WN83

The NRL won't allow players to play Wednesday, get on the lash and back up from Friday onwards because they care about player welfare. They tell us this when ideas of WCC's or extra internationals are thrown around.

I think the clubs who'd be happy to vote it through are the clubs either trying to (quickly) bridge the gap to clubs above them and have some finance behind them or clubs who are up towards the top but have academies that aren't yet producing many first team quality players. I don't agree with them, if that is the case but can understand it to a small degree. If any clubs not falling in those categories voted for it, they're a joke.

I'd love to know who voted for this. If clubs like Wigan, Saints and Leeds did, I do not get that in the slightest because they don't need it and have been rewarded handsomely for their hard work in developing players, by winning all the Superleague titles on offer since 1996 (along with Bradford). It would be a real backwards move for a club like Warrington, who are getting their act together on youth development as well and other clubs like Huddersfield and Wakefield have had some success in bringing players through. I can name 3 or 4 clubs I'd have expected to want it but I don't know how it got to a majority. As somebody who wants Catalans in the league but would like more focus to be put on developing French players, if they voted for it, then that is extremely disappointing.

Bad IMO. There is no incentive for clubs to work hard to get participation numbers up in their areas or to invest more in to their academies. Instead, they can just take more of the short cuts they've been taking for the last X amount of years and hope it translates in to (short term) on field success. The game as a whole needs to stop looking for quick fixes and put some long term planning in place.

We'll see how it goes. I think it's a traditional view to say we can give it to them in the forwards but can't live with them in the backs. I'm not sure that will be the case this time around. I don't think we're as strong in the forwards as we've been traditionally but we're better in the backs. Guys like Farnworth, Welsby, Lewis, Wardle etc would get in many of our teams that have played Australia in the past 20/30 years. I don't think there are many of the forwards we'd say the same about but the hope is that the Aussies might not be as strong in that area as traditionally the case either.

Saw a little bit of Schofield on the Matty Johns show and it was really good to see some of his highlights from his time in Australia. He was some player, that's for sure. I'm not sure he's quite as on the ball as a pundit and I certainly didn't agree with his opinion that it's our backs that will prove our weakness against the Aussies but the pack will be fine. I would have it the other way round. I think the backline is as good as it's been in a very long time but the pack is a bit of an unknown and we're probably reliant on the Aussies not being as strong as usual in that area.

What I'm hoping and half expecting is that the gap between games against the Aussies has removed that mental baggage players of the past carried. This group of players are a mix of lads who compete and excel in the NRL and a number of them only have experience of playing against Australia in a winning academy series and in successful World Club Challenge games. It's obviously a huge step up but the inferiority complex shouldn't be there. Go at them, get in there faces and scrap for every single inch and we can give them a game. I think we will do that tbh.

I think that fair and how it should be. Don't rule anybody out or in yet and then consider all the factors come early October. I've always had guys like Smith and O'Neill in my squad and 17 but if they're still playing like they are currently, come the end of the season, they'd be out without any question. Even guys like Nsemba and Wardle need to buck up their ideas because being more talented than your rivals for positions isn't enough, if you're not playing anywhere near your best.

I must admit, thinking to those Leeds teams has been a raft I've been clinging to these last few weeks. Things are nowhere near as bad as it got at times for Leeds (although it doesn't feel like we're second) but I do think we probably lack a couple of huge characters/leaders like Peacock and Sinfield to keep everyone calm. I would however be really surprised if we don't hit form at some point this season and if it's timed right, it'll take a big performance to beat this Wigan side (unlike the last couple of years though, I do think there at least a couple of teams capable of producing something that might be enough).

It's not 'the criteria' IMO but it is part of the criteria. There is a difference. How could you ever pick on form alone? how long does 'form' need to last? do we go from the start of this season? the last 5 years? just the big finals? base it just on the last month of the season? or even just the Grand Final? (as that will be the last game before the Ashes). My thoughts on selection are that it should be based on talent, the players character, how do they perform in the biggest games and general form over the whole course of that season. If people want to rule out Wigan players right now, fair enough, the 'current form' is really poor (bar Marshall) but it wasn't the case a couple of months ago and IMO, is unlikely to be the case in a couple of months time. There's plenty of money in the bank for them yet, so we'll see how things play out.

