Sat 4th Nov: Third Test: England v Tonga KO 2.30pm @ Headingley (BBC One)

[OMEGA]

Missing from todays team
Makinson, Farnworth. Wardle, King, Percival, Young, Lewis, Dodd?, Walmsley, Oledski, Havard, Farrell, Knowles, KPP, Radley, Smithies, 

Theres definitely some depth developing in the England squad with maybe one or two still to emerge over the coming season. We could still do with another class full back and perhaps another BIG front rower or two.

[WN83]

1 hour ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

Just catching up with the after match interviews.

Wane is a very good choice for England coach, though his tendency to pick second rows in the centre remains a worry. He even speaks much better these days. Credit to Tonga. It is no disgrace to be second best to this England side. Woolf remains a great leader and has taken them a long way. 

One thing it endorses is how good the SL competition is, and how good our players are. I think next season could be a classic. There were a lot of encouraging signs for Warrington, Hull KR and Leeds. I know we have a couple of games tomorrow, but we head into the off season after a 23 to cherish (wearing my pie, anyone but Australia and England colours…). 

I think it was simply that there wasn’t an option available to him that he went to Currie. King out, Percival, Wardle and Farnworth all unavailable as well, so he’d have had to find somebody else outside the squad and there isn’t much to go at off the top of my head. It seemed a fair choice, especially up against a poor conditioned Hurrell. 

[WN83]

16 minutes ago, OMEGA said:

Missing from todays team
Makinson, Farnworth. Wardle, King, Percival, Young, Lewis, Dodd?, Walmsley, Oledski, Havard, Farrell, Knowles, KPP, Radley, Smithies, 

Theres definitely some depth developing in the England squad with maybe one or two still to emerge over the coming season. We could still do with another class full back and perhaps another BIG front rower or two.

Hopefully we’ll see some props step up. I’m not convinced Walmsley will continue with England tbh, so with Hill likely to be at the end as well, we’ll need some options to step up. I’ve got great hope for guys like Havard and Oledzki, so hopefully they can find fitness and form and the same goes for Luke Thompson (although he’s not the biggest). If he could find a level of consistency that matched his form in his last 6 weeks or so before injury, I’d also keep an eye on Liam Byrne. A big body and he was brutal in that spell. It’s early days but Delaney at Saints looks like who who could fast track through the system. 

[moorside roughyed]

Had a good day at Headingley for both games. I honestly expected more from Tonga in these three games. Still,we got the wins and it's given the England team time to play along side each other. Headingley definitely the best atmosphere out of the three grounds in my opinion.

 

[dkw]

1 minute ago, moorside roughyed said:

Had a good day at Headingley for both games. I honestly expected more from Tonga in these three games. Still,we got the wins and it's given the England team time to play along side each other. Headingley definitely the best atmosphere out of the three grounds in my opinion.

 

I was mostly disappointed with their discipline, it was abysmal. No amount of blaming the ref, rule interpretations or pitches can hide that.

[moorside roughyed]

7 minutes ago, dkw said:

I was mostly disappointed with their discipline, it was abysmal. No amount of blaming the ref, rule interpretations or pitches can hide that.

That's what I thought. They were all over the place. They're supposed to be professional.

[daz39]

Good performance and a 3-0 series win, although Tonga were very disappointing in all 3 games considering the talent they had available, badly coached or players not putting the effort in?

Was a good job they had a presentation as it gave me a chance to see George Williams, Mikey Lewis was much more prominent in both games.

Smith was superb all series and rightly deserved the Man of the Series award.

 

[Hopie]

I think this was Tonga's worst performance, they continued to lack structure in attack and the basics like passing and holding the ball were just not there. Their pack is much bigger than ours, we were struggling to make metres up the middle but thankfully we made the most of the space out wide to score our points, although like Tonga we also made a significant number of basic mistakes.

It was a strange game really, the first half felt like the best atmosphere of the series. Although the biggest cheer of the day in the East stand seats was for the community dancing, felt like half the stand were there to take part in or support that endeavour. Some of the refs decisions seemed drawn out of a hat and it was pretty quiet in the second half, and we got two different men of the match.  It was a decent afternoon's entertainment given it cost me the princely sum of £21, but I had hoped for more based on some previous performances. 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Hopie

[bobbruce]

29 minutes ago, WN83 said:

Hopefully we’ll see some props step up. I’m not convinced Walmsley will continue with England tbh, so with Hill likely to be at the end as well, we’ll need some options to step up. I’ve got great hope for guys like Havard and Oledzki, so hopefully they can find fitness and form and the same goes for Luke Thompson (although he’s not the biggest). If he could find a level of consistency that matched his form in his last 6 weeks or so before injury, I’d also keep an eye on Liam Byrne. A big body and he was brutal in that spell. It’s early days but Delaney at Saints looks like who who could fast track through the system. 

Surely Walters who you’ve just signed from Leeds is going to end up in the front row. He looks top quality to me and would be amazed if he isn’t in the next squad. 

[Just Browny]

12 minutes ago, daz39 said:

 

Was a good job they had a presentation as it gave me a chance to see George Williams, Mikey Lewis was much more prominent in both games.

 

 

Very odd observation, Williams had a good game.

