bennett gone?

[RP London]

4 minutes ago, Dave T said:

I thought Philbin was excellent.

I was just about to say that.. 

I'd like to see Hastings behind Clarke and see what he can do with some quicker ball before I rule him out as well, maybe the same for Widdop... I would even look to switch widdop to fullback and lomax to stand off as i would say that would be the better way round for them (widdop was excellent at FB for England in the past, though i agree those days may be gone). And to rule out Austin before he has even played in his correct positions smacks of the anit heritage slant that we know Harry has (Hastings comment at least has some justification that he has been poor)

Graham and Hall are both too old/injury prone to be looked at for the next world cup IMHO

Hill has not had a great season and may well be passed it but its a bit early to say i would suggest, however, he should not have been on this tour.

[Dave T]

10 hours ago, JohnM said:

Yes indeed, which is why I think that choice of coach is not the main problem. We do seem to have a small talent pool and I don't see the incentive/ambition/opportunity  for that pool to grow. 

There is a risk of thread drift, but I think there are strategic issues and tactical ones. The coaching selections straddle both, but it is the tactical (as in short-term) performance which hasn't been good enough here, and is what is being questioned. 

I'd like to see more done on player development, but work is ongoing at grass-roots level.

But ultimately, we did not perform as a team, and lost in such a lacklustre way that questions need to be asked. In far too many games now, England/GB have looked terrible in attack. Versus the Aussies and Kiwis, in 8 games, we have been nilled twice, scored 1 try three times, and had decent wins versus the Kiwis in Denver, Hull and Liverpool. 5 out of 8 games the most we have scored is 1 try. That is an issue.

[Lowdesert]

18 hours ago, Dave T said:

There will always be negative comments when the team loses, but we have seen that in the last two WC's we have still ultimately lost the big games but the criticism hasn't been as loud, and that has been because there has been some positivity, which ultimately gives hope!

I feel really strongly about this, because I see the same happening at my club. Despite the cup win it is the first year where I have seriously questioned my interest in RL.

I think the game is at an important stage, where we need to remember that we are in the entertainments business.

The key thing is, we don’t play enough internationals.  We don’t have the mid season international break to give our best a chance to get used to playing together and the intensity.  Aussies have SoO.  I share the sentiment somewhat in that we’re stuck in a gear down.

Winning breeds confidence and the best will deliver.  We’ve had settled forwards and reasonable backs but the squad has had a forward or two drop out and two others at the end of their time.  IMO, it is a transient moment for the pack but the backs, specifically halves, are a conundrum. 

[Harry Stottle]

15 hours ago, Dave T said:

I thought Philbin was excellent.

In hindsight probably being a bit harsh on Philbin, but in the context of sitting there putting up with the dross we served up it was really hard to keep focus on each of them, I will suffer with watching the games again when I get back and give you a honest assessment on young Joe.

[Dave T]

7 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

In hindsight probably being a bit harsh on Philbin, but in the context of sitting there putting up with the dross we served up it was really hard to keep focus on each of them, I will suffer with watching the games again when I get back and give you a honest assessment on young Joe.

Rather you than me mate!

[RP London]

15 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

In hindsight probably being a bit harsh on Philbin, but in the context of sitting there putting up with the dross we served up it was really hard to keep focus on each of them, I will suffer with watching the games again when I get back and give you a honest assessment on young Joe.

Honestly don’t... you really don’t need to put yourself through that!

[The Future is League]

Here it says that if we lose today against PNG Bennett has gone

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-2019-wayne-bennett-great-britain-vs-papua-new-guinea-james-graham/news-story/2fdfc5e7dec374b7ada79d016736fd0c

[Nate90]

So many fascinating International shocks this autumn, however the performances series of games have been the worst I have seen from either Great Britain or England in my lifetime and that includes the nightmares that was the 1999 Tri Nations.  Wayne Bennett did a fantastic job with England for a couple of years but his selections have been odd for Britain especially ignoring the likes of the in form Regan Grace just because he does not fit into Bennett's conservative and safe tactics in addition to putting players out of position. It's as if this was just preparation for the World Cup in two years, a tournament in which I would be surprised if Wayne Bennet will coaching at.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Morale appears so low in this team. Are they just as baffled with the squad selection and tactics as us?

