England halfback dilemma

[NRLandSL]

Going to be an incredibly tough decision for Shaun Wane to make. 3 exceptional world-class halves in Williams, Lewis and Smith.

Williams should have the 6 jersey no doubt, he is the England captain and hard to not give it to him after last night.

But selecting between Lewis and Smith is very difficult. Smith was exceptional against Tonga last year and won player of the series, But Mikey Lewis has been the best player in SL this season. Personally I would select Mikey Lewis. Too skillfull and talented to leave out. One of the best halfbacks in the world right now IMO, only beaten by Hughes and Cleary.

Great position for England to be in though, having 3 World-class halves at the there disposal, all in the form of their careers.

 

[John m]

4 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

Going to be an incredibly tough decision for Shaun Wane to make. 3 exceptional world-class halves in Williams, Lewis and Smith.

Williams should have the 6 jersey no doubt, he is the England captain and hard to not give it to him after last night.

But selecting between Lewis and Smith is very difficult. Smith was exceptional against Tonga last year and won player of the series, But Mikey Lewis has been the best player in SL this season. Personally I would select Mikey Lewis. Too skillfull and talented to leave out. One of the best halfbacks in the world right now IMO, only beaten by Hughes and Cleary.

Great position for England to be in though, having 3 World-class halves at the there disposal, all in the form of their careers.

 

A positive dilemma for a change.

 

#6 Williams #7 Lewis 

[Bongo1]

Lewis at 7 for me

[daz39]

Williams and Lewis, all day everyday, Smith is a decent backup but nowhere near Lewis for me at the moment.

[JM2010]

I was thinking the same thing recently. Smith or Lewis. Smith is more of a traditional 7, whereas Lewis has the X factor. If Williams plays as a controlling half then I’d probably go for Lewis 

[GeordieSaint]

Long kicking game… it is absolutely critical at international level when you are playing against the best players in the world. 

Whoever has the better one between Lewis and Smith starts. I suspect that is Smith. 

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

Last year I thought that Williams and Lewis were too similar to pair together and a Williams/Smith or Lewis/Smith pairing were a better fit despite, in my opinion, Smith being the 3rd ranking player. After watch Lewis develop his alround game this season I've change my mind, I do think Williams and Lewis would be a brilliant pairing and ask questions of any defence.

Another option would be to put one of them on the bench and use them as an interchange with the hooker. As John M says, a positive dilemma for once, its nice not to have to scratch around for an halfback and end up playing a loose forward there.

[Worzel]

I’d imagine Wane being Wane he’ll go with Smith and Williams, with Lewis on the bench as an impact half and occasional 2nd hooker.

A braver coach however would see that Lewis’ kicking game, including the long ‘out’ kicks, has greatly improved in 2024 so the only reason to pick a competent-but-uninspiring Smith has already been removed. Yes tactical kicking is important, but it’s not as important as tries and direct assists and Lewis smashes every single half off the pitch on those numbers. 
 

Edited September 29 by Worzel
Typo

[Harry Stottle]

57 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

Going to be an incredibly tough decision for Shaun Wane to make. 3 exceptional world-class halves in Williams, Lewis and Smith.

Williams should have the 6 jersey no doubt, he is the England captain and hard to not give it to him after last night.

But selecting between Lewis and Smith is very difficult. Smith was exceptional against Tonga last year and won player of the series, But Mikey Lewis has been the best player in SL this season. Personally I would select Mikey Lewis. Too skillfull and talented to leave out. One of the best halfbacks in the world right now IMO, only beaten by Hughes and Cleary.

Great position for England to be in though, having 3 World-class halves at the there disposal, all in the form of their careers.

 

Don't really understand your logic, you say Williams should be given the 6 Jersey as "it is hard not to give it to him after last night", then go on to debate if it should be Lewis or Smith BUT "Lewis has been the best player in SL this season"

Hopefully for me Lewis gets the nod he is a different player to Smith but I believe better and he keeps it for when we play Aus or the NRL entice Lewis over there - they won't come here, we can't afford to pay them - then we can truly evaluate Lewis's standing on the world stage, I fail to see how comparisons can be made of players performing in different competitions.

[Dave T]

I'd opt for Williams and Lewis, but then I think I'm more attacking minded than Wane is, and I think he'll go for Williams and Smith.

[Dunbar]

23 minutes ago, Worzel said:

Yes tactical kicking is important, but it’s not as important as tries and direct assists

Yes it is.

[Damien]

40 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

Long kicking game… it is absolutely critical at international level when you are playing against the best players in the world. 

Whoever has the better one between Lewis and Smith starts. I suspect that is Smith. 

Absolutely, the kicking fame has been a consistent failing over decades. In some games against the Aussies there's probably been a 20 metre difference with every set of 6 through kicking alone. That's huge over the course of a game.

[northamptoncougar]

Lewis is on a different level to Smith at the moment, Smith offers very little running game at international level, but, if it’s wet and windy i can see Wane going for Smith.

[dkw]

1 hour ago, Cumbrian Fanatic said:

Last year I thought that Williams and Lewis were too similar to pair together and a Williams/Smith or Lewis/Smith pairing were a better fit despite, in my opinion, Smith being the 3rd ranking player. After watch Lewis develop his alround game this season I've change my mind, I do think Williams and Lewis would be a brilliant pairing and ask questions of any defence.

Another option would be to put one of them on the bench and use them as an interchange with the hooker. As John M says, a positive dilemma for once, its nice not to have to scratch around for an halfback and end up playing a loose forward there.

