Would any of our players make a difference to the England team?
Marks out of 10 for England over the full tour,
S Tomkins (Wigan); 5 D Goulding (Wigan), 4 L Cudjoe (Huddersfield), 3 R Atkins (Warrington) 6 , T Briscoe (Hull); 4 S O'Loughlin (Wigan) 4 , L Robinson (Huddersfield) 7 ; J Graham (St Helens, capt) 8 , J Roby (St Helens) 7 , S Burgess (South Sydney) 7 , G Ellis (Wests Tigers) 7 , J Tomkins (Wigan) 4 , B Westwood (Warrington). 5 Subs: S Lunt (Huddersfield) 5 , S Fielden (Wigan) 6 , E Crabtree (Huddersfield) 5 , B Harrison (Warrington). 4 R Hall (Leeds) 4 G Widdop NRL 5 G Carvell (Warr) 5 M Shenton (Cas) 7 K Brown (Hudd) 6 T Clubb (HRL) 8
Cannot think Steve Mc will get much more than a 4.
Peter Gentle was rejected by Hull KR as their new head coach due to his lack of ambition.
Joined: Jan 16 2010 Posts: 7138 Location: Ramsey Street, Brough
Think most of them went over there for a jolly Tompkins could not and did not get away with half of what he does and has done over here, thought man of the tournament for England was definately Robbo its a shame it ended the way it did for him, Brisco is still young, think Fox and Brisc should def have gone....
Joined: Jun 01 2007 Posts: 12664 Location: Leicestershire.
pugwash pal wrote:Would any of our players make a difference to the England team?
Not a significant one in all honesty. Watts is one for the future, but isn't yet as good as the incumbents. Fox would have done okay, but my assumption is that McNamara isn't that fussed about wingers coming in to help the forwards out as none of those selected did. Murrell is a decent option for a touring squad, but wouldn't get anywhere near the NwZ or Aus teams. Mind you, England had no kicking game, Brown did little enough at 6 and Roby looks very ordinary when his pack aren't dominating. Briscoe would have allowed Tomkins to play 6 or 7 in a squad that was short of halves - but Widdop should have covered that in theory. A few selections were made with 2013 in mind, I guess. Not a disaster, but I'm not impressed to be honest. Good to see some new faces, but the balance of the squad seemed off to me. We mightn't have won, but we should have been closer IMO.
'Thus I am tormented by my curiosity and humbled by my ignorance.' from History of an Old Bramin, The New York Mirror (A Weekly Journal Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts), February 16th 1833.
Joined: Oct 15 2008 Posts: 1944 Location: east hull
i would have taken Martin Gleeson, hes still the best English centre in S/L IMO. our pack is good enough to compete but were so far behind in the backs though.
If everyone was fully-fit my team would look something like this:-
Tompkins Hall Pryce Gleeson Fox
Eastmond Brough
Graham Sinfield Peacock Ellis Burgess Morley
Burrows Westwood Carvell Crabtree
Problem positions for me have been 3, 4 & 7. Gleeson is our best centre by a mile and I'd shove Leon Pryce in the other centre slot cos the rest are poor though I think Briscoe could be a world class centre if Agar plays him there for his club.
Brough is admittedly pretty average but he is a traditional scrum-half with a consistent kicking game.
Play a 3rd prop @ loose-man, Burrows as a substitute hooker and steam-roller em up the middle with 5 drives/dummy-half scoots and a kick and I doubt the Aussies could stand up to it if England managed a completion rate of 80%+
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