It's criminal that he hasn't been named in at least the England Knights set up

why ??

i have to agree, how houghton hasnt made the list is beyond me...especialy when certain others are in there......
will be interesting to see what team play the " overseas select" team if that ever happens.....

Surprised Danny did not make it, he deserved to imo, hope he keeps working hard I am sure his time will come.

Well done to Westerman

Do I really need to explain it to you?

If so u clearly aren't aware of a talented player when u see one

McNamara knows the time the games come round Houghton will be knackered playing 80 mins every weeks could do with the rest.

very aware of his talent however there is a lot of time left for rep hons and he has more important things on his plate at present, oh and for your info SM has already given him a "what he needs to do" pep talk to get him into the England set up and has told him he is very much in his mind !!!
enjoy!!

Macc wants Houghton fully fit when he takes over

I was going to write the same but couldn't bring myself to.

The more I see of Houghton, the less convinced I get,that he has the alround game to be a good hooker,think he'll be ok as an impact hooker when defences are tired,but that's it,hope I'm wrong,but time will tell.

Thought Will Sharp would have done enough to get into the squad too, 3 tries in 3 in a team that's only scored 9 tries all season should have been enough to get in the squad IMO.

brett ferres in the elite training squad you are having a laugh, the rest of the squad seems about right and i like the knights squad aswell even though i think houghton should of been in there but danny does have alot to improve

Lunt and Moore are the safer options.

how can danny brough now play for england????

Welham in the elite squad!! Even Rovers fans must be shocked at that. My god, the national game is in crisis.

I like houghton but I honestly don't see him as international standard right now. He'll be knackered by 25 if we keep playing him for 80 minutes a week

He's improving every season and has pace, something our centres have lacked in recent years.

Both squads look un balanced to me.

No surprise when you consider whose picking them.

Sheldon - you're joking surely? This isn't an anti-Rovers dig but the kid is miles off. Jumps out the line even more than Yeamo does.

welham has certaingly got things to improve on but like sheldon said hes improving and progressing every year hes a natrual attacking and score trying centre and think he deserves a shot at the elite squad to prove himself but like i say he needs to improve his defensive game and put a bit of bulk on aswell

Elite

Tomkins
Briscoe
Cudjoe
Shenton
Hall
McGuire
Brough
Morley
Roby
Graham
Westwood
Tomkins
SOL

Robinson
LMS
Crabtree
Peacock
Knights

Riley
McGilvary
Atkins
Lawrence
Goulding
Gale
Smith
Mossop
Lunt
Clough
Farrell
Whitehead
Westerman

Moore
Donaldson
Ferguson
Patrick

Those would be my 2 teams.

He has a very good offensive game, he needs to work more on his defence however he continues to improve, well deserved imo...pleased to see a local kid in the squad

I'm not getting the houghton hype. I think on too many occasions he takes the wrong options. I don't think he's the finished article and I hope he proves me wrong but at the moment for me he's a mile away from international honours.

Neither Houghton or Welham are international players for me. Watching St George last night they had Cooper and Gasnier in the centres, both of whom are miles better than anything in this country.

It looks a bit light on forwards to me - but add in the NRL's Ellis and Burgess and it looks more even.





People seem to use 'international standard' as a euphemism for 'good enough for the Kangaroos'. All the players in those squads are good enough to play for England, or close to it. Very few would be good enough to play for Australia, but sadly that is a standard of judgement that we can only aspire to - now and for the forseeable.

Eastmond is off to RU then, I guess.