That's my only worry with the Lewis/Williams partnership, a bit too much individuality and not enough game control. It's something that won't be a problem against "lesser" nations but against the top tier ones it could make things difficult. 

 

[NRLandSL]

55 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Don't really understand your logic, you say Williams should be given the 6 Jersey as "it is hard not to give it to him after last night", then go on to debate if it should be Lewis or Smith BUT "Lewis has been the best player in SL this season"

Hopefully for me Lewis gets the nod he is a different player to Smith but I believe better and he keeps it for when we play Aus or the NRL entice Lewis over there - they won't come here, we can't afford to pay them - then we can truly evaluate Lewis's standing on the world stage, I fail to see how comparisons can be made of players performing in different competitions.

Don’t mean to say he wouldn’t get the jersey if it wasn’t for last night. He’s one of the first names on the team sheet IMO, even before last night. Just noting how good of a performance he had.

I don’t agree with the argument that Lewis has to play in the NRL to be regarded as one of the world’s best, I believe I had the same argument with you about Welsby. The SL is a quality competition and if you are one of the best players in SL you are likely an elite player on the world stage. No SL player should be forced to go to the NRL to be regarded as one of the best in the world.

[Damien]

17 minutes ago, dkw said:

That's my only worry with the Lewis/Williams partnership, a bit too much individuality and not enough game control. It's something that won't be a problem against "lesser" nations but against the top tier ones it could make things difficult. 

Yep, you need a balance. Australia always strive for that balance too and dont just pick the best two halves per se. They have to both combine well and complement each other.

[NRLandSL]

This is my personal best 17-

1-Jack Welsby   
2-Dom Young
3-Herbie Farnworth 
4-Jake Wardle
5-Tom Johnstone
6-George Williams 
7-Mikey Lewis   
8-Mike McMeeken
9-Danny Walker 
10-Luke Thompson
11-Kai Pearce-Paul  
12-Junior Nsemba
13-Victor Radley

14-Daryl Clark
15-Morgan Knowles  
16-Tom Burgess
17-Matty Lees

Smith and Bateman could also very easily get in.

[dkw]

20 minutes ago, Damien said:

Yep, you need a balance. Australia always strive for that balance too and dont just pick the best two halves per se. They have to both combine well and complement each other.

The problem is they are comfortably our best 2 half's at the moment, so making it work should be the priority. 

One option is to play a "controller" at loose maybe.

[Fly-By-TheWire]

Williams is x-factor, so surely having a traditional 7 to complement him should be the answer.   I'd have Smith doing the unflashy stuff and kicking the opponents to death, with Williams unlocking the defences as required.   This way you have two options for winning a game.   Smith would be good for a grind-out.

Edited September 29 by Fly-By-TheWire

[dkw]

Just now, Fly-By-TheWire said:

Williams is x-factor, so surely having a traditional 7 to complement him should be the answer.   I'd have Smith doing the unflashy stuff and kicking the opponents to death, with Williams unlocking the defences as required.

Problem is Lewis is also that x-factor, more so than Williams this season in my opinion.

[Fly-By-TheWire]

Just now, dkw said:

Problem is Lewis is also that x-factor, more so than Williams this season in my opinion.

Well then Lewis/Smith, or Wiliams/Smith.

I do feel that Williams makes the difference in the bigger games, but I guess we'll find out next week!

[Dunbar]

It is an excellent dilemma for England to have - three very good players.

Personally, I think that a genuine game management half is critical, one with an astute kicking game - an area that Australia have always been consistently better than us (and the reason why our so called superior packs over the last couple of decades never got on top of Australia - because the Aussie halves just managed the game better).

So, while Williams and Lewis can offer a kicking game, Smith is ahead in this area.

I am going Smith at 7 to partner one of Williams or Lewis at 6 and seeing as though Williams is the England captain, it will be Smith/Williams.

If you went Lewis/Williams you wouldn't put Smith on the bench as he is not an impact player but if you started Smith would you put Lewis on the bench.  He would be a great asset to bring off the bench as the middles tire but I think you would only do that if you used him (or Williams) as the second 9 as you couldn't carry Lewis and a backup 9 on the bench when you definitely want two middles and an edge cover on the bench.

[Barry Badrinath]

2 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

This is my personal best 17-

1-Jack Welsby   
2-Dom Young
3-Herbie Farnworth 
4-Jake Wardle
5-Tom Johnstone
6-George Williams 
7-Mikey Lewis   
8-Mike McMeeken
9-Danny Walker 
10-Luke Thompson
11-Kai Pearce-Paul  
12-Junior Nsemba
13-Victor Radley

14-Daryl Clark
15-Morgan Knowles  
16-Tom Burgess
17-Matty Lees

Smith and Bateman could also very easily get in.

That's a funny way to spell matty ashton

[DavidM]

As a combination id probably go Williams / Smith , which is rough on Lewis but he’d be a very handy joker in the pack playing 14 . Tbh though whoever partners Williams i wouldnt be fussed they are top class , and ive seen the  day we’re struggling for two halfbacks 

[Worzel]

4 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Yes it is.

I’ll clarify. They are all important, but if you’re choosing between a half with a great tactical kicking game and one with an exceptional one, then “great” is good enough when that player also comes with unique creativity and pace. It’s about having the right mix of skill set. The 2023 Mikey Lewis had a weakness in his kicking game, the 2024 Mikey Lewis does not. 

Smith needs exceptional runners like Field and French to bring attacking dynamism. Lewis brings those aspects himself already. It’s a heady combination.