If GB do not sack Wayne Bennett and immediately put Watson in charge we are going to be flying home as a laughing stock.

Once again the exact same awful boring Bennett tactics of one out drives and flat attack until the players took control and decided to play more expansive in the last 10 minutes.

And yes, Josh Hodgson is now beginning to really annoy me. One of the worst GB hookers since i started watching the game. I dont care how good he is at Canberra, he just does not cut it at International level.

James Graham, what is he doing other than acting as a 3rd prop thats well past his best? 10 minutes each half of O'loughlin would of been better than long spells of Graham just making the numbers up.

Hastings and Widdop stand no chance due to the way players are stood flat around them.

The tactics are wrong, the team is unbalanced full of big slow diesel burners with no flair, its crying out for a Sam Tomkins, somebody that can step around players or beat a man on the outside and make something happen.

Id even be tempted to play Regan Grace next week. At least the guy has speed and is elusive instead of these 2 prop forwards we have playing on the wing.

I agree







I think i need to go for a lie down now

Time feels right for a fresh approach. A guy who seems happy to be doing the job would be a start.

Amen to (nearly) all that; as I've argued before, Hodgson is not a bad player, his record at Canberra shows that clearly. But if Bennett can't get him to work well in the England/GB set-up, it's up to him to play someone who can, be it Clark or anyone else. But Hodgson wasn't the reason GB lost. Bone-headed tactics and a lack of pace (and, frankly. skill) were. McGillvary just has to score that try. You just can't drop those. Great effort by Bromwich, yes, but that was the game right there.

Same tactics as last week and in the 9s.

You can only try and beat teams in the margins when they are equal to you, when they’re better than you then you have to try something different.

Picking an ageing out of form side set the alarm bells ringing for me but the poor tactics and not having a plan B is very poor for such an experienced coach.

It was like watching 17 strangers, the wingers are out of form, too slow and too big. The halves didn’t gel, Hastings hasn’t raised his game he seems to have shrunk into himself, maybe because he’s not British (Just like Rangi Chase didn’t step up). Hodgeson is impotent, Hill and Graham are too old and slow and most of all there was no leader on the pitch.

What we need is a bit of creativity and forward to offload.

He should go, but at the end of the Tour not half way through.

Question marks were raised when the squad was announced. 2 wingers & 1 centre. Injuries to players in the Grand Final probably had a say in that. Markinson & Percival surly would of both be in the 24 to begin with. The 2,3,4,5 pick themselves with the Squad that was named.

Wane would certainly add more passion (Surly though playing for your county is enough to fire you up) but would it be more attractive Rugby or just the same.

Graham is passed it
Hill never has offered anything

G.Burgess & Watts should be in the 17 nevermind the 24.

Hodgson has never really set the world alight on the international stage.

Next week...

Lomax or Widdop

Coote (He is in the squad and a back, saves player a backrower out of position!)
Hardarker
Conner
McGillvary

Widdop or Lomax
Hastings

T.Burgess
Clark
Graham (he won't drop the captain)
Whitehead
Bateman
Philbin

Subs
Williams or Trueman
Jones
Walmsley
Hill - (no other prop!)

Not yet watched the game as I’ve been in work. Probably sit down to watch it tomorrow.

WB should go, but not in the middle of a tour. I suspect he won’t be GB coach again given the tours are every 4yrs (IIRC) and off the back of this tour I’d like to think the RFL would look deeply into WB moving forward as England coach.

Ultimately for me the job must be the only coaching job that coach has and a full time role. I do think it would suit Shaun Wane down to the ground but it’s a massive gamble on his part; if he takes it and isn’t successful he can kiss goodbye to an NRL gig. However if he is successful he will get a gig there. But therein lies an issue onto itself, the England job being used as a stepping stone to an NRL job.

Realistically the list to do the job in a full time basis is a pretty small list and that is a huge issue. If/when WB is moved on we will probably select an already employed coach and we’ll go no further forward. That’s why for me it needs to be a full time role.