And Leigh deserved the win, in a reasonably big game. Do I think Wigan were as mentally invested in the game as they could be? probably not because for whatever reason, they're just not there at the minute. I think it's a motivation issue, rather than talent. I said to you on here before the game, I expected Leigh to want it more and it came down to exactly that. Go and look at difference in effort on that Ipape try, between the Leigh support runners and Jake Wardle and Harry Smith or maybe more to the point, look at that effort Hanley put in to trap Marshall in goal, compared to those efforts (disgrace calling it that) from Wardle and Smith. The attitude is so far off at the minute but that's pretty standard stuff for this group, at this time of the year, every year. Maybe that should cost you an England place, I don't know. I'm confident they'll turn it though and get back to their best because they have plenty of history of doing that as well. If they do, then I expect everyone totally focused on 'form' will want Wigan's players back in.

Burgess isn't better than Marshall in the air. He's taller, yes but not better. He makes errors under the high ball defensively and isn't much of a threat trying to take them in attack. As a fan of a club they've all played multiple games for, I feel quite comfortably the most at ease when a high kick goes near Marshall. If it's all about height when they're defending kicks, we may as well stick Sam Walters out there. Even though Handley is playing centre, he would be my next wing choice after Young, Johnstone and Marshall.

In terms of Marshall's height, it would be a concern for me as well, especially if he was opposite Lomax or Coates but he's that far clear of his rivals in other areas, I don't see how you leave him out the squad. Those Aussie wingers could pick any of our lads pockets, as they do in the NRL. I would have Young, Johnstone and Marshall in the squad and probably in that order, so that leaves Marshall up against guys like Davies, Burgess, Thewlis etc. I've watched Davies, Burgess and Marshall throughout their whole careers and Marshall is the best of the 3 under a high ball. The other two gave me palpitations dealing with kicks and Burgess in particular proves it isn't all about height. Thewlis would obviously be in the same bracket as Marshall in not being the tallest (but I'd again say he's good under a high ball). As for Friday being a big game. It was to a degree and I think we saw that in the Wigans players attitudes in the first half but they fell away drastically in the second half. It's not a dig at Leigh to say that in the Grand scheme of the games these Wigan players have played in and performed well in over the past 3 years or so, a mid season game against Leigh wouldn't be at the top of their list of games that get them going. That's a dig at some of those Wigan players, they should be doing more.

There's no doubt as a Wigan fan that most of our payers form isn't good enough at the minute but it'll turn and as I always say with an international team, you never pick solely on form. In saying that, there are a couple who won't (or shouldn't anyway) get picked playing as they are currently (Havard, O'Neill, Nsemba and Smith) but at their best, they're all within our best 24 players IMO and I just don't see this lull lasting long enough that they all start missing out. One player I'd back all the way in terms of form, who was mentioned above is Liam Marshall. His form has been fantastic throughout the year and even on Friday, he gave it everything, when clearly nowhere near fully fit. He carries the ball from our end time and again, causing defences loads of problems and unlike many wingers, the lad can play with the ball, is great at linking up with others in space and he's brought his game on massively this past couple of years. Him and Matty Ashton are clear as the two best wingers in Superleague IMO and there's no question he deserves a place in the squad. One thing Marshall has over some of the other Wigan lads is that he's ultra competitive and seems the sort who'd want to win a game of tiddlywinks, so unlikely some of our other players, he doesn't hit a lull. A few of our lads look a bit like they're bored at the minute and just fancy turning up for the big games (which they will), which is frustrating to say the least.

Union-No idea. I don't really care who wins and don't have a clue who are favourites. I do know Andy Farrell is a great leader, so total guess of 2-1 to the Lions. Rugby League-I think we'll shock a few with how competitive we'll be. I expect the Aussies to take the series but they won't have it all their own way. I'll go 2-1 to the Aussies Cricket-It's so difficult to know what to expect from this England team from game to game, let alone in an Ashes down under. Stokes needs to stop being so pig headed with the tosses and team selection if we're to win. Guys like Crawley, Pope and Bashir aren't consistent enough/good enough. If we get selection right, I'll go with a 2-2 draw. It's extremely tough to win in Oz and that would be a positive result.