young forward talent coming through, and packs, usually, win matches.

I thought he gave some dodgy decisions for & against both sides...amazingly he is up for Ref of the Year alongside Mr Silverwood.

Ref of the year? On the evidence of his performance in the WC semi this has got to be a sick joke.
Refereeing standards are the achilles heel of both codes of rugby. It is so frustrating when the best efforts of finely honed, exquisitely skilled athletes can be, and very often are, thwarted by the incompetence of the man with the whistle who, so often, affects the result.

Wireone, have a look on the Warrington Guardian webpage under "Two Wire players up for international awards ". All will be revealed if you read on.

Ninearches.
I never for one minute doubted your word and I apologise if I gave that impression.
However you have to doubt the sanity of these awards and wonder how they come up with the nominations. I think many of them are dreamed up by journalists to sell papers and increase viewing figures.

Exactly, Wireone !