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Chris Bridge pulls out of 4 Nations for family reasons


Wendall

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yeaman and atkins.

No way should Yeaman get anywhere near the squad. Five or six years ago it looked like he was something special in the making, but he's not progressed one iota since then. To be honest, he's done absolutely nothing for a few seasons now. Strange how quite a lot of promising Hull younsgters have failed to live up to their hype over the last few years. Washbrook, Lee, Yeaman, Hall are four guys who were all touted as future stars when the burst onto the scene, but they've never really had broken any pots. I'd even say that the likes of Cooke, Horne and King have never come close to fulfilling their potential.

What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

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Leon Pryce anyone? Has a lot to prove after being overlooked for the last couple of years.

Widdop

Briscoe

Atkins

Pryce

Fox

Tomkins

Eastmond

Lots of pace and strength in that back line-up but would need an additional kicker in the pack. Why do we continually beat ourselves up over the quality of our side? Barring Slater, Inglis, Hayne (who are out on their own by miles) we seem to do okay. The Kiwi backs don't scare me and the Aussies could well be without Inglis, Thurston and Lockyer.

Edited by Scubby
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Leon Pryce anyone? Has a lot to prove after being overlooked for the last couple of years.

Widdop

Briscoe

Atkins

Pryce

Fox

Tomkins

Eastmond

Lots of pace and strength in that back line-up but would need an additional kicker in the pack. Why do we continually beat ourselves up over the quality of our side? Barring Slater, Inglis, Hayne (who are out on their own by miles) we seem to do okay. The Kiwi backs don't scare me and the Aussies could well be without Inglis, Thurston and Lockyer.

Leon Pryce is out for the rest of the season and requires surgery (I think) on a neck problem.

Everyone seems to have forgotten Paul Sykes is in the train on squad.Mcnamara will probably select him at some point.

Edited by terrywebbisgod

Thank you for your valuable contribution.

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Gleeson and Atkins would be my choice with Shenton being very unlucky to miss out.

Atkins has come on a ton at Warrington and Gleeson has sorted his game out under McGuire at Wigan.

Yeaman wouldnt let anyone down if he was picked but whether he deserves the chance is another question.

I would'nt play Sykes, end of!

Tony Clubb would be a better option than Sykes or Yeaman IMO.

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Gleeson and Atkins would be my choice with Shenton being very unlucky to miss out.

Atkins has come on a ton at Warrington and Gleeson has sorted his game out under McGuire at Wigan.

Yeaman wouldnt let anyone down if he was picked but whether he deserves the chance is another question.

I would'nt play Sykes, end of!

Tony Clubb would be a better option than Sykes or Yeaman IMO.

Must admit I had completely forgotten about Gleeson. Would ahve no issues if he was in there.

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Options (Centre/Wing): Kris Welham, Lee Smith, Tony Clubb, Kyle Eastmond, Jon Wilkin, Martin Gleeson, Leroy Cudjoe, Michael Lawrence, Jamie Foster, Ade Gardner, Kirk Yeamen, Tom Briscoe, Will Sharp, Ryan Atkins, Michael Shenton, Ben Jones-Bishop, Jodie Broughton, Jordan Turner, Chev Walker, Peter Fox, Josh Charmley, Darrell Goulding.

That's all I can think of thought it might help if anyones been forgotten?

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Options (Centre/Wing): Kris Welham, Lee Smith, Tony Clubb, Kyle Eastmond, Jon Wilkin, Martin Gleeson, Leroy Cudjoe, Michael Lawrence, Jamie Foster, Ade Gardner, Kirk Yeamen, Tom Briscoe, Will Sharp, Ryan Atkins, Michael Shenton, Ben Jones-Bishop, Jodie Broughton, Jordan Turner, Chev Walker, Peter Fox, Josh Charmley, Darrell Goulding.

That's all I can think of thought it might help if anyones been forgotten?

Aaron Murphy

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Looking at the stats Gleeson and Yeaman are virtually equals in attack but Gleeson misses far less tackles and makes far fewer errors, so Gleeson and Atkins would be my choice, toss a coin between Shenton and Yeaman for a squad place, Shenton shades it for me as he did pretty well last time round. Clubb would be a good option if somone could teach him to tackle, double the missed tackles of Yeaman!

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Must admit I had completely forgotten about Gleeson. Would ahve no issues if he was in there.

me too

would be tempted to take clubb for experience over Yeaman with the idea god forbid we get two injuries in the centres.. but depends on how he wants to make the squad up and what the balance would be.. may need to look at full backs/wingers who can play there (tom briscoe) for cover..

