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England players badly off form


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Player's form always dips up and down but we seem to have a clutch of England's best players, from the last couple of years, in pretty desperate form at the minute.

 

All 3 Burgess brothers are playing well below standards at the moment and Widdop is frankly awful for St George at present. Kallum Watkins is struggling as Leeds struggle and Ryan Hall just hasn't got anywhere near his high standards this year (he has been injured recently). Tomkins is still crocked and the rest of the Wigan England regulars haven't been on fire including the England captain. Roby has been okay without being flash.

 

Hodgson, Hill and Graham for me are the ones still firing this season. Let's hope it's a blip and the second half of the season sees a better showing. Some of the fringe guys like Walmsley, Gale, Clark etc. really have a chance to stake a claim come the end of the season. 

 

 

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I'm not even an England fan but this is a nothing post. It's early in the season. You can't expect them to be at the top of their game all year long. They'll peak when they have to.

 

It is not about peaking at all. Some players like Widdop, G Burgess and Watkins are playing so poorly that they deserve a week or two in the reserves never mind a call up. 

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Walmsley has been poor so far this season (missed a bad tackle last night leading to a Catalan try); he shouldn't be anywhere near an England shirt. 

 

I thought Ferres was playing well in a poor Leeds side before his injury.

 

I really thought Walmsley would break through into the elite player band after last year. Hopefully his form will improve. 

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It is not about peaking at all. Some players like Widdop, G Burgess and Watkins are playing so poorly that they deserve a week or two in the reserves never mind a call up.

Fair enough! Bad form is always concerning. Lack of form however is to be expected this early on in the season

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England players badly off form; then put them aside until they are on form and pick the ones that are, and we can all pretend it's nothing like the days when we had to pick Ellery with a broken leg and one arm in a sling!

 

 

 

"Just a good ol' boy from south hite!

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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It is not about peaking at all. Some players like Widdop, G Burgess and Watkins are playing so poorly that they deserve a week or two in the reserves never mind a call up. 

Do you realise where the NRL, compared to SL is?

Players in SL are close to half way through their regular season, before the nonsense starts.

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Do you realise where the NRL, compared to SL is?

Players in SL are close to half way through their regular season, before the nonsense starts.

 

There are less matches to go in the NRL than in SL this season. It is only a 24-game season.

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Is this right though?

Looking at the England standard players Wigan have in their ranks, Tomkins is on course to play within the time frames that were predicted, and a fit and well Tomkins is an asset we missed last year. I am not sure how much of Wigan you have watched this year, but O'Loughlin has been superb. Manfredi has emerged as England class this year. Which offsets Hall's downturn in form. Even an off form Sam Burgess is better than the one who wasn't even playing in the code this time last year.

In the halves, Myler is playing superbly, as is Gale.

At hooker, Clark has been superb, and Roby remains a class act.

The OP concedes that Graham and Hill remain world class, as they are every week, every year.

Walmsley hasn't even played for England as far as I am aware, so I can't see how he is a "loss".

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Nothing wrong with the form of Sam Burgess,he's easily been Souths best player this season.

Was just about to post this. He is by far the best player in a badly misfiring side.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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The OP referred to England regulars, but that was under the previous coach. It'll be interesting to see if Bennett's first selection has a few surprises.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The OP referred to England regulars, but that was under the previous coach. It'll be interesting to see if Bennett's first selection has a few surprises.

Yes it really will be. The RFL wanted Bennet, quite rightly but will he be influenced by anyone?

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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If Bennett's first team was...

Tomkins - Manfredi - Watkins - Reed - Hall - Widdop - Gale

Graham - Roby - Hill - Sam Burgess - Whitehead - O'Loughlin

Burgess - Burgess - Ferres - Clark

(I have probably made some glaring omissions - sorry, if so.)

Then, Widdop is the only potential problem isn't he, as we have seen nothing yet to suggest that any of the other key players is in terminal decline. As for the Leeds players, time will tell but they have form for being very good when it matters. We could even move Tomkins into the halves and play Hardaker at 1 (which has long been my preference).

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Yes it really will be. The RFL wanted Bennet, quite rightly but will he be influenced by anyone?

If 'Super Coach' Bennett picks the same squad as McNamara will we admit that they are actually our best players and not just the favourites?

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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Walmsley has been poor so far this season (missed a bad tackle last night leading to a Catalan try); he shouldn't be anywhere near an England shirt. 

 

I thought Ferres was playing well in a poor Leeds side before his injury.

 

Christ that's very very harsh, unduly harsh in my opinion. You mention the missed tackle and ignore the massive runs he made in the first half. In fact, he basically carried our pack.

He hasn't reached last season's standards yet, but 'shouldn't be anywhere near an England shirt'?

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