England Squad Named

[roughyedspud]

The problem with mascord is that it's he! That's been pushing these Aussies into the England team..aided and abetted by the RFL who keep publishing his nonsense on rugby-league.com

[wackojacko]

1 hour ago, Allora said:

Steven Mascord?

http://www.rugby-league.com/article/38953/we-got-issues-heritage-players

It must have some depth then......

For Christ's sake, it was a hypothetical comment. And no, this was way before that in any case. If I can be any clearer, had DCE felt he was English (who am I to say for a bloke with an English mother?) and decided he wanted to play for us (at the time before he'd played for Oz) then I'd have been OK seeing him in an England shirt. Heighington isn't good enough.

Here you go: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/england-in-bid-for-manly-sea-eagles-star-daly-cherry-evans-as-2011-nrl-grand-final-looms/news-story/e252a997ecb96bd523935c6991825e27

[Allora]

Just now, roughyedspud said:

The problem with mascord is that it's he! That's been pushing these Aussies into the England team..aided and abetted by the RFL who keep publishing his nonsense on rugby-league.com

I will not read Mascords articles at all.

[JonM]

5 minutes ago, Allora said:

Steven Mascord?

http://www.rugby-league.com/article/38953/we-got-issues-heritage-players

It must have some depth then......

I'm struggling to follow your point here. You're quoting an Aussie journalist who listed a bunch of players who qualify for England, none of whom actually played for England.

Every country has made some selections which looked bad even at the time (Australia picking Carroll after he had played against Australia in a world cup final, England picking Rangi Chase.) I don't think there's anyone in the England squad that I feel uncomfortable about them playing for us, other than on the grounds of being past it.

[Allora]

Just now, wackojacko said:

For Christ's sake, it was a hypothetical comment. And no, this was way before that in any case. If I can be any clearer, had DCE felt he was English (who am I to say for a bloke with an English mother?) and decided he wanted to play for us (at the time before he'd played for Oz) then I'd have been OK seeing him in an England shirt. Heighington isn't good enough.

Here you go: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/england-in-bid-for-manly-sea-eagles-star-daly-cherry-evans-as-2011-nrl-grand-final-looms/news-story/e252a997ecb96bd523935c6991825e27

Don't blow a blood vessel Wacko.

You made a comment and I replied, it is the way these Forum thing's work.

DCE may feel really English when he is 33 or 34 perhaps.

 

 

[Allora]

Just now, JonM said:

I'm struggling to follow your point here. You're quoting an Aussie journalist who listed a bunch of players who qualify for England, none of whom actually played for England.

Every country has made some selections which looked bad even at the time (Australia picking Carroll after he had played against Australia in a world cup final, England picking Rangi Chase.) I don't think there's anyone in the England squad that I feel uncomfortable about them playing for us, other than on the grounds of being past it.

Steve Mascord in my opinion fishes for reactions and comes up with some implausible concepts that only the very gullible would swallow.

Regardless what happened back in the day with Tonie Carroll the rules have changed.

My understanding is that  players from the "Big Three" can not interchange their loyalties once they have been capped.

The Morris Twins and DCE have been capped many times.

Its just rubbish.

[roughyedspud]

4 minutes ago, Allora said:

Don't blow a blood vessel Wacko.

You made a comment and I replied, it is the way these Forum thing's work.

DCE may feel really English when he is 33 or 34 perhaps.

 

 

DCE can feel as English as he want..but you cannot move from tier 1 to tier 1....end of story

[wackojacko]

1 hour ago, Allora said:

Don't blow a blood vessel Wacko.

You made a comment and I replied, it is the way these Forum thing's work.

DCE may feel really English when he is 33 or 34 perhaps.

Yeah, just didn't like the way you kept misrepresenting what I said.

[Allora]

1 minute ago, wackojacko said:

Yeah, just didn't like the way you kept misrepresenting what I said.

Ok.

I apologise, I did not realise  I was twisting your words.

[Southerner]

Due to NZ in turmoil this is an amazing chance of us to at least make the final and we screw ourselves over; Hardaker's mistake means we now have to settle for a below average FB (Sam Tomkins should've been called up) and the following players aren't good enough to play at the top level:

- Kevin Brown, Chris Heighington, Jonny Lomax, Stefan Ratchford.

Regarding the starting lineup, Ryan Hall is past his best, there's big question marks over Percival and assuming one of either Lomaz or Ratchford will play FB then that's three weak areas. For these reasons I think it will be tough.

[Dr Tim Whatley]

30 minutes ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

Saturday's game at Old Trafford for starters.

Wait..he played in that? 

[Allora]

8 minutes ago, Southerner said:

Due to NZ in turmoil this is an amazing chance of us to at least make the final and we screw ourselves over; Hardaker's mistake means we now have to settle for a below average FB (Sam Tomkins should've been called up) and the following players aren't good enough to play at the top level:

- Kevin Brown, Chris Heighington, Jonny Lomax, Stefan Ratchford.

