Dunbar

I would like to see Ethan Havard get some game time at Wigan this year as he could be very special. Tall rangy front row forward who was great against the Aussies and one of the youngest on the pitch. Tom Holroyd will be a great prop as well. And Harry Smith of course at half back but I worry with Hastings arriving at Wigan his chances will be limited.

This is my choice too. Probably the only game in my lifetime where we completely outplayed the Australians for 80 minutes and the score reflected it.

Newman is already a better centre than Hardaker or Jack Hughes and he will be miles better than them this time next year.

Man moving from Rugby Union to Rugby League talks up Rugby League shock. For that type of money it is the minimum we should expect.

What I think is cloud cuckoo land stuff is saying that a centre who is an exceptional talent and who will be 20 years old next year is nowhere near test standard a year before the series even starts. A full season is a huge amount of time in the development of a player. Who on here had heard of Payne Haas or Morgan Smithies a year ago and now look at how they are developing as players. This is the type of thinking that leads us to playing a 27 year old second row in the centre in a team with an average age of 29 and getting beat 28-10 by PNG. Give these kids a go.

I would say he has all the attributes necessary to be successful yes.

and... wouldn't it be great to have a global star and a current Union test player move to League after seeing so much movement in the other direction in the last two decades.

Alongside Smithies and the likes of Lees who have already cemented first team spots I would say Oliver Wilson, Tom Holroyd and Ethan Havard are the next generation of England forwards. Holroyd and Havard in particular could be very special.

This is typical of the attitude of the UK fans when it come to new talent. Morgan Smithies broke the Super League tackling record in a play off game and yet he hasn't proved himself at Super League level! Harry Newman is one of the stand out outside backs of his generation and starred in the series against the Australian Schoolboys (among others). When Nick Cotric and Latrell Mitchell starred at junior level they went on to be selected for State and National teams because of their talents and yet we say a player like Newman won't even be ready in another 12 months.

I have pretty consistently said that I believe that England (or Great Britain) should do what the Australians do which is pick the best team available every time they select their national side. It doesn't matter how many caps a player has or how young or old they are... just pick the best team. I have just had a look backwards through the forum to see if I could find a Great Britain squad that I advocated picking before the tour started. If I didn't advocate selecting Smithies or Newman back then I will not be hypocritical to say that they should have been there in hindsight. What I do believe is that if we see both Smithies and Newman develop as hoped I can easily see them in the Ashes series and if the likes of Welsby and Holroyd (as examples) develop as hoped then they could easily be in the World Cup squad in two years time.

I disagree. I think the current crop of 17 to 20 year olds in the game are better than we have seen in a very long time.

I personally think we are far too slow to identify and bring new talent into the national team. Payne Haas and Morgan Smithies have both played exactly the same number of first team games and yet the former is already a State of Origin and Kangaroo representative. I fully expect many people to say it is too soon for Morgan Smithies though if he is in line for an England jersey next year.

I will be there. I have waited a long long time to see us beat the Kangaroos. Maybe next year will be the one, maybe it won't but I will still be there because when we do win it will be something very special and I don't intent to miss it.

There were loads of shortcomings in this Great Britain team. But in particular pace and athleticism in the backs and creativity in the halves. With another 12 months of development behind them (and assuming fit and healthy players) there is potentially a very different look for the Ashes. Full back: This is a very difficult position for England as full back is now the most important attacking position in Rugby League and our cupboard is very bare. Neither Hardaker (poor passing game) or Lomax (lack of pace) are world class. Let's hope the likes of Jack Walker or Jack Welsby (perhaps for 2021) can step up. Wings: If fit and firing then Makinson and Johnston are our best. Manfredi comes into the mix if he can regain form and fitness. Centres: Again we need athletic centres who offer a threat with ball in hand. For me this is Percival and Gildart with Harry Newman the best of the new breed at the moment. Stand off: Widdop was hugely disappointing in this last tour and if he is a standout for Wire in 2020 it says a lot about our comp. Depending on the half back I would go for a running and creative stand off and I think Williams in 2018 did a reasonable job. Scrum half: Jackson Hastings. Why, because he is the best available half we have and we should let him boss the team like he did at Salford and he will at Wigan. Harry Smith offered the best young half back performance I have seen against the Australian Schoolboys last time out but with Hastings to Wigan I am struggling to see how he will fulfil his potential. Middle Forwards: Tom Burgess, Thompson and Walmsley are nailed on if fit. Watts should be in as well. Again I would add some athleticism and youth in the likes of Matty Lees and Morgan Smithies. We need to see the likes of Oliver Wilson and Tom Holroyd fulfil their potential as well. Like Widdop, it will be interesting to see how George Burgess goes at Wigan. Edge forwards: Bateman and Whitehead (although the latter disappointed in this tour). I have always liked Greenwood as he has size which is valuable at this level. Hooker: The best combination for England is Roby and Clark. They both suit our style far more than Hodgson. I would have Roby in the ashes squad even if we didn't have him in 2021 for the World Cup. An ashes win is worth it. 1. Walker 2. Makinson 3. Gildart 4. Percival 5. Johnstone 6. Williams 7. Hastings 8. T. Burgess 9. Roby 10. Thompson 11. Bateman 12. Whitehead 13. Smithies 14. Walmsely 15. Clark 16. Lees 17. Watts For 2021 I would hope to see Welsby at full back and Newman in the centre and some more of the talented young forwards coming into contention.

I'm not that bothered about teams trying to wind a game down 20 points up and taking the 2 with 5 to go. Its teams taking the 2 when 0-0 with 15 gone that I don't like (and something we definitely mocked Union for). We.used to attack at every opportunity... I am also pretty sure that the teams taking the 2 aren't necessarily grinding out a result.

The best teams do both the process and the flair though. Look at the Roosters, they are disciplined and hard working and they complete their sets. But this earns them the right to be extravagant and play with flair when they see the chance to attack. We try to earn the right to play and then either don't or (more likely) can't at the moment.

I think we are on different wavelengths tonight. I thought you were critical of his description of Burgess as one of GB's best today.

I thought Burgess was one of the better players for Great Britain today... along with McGilvary. In fact I think Burgess has been our best forward and best player across the 4 games. He did his job well which you can't say for many of the others.

There is no way Bennett would pick 57 year old Gavin Hastings for Britain... he was nowhere near the NRL.

Well, I'm hapoy to declare myself an England fan and we got to the World Cup final in 2017 and beat the Kiwis 3 games to 1 last year. Bring on the Ashes!

I agree. I have defended Tom Burgess a lot over the last couple of years so I didn't want to go there again but I think he is one of the very few players to come out of this tour with his reputation intact.

Well done PNG.

I know that after this game people will bring out the usual names and say they are past it etc. and McGilvary will be in them but I think he has been the best on the park for Great Britain. Most run metres and twice as many tackle breaks as any other British player. I thought he tried his heart out all night.

At least there would be something positive from the tour!

Great performance from PNG. The 28-10 scoreline enough is remarkable but even more so considering they were 10-0 down.