costa

In the past you could argue that Watts' attitude and professionalism was not up to international standard. I don't think you could say that this season and I think his performances have improved too, so his omission is probably the biggest shock. I can't see how he's suffered from the inclusion of Hastings, Austin & Coote though. Philbin has had a great season so if any of the big men were to make way for Watts then I would point to Chris Hill. But we know Bennett likes players who have been in and around the setup and big matches for a while, hence the inclusion of Hughes, Hall and McGillvary (and Ward and O'Loughlin). The exception to this rule is Stefan Ratchford. Is he injured? Grace should consider himself unlucky, particularly following the late withdrawal of Makinson. The outside backs certainly look like the weak link. Connor is the nearest thing to a proper centre after Gildart; maybe one of the Canberra lads or Jack Hughes will fill that spot? My 17 would be: 1. Zak Hardaker 2. Jermain McGillvary 3. Oliver Gildart 4. Jake Connor 5. Ryan Hall 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Jackson Hastings 8. James Graham (c) 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Alex Walmsley 11. Elliott Whitehead 12. John Bateman 13. Luke Thompson 14. George Williams 15. Chris Hill 16. Josh Jones 17. Joe Philbin

Sympathetic to the OP and others, but personally - and I'll probably be pilloried for this - there's a bit of overkill on mental health/suicide/oktonotbeok at the moment. Not at all downplaying the importance of good mental health, it just seems to be everywhere at the moment.