[Futtocks]

32 minutes ago, WN83 said:

Hopefully we’ll see some props step up. I’m not convinced Walmsley will continue with England tbh, so with Hill likely to be at the end as well, we’ll need some options to step up. I’ve got great hope for guys like Havard and Oledzki, so hopefully they can find fitness and form and the same goes for Luke Thompson (although he’s not the biggest). If he could find a level of consistency that matched his form in his last 6 weeks or so before injury, I’d also keep an eye on Liam Byrne. A big body and he was brutal in that spell. It’s early days but Delaney at Saints looks like who who could fast track through the system. 

I've had my doubts about Liam Byrne over the last few seasons, but he's giving off signs that he might be a late developer.

[dkw]

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

I've had my doubts about Liam Byrne over the last few seasons, but he's giving off signs that he might be a late developer.

Byrne was quite possibly the form prop in the league before he got injured, he was outstanding. 

[Futtocks]

5 minutes ago, dkw said:

Byrne was quite possibly the form prop in the league before he got injured, he was outstanding. 

His form improved as the season progressed a bit like Harry Smith's place-kicking did.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Futtocks

[Blind side johnny]

3 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Play northern internationals first choice in Leeds from now on.

Especially when Leeds Utd play on the Friday night and there's no RU WC on.

[Futtocks]

 

[Lowdesert]

14 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

 

It’s been up on the NRL website for some time Futtocks as has the highlight tries.  Amazing the RFL haven’t got a video posted - well, it is the weekend….

[Futtocks]

17 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

It’s been up on the NRL website for some time Futtocks as has the highlight tries.  Amazing the RFL haven’t got a video posted - well, it is the weekend….

I have absolutely no idea what the deal and limitations are for BBC highlights compared to the (no doubt much better funded and staffed) Australian TV setup.

[WN83]

1 hour ago, bobbruce said:

Surely Walters who you’ve just signed from Leeds is going to end up in the front row. He looks top quality to me and would be amazed if he isn’t in the next squad. 

I wanted us to use him in the middle but he’s definitely been signed to play second row (he pretty much confirmed it in an interview on the Wigan website the other day). We’ll see how that plays out and if it works, he could be a very handy option in internationals. 

[Lowdesert]

4 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I have absolutely no idea what the deal and limitations are for BBC highlights compared to the (no doubt much better funded and staffed) Australian TV setup.

Me neither.  The AFL also have the highlights up.

edit: finally up on the RFL site.  Probably been for fish and chips after the game before uploading it.

Edited November 4, 2023 by Lowdesert

[WN83]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Byrne was quite possibly the form prop in the league before he got injured, he was outstanding. 

He struggled for a lot of the season. I think the lack of a pre season hurt and he had to play through injury due to Cooper being out and Ellis and Havard taking it in turns in missing games. He got a rest around the time of the cup final and like Wigan, after that he just took off. It was his career best form without a doubt. Smashing the ball up and plain scary in defence. 
 

If he can find that form consistently, I would love to see him in an England shirt. 

[Futtocks]

8 minutes ago, WN83 said:

He struggled for a lot of the season. I think the lack of a pre season hurt and he had to play through injury due to Cooper being out and Ellis and Havard taking it in turns in missing games. He got a rest around the time of the cup final and like Wigan, after that he just took off. It was his career best form without a doubt. Smashing the ball up and plain scary in defence. 
 

If he can find that form consistently, I would love to see him in an England shirt. 

Might be an Ireland shirt. If Ireland get any international fixtures.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

Kevin Brown is so much better to listen to as a pundit than Jon Wilkin. 

His veiled criticism of Wane was awful today 

Wane was genuinely annoyed by Woolf....he let rip and excited the press/series with a bit of media friendly barracking 

Wilkin tries to flatline it on BBC .....such a sad sack 

I was a fan back in the Flat cap and Whippet podcast days......today was the final straw 

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Blind side johnny said:

Especially when Leeds Utd play on the Friday night and there's no RU WC on.

This was for a 3rd match in a poorly attended and marketed test series which had already been won.

Leeds should be an automatic pick for games in the North. Till anywhere else pulls larger crowds consistently then its a no brainer. The only banker game the RFL have got.

[GeordieSaint]

My daughter’s first game today. Loved it. So pleased the game has another supporter! 

I enjoyed the match itself. Thought every England try was really good. But how quality was that kick to Newman from Harry Smith. Worth the entrance money alone that. The gasp from the north stand… clearly I wasn’t the only one who agreed. He’s easily been England’s player of the tournament. Bateman was excellent today as well and been super impressed by Johnstone; absolute natural at this level. 

Really disappointed by Lees though. Not his effort. That’s there. But pulling hair was just stupid and immature. Really disappointed. He was good last week but today was battered with the ball in hand. I get the other parts of his game usually are great. But today he’s let himself down. 

[The Partisan]

Congratulations to England on the 3-0 whitewash.  When was the last series whitewash by GB or England? 

Two games v Samoa in 2022

Three games v Tonga in 2023

Three games v Samoa again (?) in 2024

Should have England battle hardened for the Kangaroos campaign in 2025.

Can't recall the planned year England and New Zealand to meet.