They didn't look interested today. They didn't look ready. They looked very unhappy.

[Chris22]

If Bennett's contract ran until 2021, then the RFL could simply take no action, and it would be a little easier for them.

As Bennett’s contract has now expired, the RFL’s hand is forced. They must either renew or release. Given the disappointment at this year’s results, renewing his contract is difficult to justify.

With tickets to sell for the Kangaroo tour next year and RLWC the year after, it is almost inevitable that Bennett will depart and be replaced.

[DoubleD]

So has he gone yet?

[OMEGA]

This isn’t hindsight as I said it before we played the first game.

I’d have taken the form fullback in SL, Niall Evalds.

I had no worries about McGilvery but in the absence of Makinson and Johnstone I’d have taken Tom Lynam, especially given the size of Tonga’s, New Zealand’s and PNGs wingmen. Others to consider would be, Charley, Burgess or even sound out Nualago. One thing we need to get back to is selecting wingers who have threatening speed from anywhere and are finishers. Being able to bring the ball out of our 20 should be a bonus not the main attribute!

If we don’t have first choice centres then we must pick second choice or third choice centres but simply DO NOT play second rowers in the centre.

Tomkins may not be everyone’s cup of tea but he has been in great form for Catalan and was the form player in the 9s. Why OH why was he not in this GB squad which sorely lacked leadership!

[RugbyLeagueGeek]

I reckon there could've been an equally if not more competitive side picked from players who didn't play in today's 17. A big concern for me is that people who are seemingly shoe-ins for the current squad are going to be really long in the tooth come the WC. I think it's highly unlikely that the likes of Graham, Hill, Hall, and McGillvary will be still in the frame in 2 years' time, and Whitehead and Hodgson will both be 32. O'Loughlin is surely done at that level also. If Bennett's been planning ahead, then he ain't been planning very far ahead!

I'd much rather they'd gone with some younger form players like Watts and Battye in the middle. There are plenty of wingers who should have been in there on merit over Austin - Grace, Lynam, Charnley, Burgess, even Marshall. Josh Jones has been a bit of a positive for me (although who knows why he didn't play today - was he injured?) but you could also have argued that the likes of Evalds and Bibby from Salford were also worth a punt given their form. We've also got some good youngsters coming through in Newman and Walker at Leeds, the Seniors at Huddersfield, and Jack Welsby at Saints.

I'm far more disappointed at the lack of any foresight and anything resembling a well-thought out gameplan, than I am at the depth of the player pool. If only there was a mid-season European Championships where loads of players could get experience playing together at a higher level...

[kiwis 13 6]

Wayne Bennett's record of wining NRL premierships with at 2 different clubs, State of Origin Series, Australia, assistant coach when Kiwis Won World Cup in 2009! However i just dont think Bennett's coaching style and game plan suit the England or GB style of play. Even in the World Cup England were lucky to hang on to beat Tonga in the semi final and was a very competitive game against Australia in the final but again England looked short of creative ideas. England beat Kiwis 2 -1 at home but Kiwi side were in a rebuilding phase & if a couple unusual refs decisions in 1st 2 games went the other way Kiwis could have won that series. 

GB should have had one or two warm up games to build and test combinations against likes of an NZ residents & NZ Maori. Instead of just jumping straight into 4 test matches back to back. But that wasnt the case, Bennett's squad selection was poor, his failure to grasp the concept of GB, Regan Graces deserved to be in GB squad on merit, Is the best current Welsh player and damm sure a better winger than Blake Austin, Calling up of another winger i forget his name and then he isnt even selected. Attacking just did not ever look threatening how are you going to win a game if you cant score points. But the biggest thing is 0 -4 whitewash. Bennett's contract is up and this tour was not a good advert for renewing it. 

[Man of Kent]

Bennett had his chance in 2017. We were very close but we were nillled. 

His time has gone. He’s a dead parrot.