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Now, I don't have kids so may be wrong here, but I'd rather be playing for my country in a test match against the Aussies than sitting in a hospital room with a screaming wife.

Don't be daft - I'd like nothing better than to be in a hospital room with my wife watching her writhe and scream in agony for a few hours :rolleyes:

Sorry that should have been ex wife ;)

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Now, I don't have kids so may be wrong here, but I'd rather be playing for my country in a test match against the Aussies than sitting in a hospital room with a screaming wife.

i used to thikn similar.. its their job.. greatest honour etc..

i was at the birth of my son in May 2008... i wouldnt have done anything else that day and i mean anything else.. it was the most special of days and will only be rivaled by the birth of our 2nd in January i hope.

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I do not agree at all.

Most of the good Centres have totally different body types too Second Rowers.

You may have players like Watmough that can run wide during a game and punch holes through smaller defenders but they would soon be found out if they played wide all game.

Look at the best Centres most have tall rangy builds.

Aren't Inglis & Senior built like Second Rowers? I'd definitly agree we shouldn't be playing Second Rows at Centre. I've read that Ellis has played Centre but I'm guessing that would have been when he was a smaller build when younger? As he's too big built to have the speed needed for a Centre & he's too good a Second Row to play out of poition. Even if Macca can't convince Senior to come out of Internantional retirement & weaker Centres is still better than playing a Second Row or an other Back out of position.

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Shenton and Atkins.

How's Shenton's form been this season? As I haven't watched many Cas games as they've been pretty poor as a team in 2010. By the sounds of it there are a fair few calls for Gleeson rather than Shenton in this thread.

"I've never seen a woman with hairy ears... And I've been to St Helens" - John Bishop

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Shenton and Atkins.

How's Shenton's form been this season? As I haven't watched many Cas games as they've been pretty poor as a team in 2010. By the sounds of it there are a fair few calls for Gleeson rather than Shenton in this thread.

"I've never seen a woman with hairy ears... And I've been to St Helens" - John Bishop

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Aren't Inglis & Senior built like Second Rowers? I'd definitly agree we shouldn't be playing Second Rows at Centre. I've read that Ellis has played Centre but I'm guessing that would have been when he was a smaller build when younger? As he's too big built to have the speed needed for a Centre & he's too good a Second Row to play out of poition. Even if Macca can't convince Senior to come out of Internantional retirement & weaker Centres is still better than playing a Second Row or an other Back out of position.

sure he played a bit there for wakefield before he signed for leeds???

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How's Shenton's form been this season? As I haven't watched many Cas games as they've been pretty poor as a team in 2010. By the sounds of it there are a fair few calls for Gleeson rather than Shenton in this thread.

Not great I'll be honest but think that's been mainly due to the team around him.

I still think he's worth the pick though

Now then, it's a race between Sandie....and Fairburn....and the little man is in........yeees he's in.

I, just like those Castleford supporters felt that the ball should have gone to David Plange but he put the bit betwen his teeth...and it was a try

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Martin Gleeson - Despite Wigan having a great year he's hardly stood out. For me he would be the safe & steady option for England as he won't let anyone down.

Ryan Atkins - Improved a lot this year but for me still makes too many errors in defence and i've lost count of the number of times he's taken the wrong option and not passed to his wingman.

Michael Shenton - Not had as good a year as last season but has still done okay in an underperforming team. He has however shown he can play well at test level and was probably Englands best centre last year so deserves his place in the team.

Leroy Cudjoe - Had a great season for Hudds and has all the makings of a top class player. Has size, strength & more importantly lots of pace. His only downside is his lack of experience at the top level which may get exploited by the Aussies & Kiwi's.

Sykes - No blo*dy way should he ever play for England again. Apart from the fact he's been an absolute disaster every time he's played at test level he's also had a shocking season for Bradford. He must be blackmailing Macnamara to even have a place in the train on squad ?

Lee Smith - Another No blo*dy way one for me. Was utter garbage in last years 4N and has done absolutely nothing since returning to the Rhino's this year.

Realistically we have 4 centres to pick from Shenton, Gleeson, Atkins & Cudjoe. Pesonally I think Shenton should get one place due to his previous test form and I'd then go for Cudjoe as we have to give him a chance sometime.

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Martin Gleeson - Despite Wigan having a great year he's hardly stood out. For me he would be the safe & steady option for England as he won't let anyone down.

