Hock is a disgrace.. and i just hope all the wiganers that were defending him on here when we booted him out are hanging their heads in shame!!

He needs to be run out the game. What a waste of time he is. A total and utter moron who doesn't deserve to be a professional sportsman.

Good luck Salford, you'll need it!

I wonder if Nobby & the mad Doctor will reassess their decision to buy? I'd imagine there was some get-out clause in the case something like this occurred.
Not sorry to see him out of the squad tho'. All the oppositions would have found some way to bring on a brain-fart & leave us a man down for 10 minutes (at least).
Good player when he's got his head on, but too much of a liability.

I still think its a travesty that Matty Smith isn't in the squad.

If I were McNamara I'd have Smith and Widdop as halves all day.

Matty Smith is rubbish though don't forget and his partnership with Blake Green will be so poor that Wigan will struggle to win anything. They should never have let Leuluai and Finch go.



Back on topic....what is it with the English and bad press before a tournament/big game? A week to go before the World Cup starts and the headlines from the England camp are that we've lost to Italy and thrown a player out the squad. Why can't we just quietly go about our business like everyone else??!!!

Who knows what the loss to Italy was all about, other than epic levels of complacency, for which the coach and the skipper must take the lion's share of the blame.

As for the Hock incident ... why was he even included in the first place? He has microscopic levels of discipline that were almost certain to be exposed in this tournament. Again, you've got to query the judgement of the England boss and his selectors. But that's an old story, I'm afraid.

I actually thought England could make an impact in this tournament. We've got a lot of good players, and the NRL guys will make a big contribution. True, we've got a coach who was appointed seemingly because no-one else wanted to the job, but I didn't expect that to bite us in the booty as early as this.

I will never understand how anybody can think the England pack is the best out there. Just reading pundit predictions and it seems to be a common view. The Australians are streets ahead and dominate our pack almost every time we come up against them. Harsh reality.

I'm starting to just hope that the WC doesn't turn out to be a complete embarrassment for the England side. The recent news stories and the Italy game don't inspire confidence.

One thing I'm crying out for is to swap Chase for Widdop but it looks like the halfbacks are set in stone.

I'd have preferred Widdop and Brough with Smith on the bench or in reserve. Sinfield wouldn't be in the squad never mind captain and 7.

I don't know how much it means but Burgess, Graham and Ellis have all won player of the year awards at their nrl clubs so i do think our forwards, if not better, are at a similar level. It might be how they are used and directed by the hooker and halves that makes the difference.

The tell will be if they take instructions from Sir Kev or any of the other "lesser" players from SL. Or just end up a rudderless shambles (again).
Still looking forward to it though (just hope I'm not swearing at the radio all the way back up the M6).

Add George Burgess bursting onto the scene ( Sheens has picked Fafita specifically to counter the Impact George brings )
There is no question the English big names in the NRL are on a level with Australia and NZ's ( don't make the mistake of underrating NZ's pack folks , could prove a level up on Australia ).

Defensively the Australian pack edges out NZ , in the Go forward and secound Phase game NZ ranks Australia ( finally ).

I've said elsewhere Englands exports to the NRL are more walk than talk.

Sam Burgess some think is overrated ( well you get that with most big stars ) but the one thing the English NRL players have in common is that if they keep their discipline they're the edge in the packs they run with when they fire.

Don't forget Tom Burgess is one heck of a player in his own right.

England can more than match the others up front if they hunt as a pack.

As for the bacline apart from Sam Tomkins and Josh Charnely I really have no idea......Widdops good I hope his replacement is better, otherwise that's just dumb coaching.

Hardaker, Graham and McIlorum all left out of Saturdays squad v Australia.

I wonder if the fans will boo them or shout "break their legs" if they play in subsequent games?

Lockers out too, I assume that's through injury though?

Yeah they said a couple of weeks ago in South Africa o'loughlin wont be risked in the first game.

byw The "break his legs" comment came from a family of Saints fans sat behind us at Salford on Saturday. I'll leave you to guess who it was aimed at.
A Wire fan sat alongside us just shook his head in disbelief.

Another thing to be added to the reasons why I am club over country every time.

punishment for alleged involvement in Hockgate?

Is Macnamara cutting off his nose to spite his face? or has he given up on winning the WC already?

TBF to him. We don't need to win on Saturday and this will stamp his authority on the squad and show them who is boss. It's a shame I don't think two of them would have played anyway.

That annoys me as well. If you're an England fan then you cheer for England no matter who is playing. Would they boo him if he signed for Saints?


BTW your location is a little outdated

Good spot. Consider it changed.

thats another way of looking at it...the optimistic way

Looks like the other named in the incident have been dropped for the squad to face the Aussies

they still crying about sam tomkins? he no longer a wigan player just a legend.

So what games are we all booked in for? At present have tix for the following but starting to sniff around the Wembley double header as well having seen the way sales are flying on it.:

Fiji v Ireland
Tonga v Cooks
Australia v Fiji
Tonga v Italy
Wigan QF
Final

May also have a look at USA Wales if the ticketing open up a bit in the lower categories and the 50% discount codes continue to work

I've gone for:
England v Aus
England v Ireland
England v Fiji
Tonga v Cook Islands
Wigan QF
Wembley double header
Final

It's the Mrs' birthday on the final though so I'll end up having to shift the tickets if/when we don't get there. I'm weighing up the Warrington QF as well as I figure that'll be France/PNG v Fiji which ought to be a decent game