widdop will play as he is the kicker.
so its either george or gale, and one of the 4 second rows (tough call as there are arguments for all 4 on that one)

Best England team in years.

Maybe a fully fit Tomkins would get in but otherwise I think its as strong as it could be.

Does lomax not kick goals?

This is as good an England team as we could pick and four nations success is achievable.

Have seen the team. Farrell isn't in it.

Quote ="R.B.A"Have seen the team. Farrell isn't in it.'" Neither is Williams www.totalrl.com/bennett-confirms ... will-miss/

Quote ="R.B.A"Have seen the team. Farrell isn't in it.'" Neither is Williams www.totalrl.com/bennett-confirms ... will-miss/

NRL based players will always get chosen over SL players regardless of them having average seasons.

See: George Burgess chosen ahead of Scott Taylor and Gareth Widdop chosen ahead of George Williams.

Would have preferred to see Williams rather than Widdop.
I think you are right, Widdop is chosen because he plays in a higher-intensity competition.

It's Farrell or Bateman. They are both good players but too light weight to play both.

Has picked Bateman because he can play centre.

An average season in the NRL is arguably harder to achieve than a standout season in the sl, far tougher comp throughout.

100% correct.

Very worried about Widdop and Gale. Too similar IMO, but I hope they prove me wrong. Going to be invaluable experience for Williams working under a coach like Bennett.

How widdop gets selected I'll never know, he's been poor all season in a very poor st George team, but I guess just like George burgess he plays in the NRL whereas George Williams & Scott Taylor don't.

Widdop was guaranteed to be selected so that left a toss up between Gale and Williams. Hard choice but i think Luke deserves his place. I hope he takes it with both hands and Widdop has a shocker, then we might get the rightful England pairing of Gale and Williams.

I couldn't agree more Gale does deserve his spot as he's been outstanding all season but widdop I feel is only playing because he plays in the NRL. I don't want widdop to have a shocker as I want England to win but he should get his place based on merit and not because he's deemed to be a super hero because he plays in Australia

They need to have a good game this week, because it would be a hell of a lot of pressure on Williams if he got thrown in next week.

I wouldn't worry about them being too similar as it works okay for Thurston and Cronk, who play similar roles for their clubs

You guys obviously watch Williams more than me, but from what I see he barely does anything until he is the opponents half or sometimes even the opponents 20.
I think if you play for england you have to contribute more in general play, not just attacking the line, especially in the kicking game
Thats why England did better last year with Smith than Williams

Also, imo Gale should have got man of steel and was easily the best half in the league last year so the question is between Williams and Widdop for me

I think that's a bit harsh; Williams is a decent defender too (although so is Widdop, to be fair).

This is where Luke is a bit frail imo, certainly not a bad defender but he drops off tackles quite a lot, and you can't do that when playing Australia or the Kiwi's. Tough call at the end of the day one i wouldn't like to make. I'm just glad both Gale and Williams are in the squad over Matty Smith.

Im glad hes gone for John over Farrell, John will ruffle more feathers. To be fair you know you will get a solid game from Farrell 40 tackles and some good hit ups just think John has that extra toughness needed to compensate against bigger opponents

same old England, in close matches you need your best squad on the park and yet again we have a few who just shouldn't be in, and that makes all the difference in close matches , lomax did ok but lacks the spark imo, Watkins average,whitehead average, cooper widdop likewise,

Effort was good, just silly mistakes again.

Personnel wise, I'm not a Watkins fan, I just don't see why he's raved about. Sarge needs to pass the ball, the left foot step is too predictable. Lomax needs to make that tackle, at the top level you just can't miss them and expect to not be slated for it. Sam had a good game apart from the two off loads.

All that said there is still plenty of improvement and we do have a chance against the Aussies if we complete our sets and not gift them possession.

Replace Sarginson with Percival and England would have won that game

that should have been the case anyway