Ryan Atkins - Improved a lot this year but for me still makes too many errors in defence and i've lost count of the number of times he's taken the wrong option and not passed to his wingman.

Michael Shenton - Not had as good a year as last season but has still done okay in an underperforming team. He has however shown he can play well at test level and was probably Englands best centre last year so deserves his place in the team.

Leroy Cudjoe - Had a great season for Hudds and has all the makings of a top class player. Has size, strength & more importantly lots of pace. His only downside is his lack of experience at the top level which may get exploited by the Aussies & Kiwi's.

Sykes - No blo*dy way should he ever play for England again. Apart from the fact he's been an absolute disaster every time he's played at test level he's also had a shocking season for Bradford. He must be blackmailing Macnamara to even have a place in the train on squad ?

Lee Smith - Another No blo*dy way one for me. Was utter garbage in last years 4N and has done absolutely nothing since returning to the Rhino's this year.

Realistically we have 4 centres to pick from Shenton, Gleeson, Atkins & Cudjoe. Pesonally I think Shenton should get one place due to his previous test form and I'd then go for Cudjoe as we have to give him a chance sometime.

Atkins :- 13 try assists not bad for wrong decision making.

Centres for England Atkins and Cudjoe

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I think Bridgehas been the best centre I have seen this year. Gleeson has been the second. Shenton strikes me as an ordinary player, but a steady one and deserves to partner Gleeson on the basis of last year's international form - though if even Saint Toppy, who sees any player associated with Saints as a future Hall of Famer, can't get excited about him he must be pretty limited. I get the impression Gleeson is out of favour for non rugby reasons, and so he won't be picked, especially for a tour. I have always thought that there is more than an air of headless chickenness about Atkins, but maybe that off the cuff style would go well alongside steady eddie Shenton...

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With regards the talk of 2nd rowers in the centre and body shapes etc, it entirely depends on the player. Senior, as someone suggested, is built like a 2nd row but has the positional sense and physical attributes to play centre.

Ellis and Westwood were both centres when they started but I wouldnt have them anywhere near centre now as they arent quick enough.

A good centre has to have high skill levels, good feet, acceleration, a bit of a fend and good positional sense. Its the hardest position on the field to defend in and you are quite often one on one.

Playing Joel Tomkins in the centre would be an unmitigated disaster against someone like Gasnier. i doubt he would tackle him and the winger would have a field day. Centre is an extremely specialist position where you can easily get found out against the quality we will be up against.

Gleeson seems like an obvious choice although his off field reputation might preclude him. At the moment Id feel safer with Gleeson there.

Atkins has improved a lot this year. His skill has improved and his positional awareness is better. His wingers now actually get the ball!! Still a bit sceptical about his concentration for a full game against top players but probably deserves a chance.

Shenton. flatters to deceive really. I want him to kick on but he doesnt seem to. I wouldnt mind him being there though and didnt let anyone down last year.

Yeaman. So disappointed in how his career has gone. He should have really kicked on after 2006 but has gone backwards. Doesnt deserve a spot.

Sykes. Fk off

In summary we will probably miss bridge!

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I think Bridgehas been the best centre I have seen this year. Gleeson has been the second. Shenton strikes me as an ordinary player, but a steady one and deserves to partner Gleeson on the basis of last year's international form - though if even Saint Toppy, who sees any player associated with Saints as a future Hall of Famer, can't get excited about him he must be pretty limited. I get the impression Gleeson is out of favour for non rugby reasons, and so he won't be picked, especially for a tour. I have always thought that there is more than an air of headless chickenness about Atkins, but maybe that off the cuff style would go well alongside steady eddie Shenton...
Would agree with much of that, although not seen as much of Gleeson this year so probably not in a great position to comment on him.

I am a little less concerned about the prospect of Atkins playing now as I was a couple of months back. I do think he has improved, especially in the back end of the year in some of the bigger games.

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ellis played half of his last season @ leeds at center.....pretty damn destructive iirc....not that i'd move ellis to the england centre position,he's the best 2nd rower in the world and needs to play there...but someone like joel tomkins who at the moment is'nt going to get a look in @ 2nd row for england at the moment,but is big enough,mobile enough,defensively strong enough to play in the centers....we have to consider it imo..

he attacks and defends on that rightside next to the center anyway...not much of a difference moving him one man outside..

my backline

1. gareth widdop

2. tom briscoe

3. michael shenton/ryan atkins

4. joel tomkins

5. ryan hall

6. sam tomkins

7. kyle eastmond

i really like the look of that

Edited by roughyedspud

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