Regarding the starting lineup, Ryan Hall is past his best, there's big question marks over Percival and assuming one of either Lomaz or Ratchford will play FB then that's three weak areas. For these reasons I think it will be tough.

I agree with most of your post.

The pack is ok

The halves could go either way

The outside backs will do ok against some of the lower ranked teams but may struggle in attack and defense against the better teams.
You have to score more than you let in to win a game, its simple but sums it up in a few words.

This is why England is unlikely to win the World Cup in 2017.

They do not have the lethal players in attack to unlock Australia's and other teams defenses and they do not have the structure in defense to hold out more than they score IMO.

I would like to see England play out of their skin and win this Tournament but with the players available and the ones selected I can not see it.

[usain bolt]

I think England are an outside back short. If an injury to a winger occurs the cover looks very short, maybe a backrow to centre, Bateman/Currie, and Percival to wing or even lomax. Not ideal I fear at test level against the top ranked teams. 

A halve, probably brown, should have been sacrificed. Oloughlin /ratchford/lomax could all cover half as a fourth choice. Makinson would have been my suggestion as the extra outside back, who can also play fullback if necessary, if / when injuries occur. Eden could have also filled this role.

The rest of the squad looks pretty strong, and probably most people could have predicted 18-20 of those players selected. Whether it's strong enough to win the competition is another question but with the players available I think it's probably about as strong as England can offer. 

[DoubleD]

So rumour has it that Stevie Ward might now represent Wales lol

[Scubby]

1 hour ago, Allora said:

Ratchford has 1 Test Cap earned this year at aged 29

Lomax  has 3 Caps from 2016 aged 27

Hardly strike Fullbacks at the top level.

I would have given Tomkins a spot in the squad, can he have gone from the best in Super League to not in contention in the space of 3 years? he was going to be the player of his generation at one stage.

How old was Maloney when he got his first Australian cap?

[Scubby]

1 hour ago, Dr Tim Whatley said:

The omission of Eden seems odd to me.

What am I missing?

His ability to hold onto the ball.

[Allora]

Just now, Scubby said:

How old was Maloney when he got his first Australian cap?

He was 30, a fair bit younger when he was picked for the Prime Ministers squad v PNG
He has had some serious contenders in front of him though.
Are you comparing the two cases?

Maybe Lockyer, Thurston and Cronk should have retired earlier.

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, Scubby said:

His ability to hold onto the ball.

Kept hold enough to score 38 tries this season ?

[Scubby]

Just now, Allora said:

He was 30, a fair bit younger when he was picked for the Prime Ministers squad v PNG
He has had some serious contenders in front of him though.
Are you comparing the two cases?

Nope just saying you cannot judge when a player will play international RL by age. Ratchford has been in and around squads for a number of years. What the hell has the PMXIII got to do with it? That is England Knights-esque.

[Scubby]

Just now, Spidey said:

Kept hold enough to score 38 tries this season ?

I saw enough demons on Saturday to be happy with his omission.

[Spidey]

Just now, Scubby said:

I saw enough demons on Saturday to be happy with his omission.

Yeah can understand that. I just don't want to see Watkins or Percival having to play on the wing

[Allora]

Just now, Scubby said:

Nope just saying you cannot judge when a player will play international RL by age. Ratchford has been in and around squads for a number of years. What the hell has the PMXIII got to do with it? That is England Knights-esque.

No, the England knights is just an aberration.

The Prime Ministers 17 is a squad of  players that are on the fringe of selection but do not get a Test Cap as its a development game to promote the Sport in PNG.

 

 

 

[Scubby]

Just now, Spidey said:

Yeah can understand that. I just don't want to see Watkins or Percival having to play on the wing

Makinson was actually the obvious choice there. Comfortable at wing and full back. Ratchford is obviously there to cover 1, 2, 3, 6

[Scubby]

Just now, Allora said:

No, the England knights is just an aberration.

The Prime Ministers 17 is a squad of  players that are on the fringe of selection but do not get a Test Cap as its a development game to promote the Sport in PNG

I know what it is, and if Beau Ryan and Api Koroisau have been selected for this team it tells you all you need to know.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, Dr Tim Whatley said:

The omission of Eden seems odd to me.

What am I missing?

I suspect, Tim, that you are missing nothing.  Rather, I sense that it is Bennett that is missing something, namely - and inevitably - having his finger on the week-by-week pulse of the SL season.  That weakness manifests itself on an inclination to play 'safe' with players of past reputation even though they may have lost their best edge - Brown and Hall are examples - at the expense of the currently exciting options, such as Eden and Makinson.  

The inclusion of Heighington is arguably a variation of the same point.  In other words, Bennett sees and knows of what this player does routinely; he will not have such a well rounded, easily secured view of the SL based alternatives.