OMEGA

Gallen had it painfully illustrated to him that Boxing has a skill set that can’t just be picked up in your late 30s over a short period of time. you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of. Sam Burgess punch though

Why is it off topic

He’s had a good career which he’s done on his own merit, it can’t have been easy carrying the Jason Robinson legacy on his shoulders. Best of Luck to him

I’ve had cause to work with Rob Hicks in the past and have since often chatted with him when our paths have crossed. I have always found him to be honest, friendly & to have great professional integrity. He was a Referee so I get why some will never take to him but I’ve had the chance to really get to know him and he’s a good bloke!

Kevin Sinfield Prove me wrong, you won’t be able to because I’m right !

In fact, the WF Post Code (Wakefield) produces the most professional players in the game and is vital to the general health of playing stock. LS Post Codes (Leeds) by comparison produce relatively poor numbers of professional players!

I wouldn’t argue too vehemently against your opinion but I don’t share it

If there are players who IMO are better in a position than Ellery was then how can I term him the master of that position. I find this attitude that Hanley must be picked ahead of everyone else a bit strange. Yes he was a superb player & a superb athlete but that doesn’t automatically make him the best ever Loose Forward or Greatest ever Stand Off. There are other candidates for those positions who might not have had Ellerys athleticism but nevertheless played the position better than him.

If you don’t want insults then think about the tone of your reply’s and maybe cut out the daft emojis Ive stated a couple of times that it’s My opinion, can you point to anywhere where I’ve stated anything I’ve written is a fact!

Depends what you want from your Loose Forward I suppose! I lean more towards a ball handler like Norton but Scullthorpe had the ability to do both and was a better defender than Norton

As I’ve stated a couple of times already but just for the hard of reading like you, IMO Hanley was an outstanding Rugby League player and a superb athlete who could play many positions to an extremely high standard. However there are specialists in all those positions who played that position better than Ellery. For example, Hanley played on the wing to great effect but would you pick him ahead of Offiah, Drummond or Robinson? By Master of a position I refer to being THE BEST in that position, that doesn’t take anything away from Hanley ability.

Ahead of who? was he a better centre than Schoffield or Newlove, no not in my opinion a better stand off than Tony Myler, not even close and he wasn’t better than Sculthorpe or Steve Norton at 13 He was an outstanding athlete who could play in many positions but historically he isn’t the master of any of them.

I didn’t read it as an actual team though, but a team of the players I’ve seen in my lifetime

As good as he was I can’t find a place for Ellery Who would you drop for him

Davies Drummond Schoffield Newlove Offiah T Myler Gregory Morley Roby Peacock A Farrel S Burgess Sculthorpe Subs Long, Norton, T Skerrett, Ward

In short, Crucially and most important of all, the amateur game needs huge support and help getting the playing numbers back up. Schools competitions play a vitally important role in this, therefore more resources need pouring into getting schools to play the game. The path to professional level needs to be clearly visible right the way through age limit Rugby League and into Open age. The International Game needs to be paramount to everything and must have an annual calendar with headlining Test Matches or Series. Finaly we must get some of our star players into the public eye, whether that’s Paul Scullthorpe on Strictly Come Dancing, Jon Wilkin Captaining on A Question of Sport, Kevin Sinfield on Question Time, Sean O’Loughlin on Celebrity SAS or Sam Tomkins on Ninja Warrior.

It’s an interesting question but I think Leeds isn’t the best example. What if. . Someone in Wakefield decided to spend their Euromillions win on a new club, built a 14,000 state of the art stadium with world class training facilities. Then set about forging close links with all of the amateur clubs, supporting them financially, getting pro players involved with their juniors and offering them reduced entry to their games. Finally investing in the team with quality players and a couple of real headline signings like Mitchell Pearce, Benjie Marshall or Cameron Smith Woukd such a club eventually eclipse Trinity? I think that’s more possible than a second Leeds team overtaking The Rhinos

Welsby May well forcibly displace Tomkins over the next 12 months or dependent upon their development he could be at either halfback position. I expect Dodd, Price and Mike Lewis to really kick on over the next year.

The alternative team 12 months from now could look very different and could offer a much greater threat across the team than today’s selection. Tompkins Makinson Newman Farnworth Johnstone Pryce Dodd Walmsley Clarke Burgess Whitehead Currie Knowles Subs: Lewis, Thompson, Sutton, Oledski Welsby, Hill, Walker, King, Wardle, Havard, Bateman, McShane, McMeekin, Lee’s, Widdop, Ratchford amongst others to put pressure on those in the team

Whilst I know this isn’t the England World Cup team I do think it’s served to illustrate that certain players should not be considered for the World Cup. Reece Lyne is not good enough & has no fine Centre skills Zak Hardaker is too easy to defend and dominate Farrell runs great lines but is too small to play against the Top Tier teams Bateman on the form of the last 12 months has lost that je ne sais quoi that helped to compensate for his small stature Philbins game is ineffective at International level Leeming is not a replacement half, maybe at Hooker but we don’t know Oledski needs to find some fire and aggression to make his size tell on the defences

To be fair, this isn’t the World Cup team either!

That’s why Lyne isn’t international standard! None of the subtle skills that real class centres need to possess.

Team of young England available players not selected Welsby (Sts) Young (Newcastle Knights) Farnworth (Brisbane) Broadbent (Leeds) Ashton (Warrington) Pryce (Huddersfield) Dodd (Sts) Havard (Wigan) O’Neil (Castleford) English (Huddersfield) Bentley (Sts) Pearce-Paul (Wigan) Smith (Leeds) Subs: Lewis (HKR) Gannon (Leeds) Partington (Wigan) Holdroyd (Leeds)

Farnworth now has 2 back to back seasons where he’s made some well informed judges sit up and take notice. On current standing and with another season in the NRL under his belt, he will have a very strong case for a Centre spot in the England World Cup squad.

So, after falsely accusing SB of intimidation, to which he was found ‘Not Guilty’. Then making a string of false allegations (50 page document) of physical & mental abuse toward his ex wife which have subsequently been dismissed after a police investigation. All of which have resulted in Sam Burgess having a breakdown, losing access to his children, having to stand down from his post playing Rugby League career, losing vast amounts of money & defaming his name. Should the Hooke family just get to just walk away without any consequences for their campaign to ruin Sam Burgess? I have to say, from the outset I was convinced that Sam’s ex father in law was orchestrating a vicious retaliation against SB for having the audacity to embarrass his daughter by cheating on her.