I struggle to see the need for a full-time coach as long as actual international matches are like hens' teeth.

Not half way through a tour, but after this, I agree. I feel like we have missed a golden opportunity with Hall, Graham, Roby, S.Burgess and Lockers. They were all equivalent or better than anyone else in the world, all at their peak at the same time, and still couldn't win anything, and some of them didn't even pick up any wins against the aussies. Who's going to be in that bracket now they're all retired/over the hill? Bateman is the only one I have much confidence in.

Bennett is an ozzie. That tells me all I need to know as far as being the Great Britain coach.

After match comments indicate that he is not too concerned about the team's 2 losses in a row.

Said that the team is improving and on the up and not going backwards. Also played against a quality team.

Even though we've now been overtaken as the third best team in the world?

If he really made those comments he's either a) too complacent for a job like this, or b) hasn't yet woken up and smelled the coffee.

I used to hugely admire Wayne Bennett as a coach and a man, but let's not pretend that the old magic is working for England/GB, because it quite plainly isn't.

Are Tonga therefore the best team in the world then?

Then quite simply he has not been watching the games most of us lot have been watching. We dont have an attacking move in us and there isnt a player in the team capable of doing something special because he sent the most dangerous attacking player in SL home (Tomkins).

He’s clearly not a fan of Sam Tomkins. He had to rely on a good few injuries to get a place last year and then played very well in two wins against the Kiwis yet loses his place. His exclusion and certainly Liam Watts exclusion were two really poor calls. I don’t have that much against him not taking an extra winger or centre because I’m not convinced there’s anybody good enough who’s not travelled or who’s not injured. Even worse then leaving Watts out has been his tactics. After a few basic errors whilst playing conservatively in his first game, it looked like the players had been sent out with the first aim not being to win the game but to complete as close to 100% as possible and hope that would lead to a victory.

They’ve beaten NZ, GB and Australia in that order in 3weeks. It’s arguable that currently they are the best team in the world. Their win v Australia yesterday could and should start something for other Pacific islands such as Samoa, PNG, Fiji, Cook Islands and even Lebanon. If Tonga can convince their national players (or heritage) to commit for them, why can’t the others?

And I tell you what if those teams turned out their absolute best 17 we could be in a whole world of trouble.

Knowing the RFL as we do, does anyone really expect them to sack Bennett?
I don't!

I'm not sure how this is a relevant repsonse to my point.

There surely can be no doubt that GB/Eng are no longer in the top three (it's not necessarly a permanent thing, but certainly that's the case in 2019).

And this has happened under Wayne Bennett's watch.

I'll say it again that I used to admire him greatly. But I think his time has gone.

Are you sure they beat NZ three weeks ago? I thought the last time they played was in summer, and NZ won

I think there's plenty of doubt who is in the top three. NZ beat Australia and Tonga in their last games against them. We played badly but were a dropped ball over the line away from beating NZ, and having played Aus in a while. Over here we beat NZ in two games out of three last year, with them only winning the dead rubber when a few changes were made. I'd say it's more of the same - Aus always beat us and NZ games are won by the home team.

I agree Bennet should go, the tactics were poor (although he criticised the first half one-out rugby himself, which does make you wonder whether they played to the instructions).

Tonga last played NZ in Auckland last June and lost 34-14. NZ last played Aus. in Woolongong a week or so ago (Oct 25th) losing 26-4.

Yep. Tonga beat New Zealand not so long ago by 20+

That's what I thought! NZ beat Tonga

I was responding to this to show that NZ hadn't beaten Australia in their last meeting.

Well once again a typical Bennett flat attack display with nothing but forwards crashing on to flat balls time and time again. Why bother even having half backs on the field. Just play 2 extra forwards at 6 and 7.

No emotion or excitement in the GB players. A team looking as depressed and boring as the man coaching them.

I called for Bennett to be sacked last week and Watson put in charge to try and salvage something from what is likely to now be a disastrous tour. Once again i have been proven right. Theres still time, not to win the series but to at least salvage some pride but that can only happen if Bennett is kicked out immediately.