Wish we had 'im. He looks lively.

Yes

We beat nz in previous tests and have beaten and ran Australia close recently also. He needs to bring consistency and belief to the team otherwise macbanana should have stayed n done the same job.

He is still hurting from not getting the Australia hob ans needs to get over it and focus on England.

Could he have chose better players maybe not watkins perhaps doesn't Warren a place on recent form but is the alternative any better? I was dissapointing with how he has used Clark also from the bench.

Are we going to get any "meaningful" rugby till the final ? Why would England bother to batter Scotland when they did what they had to do & beat them comfortably at a canter ? As for the Anzac game, why would either side go hammer & tongs when the chances are they will meet in the final ? That Anzac game ,except for ten minutes at the end, was the not much different to an average SL match & i am assuming the Aussies have a lot more in reserve for the England game & the final.

England should have "bothered to batter" Scotland for a very good reason ... points difference. Don't believe it was an effort problem but that there wasn't that much of a gap in ability between the teams ... which is a bit worrying.

Smh if we did not beat Scotland convincingly and Australia beat nz only just then even if we beat Australia we will not get to the final as nz will easily score the amount needed to get to final, every game in the 4n is meaningfull!!

As the 3rd best team in a group of four we are going to be targeted by the 4th best and adding to this the traditional animosity that the home nations show towards England, we were inevitably on a hiding to nothing.

I am hoping that this weekend's game against the Aussies will be an epic between a team that has to win & a team whose sporting mentality says they must inflict the heaviest defeat possible on any opponent called England or GB.

I do too. The differance between us n them is Thurston Smith n inglis I think we can match or handle the rest.
I'd like to see ratchford Williams n gale at FB n hb respectively. I cannot see us grinding them down so we need to look to our creative players rather than the organisation of widdop or the support running of lomax at full back.

I think Australia will win comfortably on Sunday.. We have a decent forward pack but just don't have the firepower in the backs to worry them, add to that we will be playing in a friendly Sunday afternoon atmosphere in London rather than a raucous partisan one in somewhere like Wigan or Hull with a Saturday tea time kick off ... Sorry but i think the Aussies will stroll home.

Let's face it, with an aussie coach in charge the best we are ever going to be is a poor copy of the aussie style of play, which at best is effective but as dull as ditchwater, and at worst just makes us look mickey poor against a team like scotland.

The spark has been coached out of English RL and until teams start playing like us circa 2011 or the saints teams of old then we are never going to be a challenger to Oz & NZ. We can't beat them playing the same style of rugby as them, we have to do something different

Perhaps a starting point Ms S would be to throw Ratchford into the halves & see what individual plays he can come up with. The lad deserves a chance if only from the bench.

Rows and rows of empty seats on show again I suspect.

Anyone think that the Aussies may go easy on Sunday? Surely they'd prefer England in the final as opposed to New Zealand

There can't be just us two that think this Shirley?

Watkins - not playing well enough
Sarginson - not good enough
Gale - Not good enough
Hodge - Not playing well enough
Clark - Not being played right
Sam Burgess - Trying far too hard
Twins - Not playing well enough

Soon as Hill and Graham are off the field our middle looks weak. Gale is proving that the sky hype train are wrong about him. He is no way good enough for test rugby. Lomax has been pretty solid at full back. a few missed tackles but his positioning has also saved us from conceiving a good number of tries. The Convicts will rip us a new on this weekend. hard up the middle and their back line will run riot.

Decent summing up.

Lomax has had his knockers I (oooer missus) but I agree with you he looks like he was born to play FB

Do the Burgess brothers come as a pack of three ? I think the twins inspire me less than would Cox & England being included in the team.

i have felt a bit sorry for liam watts watching the Burgii' being inneffective

Taylor deserves a shirt ahead of either Tom or George. Widdop looked a far better player when paired with Smith. Matty may not set the world on fire but his guidance and in play kicking saved us in the test series against the Kiwis. He's solid and gets the job done. I'd like to see Ratch feature but I cant see him being picked and can't see him being any more effective than Gale in the halves. At a push I'd put him a centre. Watkins is world class but after the season Leeds have had I can (sort of) see why he's currently playing the way he is. Percival had a good game IMO and should be a sure starter over Sargenson. Like him or hate him but Farrell also HAS to start in the back row. Whether that's at the expense of Bateman or Whitehead I'm not sure. I'd be inclined to take him over Bateman.

If we don't think Watkins will improve, is it worth playing Bateman in the centres instead? Which side did he play centre at Wigan?

I think we'll see Williams and Widdop this weekend, Widdop hasn't really impressed me that much but without him we were shocking.

Also on a Four Nations note if not England, I'm still in awe of that try by Russell... We need to get the ball out to him on the edges more often!

Moving Bateman into the 3/4s ain't a bad idea.
We could get another forward in the team. We're going to need it.
However, we need an x-factor guy...the only one is Ratchford.

Halves are an issue but centres even more.
ONeil and Ferguson were superb on the right side last week.
And you've got the small matter of Inglis on the left.
We may be able to match them up front but not in the backs.
I'd love to see Bateman and Ratch in the centres but cant see it happening.
Probably be Percival and Watkins. The latter has done very little so far.

He got the ball on the edge on several occasions during the grand final and came up with sod all

How true my web footed friend but will Bennett have the nouse to play him & is Ratchford's utility tag getting in the way of selection. Bennett seems be to following the tried & tested formula that if you've played NRL you are the greatest & i wonder if he is reluctant to try anything different. Ratchford's style of play & being unknown to the Aussies could blow them apart.

Either way Id rather England loose but be entertained than see them win but bored senseless with 5 drives and a kick to the corner. Watching England in this 4 nations has been like watching paint dry.