Its the same people who will be enraged when the next Tomkins brother defects to rugby union due to the lure of the international game.

This makes no sense whatsoever, care to explain?

Irrelavent as none of the Tomkins brothers have pulled out

Great news. Delighted

And that's quite a lure. Ask Joel ... assuming he can take time off bench-warming for the club reseves to reply.

The only meaningful game England can get without facing the superior forces of Australia and New Zealand and most fans on here are dismissing it as meaningless? Are World Cups or Four Nations meaningless? Because if we want to try and win one of those any time soon then we should all support the concept as it's the only way of giving any serious preparation.

We should all want the strongest possible Exiles team facing the strongest possible England team - regardless of club loyalties - because I for one want to see a day when Wembley has 90,000 League fans cheering on a competitive England against Australia - and I think the Exiles series is a great step in that direction.

As for if they're injured? I doubt they would be if Wigan were playing Warrington on Saturday.

Doubt all you want. You don't know one way or the other. End of.

Crikey. I wish Leeds were as defensive as you, we'd be higher up the table.

These two are injured as much as Ben Westwood is.

Are they both having operations this week then?

How do you know Ben Westwood is, are you his surgeon??

I love you guys who insinuate things and then get uppity when someone challenges you.

Despite your 'unbiased' suspicions, both those players could well be carrying knocks. Camont was limping by the end of the match on Saturday.

You wouldn't risk two of your star players in an international friendly if they were nursing knocks, any more than we would.

When doesn't he limp at the end of a game?!?

How's saying that you're being clearly defensive 'getting uppity'? Your statement was very defensive. Fact. End of.

Both those players could well be carrying knocks, they could be seriously injured - I don't know. I don't really care other than I'd like to see the strongest possible Exiles turnout and if you're an England fan so should you.

What I suspect - and I get the impression from your defensive posture that you do too - is that if they are knocks then those same knocks wouldn't keep them out of an important Wigan game. And of course I'm biased, what a ridiculous thing to point out, but me being biased doesn't make me any more likely to be wrong than you and your clear bias does you.

Or is that all a bit uppity for your liking?

I don't quite know what to make of this.

I am chuffed that two of our key players can have a much needed rest.... but I want the Exiles concept to grow and become a 3 match series selling out the best stadiums in super league. Can that happen when the players and coaches treat the series in this way?

If they are honest injuries then obviously there isn't a problem, if they are not real injuries then I love Shaun Wane's 'win at all costs' mentality, but I am disappointed by his attitude to this series. The only way it will be succesful is if all of the players and coaches buy into it like they did with Origin in Aus. If this was in Aus, they would be having painkilling injections to play in origin.

We would all like to see the best Exiles team play the BEST ENGLISH TEAM, BUT THAT WONT HAPPEN AS WE HAVE AN IDIOT PICKING THE ENGLISH TEAM. players have not been picked on form so what bearing the selection could have had on preparation for the world cup has been lost.

It was a wild guess based upon Ben Westwood's own tweet confirming he wasn't playing for England due to under-going an hernia operation, is that ok?

(Although if you want to check back a couple of weeks I did post on this very board that Westwood wouldn't be playing for England in this match, it was a couple of days before I posted about Finch returning to the NRL - but what do I know about anything hey?)

Sounds like he's putting club before country to me. Some folk would frown upon that on this thread.

I mean Westwood played against Leeds knowing he needed the op and may well have done the same against Hull KR the week before. Why not put it off another week and play for England. Or have the op done when first discovered and return fit and ready to play for England. It's only a two week recovery period, and it can't be that serious if he's been playing with it.

It's a good job this England game/free week has come along as he'll only miss one Wire match now.

Obviously Westwood's operation is timed to match the Exiles break for the benefit of Warrington. He got the injury in the first game of the season.

I was responding to the person who suggested that I couldn't know whether Westwood was having an operation.

Some injuries that require rest could be more serious than those requiring "Minor" Operations?

Could Westwood not have had the op around the time Wire played Keighley? Did he play in that game?

Wire pays his wages so I suppose it's only fair but if Wigan have pulled Carmont and Finch out of this fixture to 'rest' them there's no real difference(well apart from one tweet).

Surely Warrington could have timed the operation better than just waiting for the Exiles match to come around, from an England POV that is. Bumbling McNamarra wants as close to a full side out as possible, he must be ed that Westwood could have had this injury seen to at any point since March, yet Wire have specifically waited months until the Exiles weekend before acting. Depriving England one of few consistent performers at international level. That's quite a disrespect of the England team and setup by Warrington.

Good job it's only a poxy mock international.

I am sure there is still time for Sam and Josh to get a slight knock before Saturday,then they could also be rested

I cant say this news is any surprise. At the end of the day the Exiles match is a nothing game for the Exiles players and means nothing to them. It is a bit of a get together for them and a catch up with a few old mates but anyone thinks they take it seriously is kidding themselves. They are not representing their country like the England players are and as last year showed the intensitiy of the games are poor and you can see that players werent giving 100%. The RFL can try and hype it up as much as they want, and they certainly will if England win, but it is a meaningless friendly. It is also a concept which is doomed to failure with the number and quality of imports declining year on year, even next years Exiles team will be a pale imitation of this year just looking at the Wigan players alone that wont be here.

I think that any player would be more inclined/ honoured to represent their country than a scratch team like the Exiles and therefore it would be a lot lighter of a decision to drop out for the likes of Finch and Carmont than any of the England lads.