With Wayne Bennett admitting at his press conference on Monday that he will leave out most of the Wigan and Warrington players who appeared in the Grand Final earlier this month, it makes team selections slightly more straightforward for the England coach this Saturday in France.
“The guys from Warrington and Wigan probably won’t play. Everyone else needs the games,” admitted Bennett earlier this week. “They have had more games than probably everyone else, so another week won’t hurt them being out. I will sit one of them on the bench but will probably not play him if I don’t have to.”
Sam Burgess’ suspension means that, without the captain and the players who played in the Grand Final, Bennett has 16 players at his disposal – which means it’s certain someone will have to be on the bench. But if they don’t play, here’s how England should line up on Saturday evening.
Fullback: Jonny Lomax (St Helens)
Wing: Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield)
Centre: Mark Percival (St Helens)
Centre: Kallum Watkins (Leeds)
Wing: Ryan Hall (Leeds)
Stand-off: Gareth Widdop (St George)
Scrum-half: Luke Gale (Castleford)
Prop: James Graham (Canterbury)
Hooker: Josh Hodgson (Canberra)
Prop: Scott Taylor (Hull FC)
Second-row: Stevie Ward (Leeds)
Second-row: Elliott Whitehead (Canberra)
Loose-forward: Mike Cooper (St George)
Subs: Tom Burgess, George Burgess, Kevin Brown, one Wigan/Warrington player
What do you think? Is that how England will line up? Let us know on social media @leagueexpress and @rlworld.
