SilentAssassin

Yeah can't argue with that. Guess he is on the cusp of greatness still needs a couple more seasons of what he has produced recently and to do it on the international stage.

Agreed. Still a long way to go though to get Slater and Lockyer type status.

Possibly. He is in a very dominant team of which i would agree if said he is arguably the best player. Will be interesting to see how he does go over here. Where Slater played in a team that had players in front of him as 'the men to stop' for England in the past like Smith Cronk Inglis Lockyer i can't think of too many names in that current team besides him i would pick out. He will be under a lot of pressure.

Would you.One season. Ok, fantastic player right now. He hasn't proved it over multiple seasons yet like for example Slater. We will see. If he comes over here and tears us a new one next year i will tip my hat but until then...

I get what you are saying but i see a bit of NRL and at the minute bar a couple of players this current batch although still a very good team look far from world beaters they have in the past. Of course that could change quickly and probably will. I just hope we can turn things around ourselves over the next 12 months, its very frustrating watching this tour after seemingly having made great progress over the previous 2/3 years.

How many of the current Aussies will go on to be remembered in the same breath as the names i mentioned? Halves are nothing spectacular. Smith is still the best hooker in NRL and is retired from rep football. Full back is very good and pack is solid as always will be but no scary names in there. As said we can't take advantage of that as we have regressed alarmingly from the 2017 WC team who i believe would beat this current aussie team on home soil.

The problem there was the 80's and 90's Aussie team contained some of the best players of all time - Meninga, Kenny, Lewis, sterling, ET, Fitler, Johns, Daley in the halves and backs i could go on it was a conveyor belt not to mention the monsters in the pack like Harrogan, Lazarus, Sironen etc... Its all about timing and i don't think the current Aussie team is a vintage one and is there for the taking but it looks like we are back to square one and are going to still be a way behind them come next year.

Poor. Hopefully that's it for Bennett era. And plenty of that squad shouldn't see a shirt again. Great servants but Graham and Hill certainly won't be playing the WC so should move aside for others now. So many question marks going forward the complete backline shirts are up for grabs; the halves have been poor again. Hodgson just can't replicate for England GB and i would feel we go better with a Roby/ Clark combo. infact Only Bateman and Whitehead come out of this tour with reputations intact and certainties for the test series next year.

People sneering at Hughes in the centre but lets be honest Hardaker shouldn't have been there either for the first two games, and as long as we are solid down that flank should be ok.not expecting any fireworks but that hasn't even looked like remotely happening yet from any of the backs. Our best chance of victory is staying in the grind for an hour then look for Clark to create havoc late on like the last game and things could open up again and hope we take the chances that come this time.

That was pretty ordinary. Terrible kicking game again, in fact non existent. Awful last play decisions and dying with the ball. No creativity or promotion of the football until the last 15 minutes when we were forced to and we looked half decent when we did. The kiwis were there for the taking but we couldn't take advantage.awful tour so far and all the optimism around our international team has been drained away.

Bizarre call having Hardaker at Centre in the first place, the coach has to take the flak for that one. We looked like a side that have not played together for a long time and will benefit from that leading in to the games against NZ, it was close just need to sharpen up the attack way too predictable.fair play to Tonga they played that game like their lives depended on it and fully deserved the result.

Exactly. The All Blacks have thrived on such dominance the last decade. Of course they are beaten from time to time due to the sheer amount of internationals they play in Union.

67,600

Retire probably means coming to SL. That is how they see it down there. Anyway, will be a good chance for others to stake a claim. We have plenty of options in the pack and the likes of Burgess/Graham/Roby/SOL are nearing the end.

I will be rooting for Salford but i just don't see anything other than a Saints win if they can get anything close to their best. Of course the pressure is all on the Saints to win, even more so now it is Salford in the final and they still have the recent chokers tag to shake off so there lies the glimmer of hope that Saints may put in a performance akin to the CC one. Hoping for a good game and Salford can keep it a contest for at least an hour. I'm sure whatever happen their fans will enjoy the occasion.