England Elite Performance Squad

[roughyedspud]

1 hour ago, Odsal Outlaw said:

Interesting that the BBC article states England will compete in the World 9s in the Autumn - I hadn’t seen that confirmed anywhere else to date?

How to confuse Australian commentators.....send England & GB down under at the same time...

[Dunbar]

10 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

Who are the NRL players? Burgess x3, Graham, Whitehead, Hodgson, Bateman, Widdop, ......

Ryan Hall.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

16 hours ago, Number 16 said:

Thirty strikes me as being the correct number. 13 v 13 training runs and plenty of competition for places. 

Then surely 26 is the correct number........

I jest and see your point - my original comments however are mainly pointing aim at the fact 20 of these players won't be picked for a test squad. Added to that the 20 or so 'knights' players you have 40 odd players part of the England set up which IMO is too many. Others will disagree. 

[Dunbar]

2 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Then surely 26 is the correct number........

I jest and see your point - my original comments however are mainly pointing aim at the fact 20 of these players won't be picked for a test squad. Added to that the 20 or so 'knights' players you have 40 odd players part of the England set up which IMO is too many. Others will disagree. 

I don't see any downsides. It creates a pool of players who are being introduced to the English management team who can get to know them and it allows players who are not around the likes of Sean O'Loughlin and James Roby to see how they train and interact with teammates. 

Anything that can raise the professional standards of our elite pool of players is a good thing, for both the national team and the domestic competition. 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

38 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I don't see any downsides. It creates a pool of players who are being introduced to the English management team who can get to know them and it allows players who are not around the likes of Sean O'Loughlin and James Roby to see how they train and interact with teammates. 

Anything that can raise the professional standards of our elite pool of players is a good thing, for both the national team and the domestic competition. 

I think it dilutes the pool and cheapens the term 'elite' - too many average players there IMO. 

 

Edit: Also, if Paul McShane isn't in either the EPS or Knights squad then I don't trust whatever selection process they're using. 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

Knights squad..... 

 

 

[Bleep1673]

4 from the 10th placed team, 2 from the bottom team & non at all from the 4th placed team? Do the selectors go to matches? or do they just chose players from the better supported teams, regardless of their form?

[Dunbar]

13 minutes ago, Bleep1673 said:

4 from the 10th placed team, 2 from the bottom team & non at all from the 4th placed team? Do the selectors go to matches? or do they just chose players from the better supported teams, regardless of their form?

Who would you swap in from Salford and who would you replace?

[Denton Rovers RLFC]

3 hours ago, Saint 1 said:

He wasn't in the top 20 for metres made in 2017. Walmsley was top with 4,256m. For comparison, McMeeken was 20th with 2,717m. 

He wasn't in the top 20 for tackles bust in 2017. Walmsley was 7th with 80. For comparison, Johnson was 20th with 66.

Best prop in SL? Seriously? 

IMO he was the best prop in SL, as you full well know metres made isn't always indicative, Watts is a ball handling prop in the James Graham mould, Walmesley isn't, and yes, AW is a top player. There were many head scratching outside of Hull at Watts omission. Either way, he's in the elite squad now and he's a Cas player so it's no real skin off my nose if he gets selected or not but I think it was an injustice to him and indeed lost us something that we could have had but it's all history. If he gets picked for an England match I want him to perform just as I would any player from any team when they pull the national jersey on.

[Bleep1673]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Who would you swap in from Salford and who would you replace?

No Idea, but have the selectors been to any games this season, or have they just chosen players from nominated teams? That would account for the Wigan/Leeds out of form team bias.

[Tommygilf]

14 minutes ago, Bleep1673 said:

No Idea, but have the selectors been to any games this season, or have they just chosen players from nominated teams? That would account for the Wigan/Leeds out of form team bias.

I believe the phrase is "form is temporary, class is permanent"