Asim ill give ya this your not an out an out conservative pessimist aka sally cinnamon' maybe a moderate 'pezz'of the fence sitting fraternity the atypical agnostic leaguie "oh bugger ill believe when i see it"i can guarentee if we lose next week ill be magnanimous and say fair enough were not quite up to it but show so far it has a feel good factor ive not seen from the 3 previous coaches

The problem comes when you get 'fans' who think they have the first clue about coaching, team selection, player roles and what goes on in training. Reminds me very much of the McDermott bashers on the Leeds board, by all means have an opinion but don't delude yourselves to think it's right. McNamara was in charge of the bulls in his only club role, and as Mick potters shown this year, you can't polish a turd.

Don't worry I never delude myself to think my opinion is right

Bradford weren't a turd though, it's only with hindsight people say that.

I remember ten years or so ago when Bradford were winning titles with guys like McAvoy, Naylor, Shane Rigon in their team, people didn't give Brian Noble credit because they said ANYONE could win the title with Bradford (despite the fact Millward's Saints were better on paper).

McNamara had quite a good side at Bradford although granted they lost some players just before he took over. But it was not the garbage team people make out.

In 2009 for instance, I remember it was quite a popular view before the season started, after they had signed Menzies, that the Bulls would be title contenders because they had a monster pack of Lynch, Newton, Burgess; Menzies, Morrison; Langley with Godwin, Scruton and Solomona on the bench (fair enough Solomona got injured most of that season).

McNamara presided over Bradford in a period of decline, I thought he was ok at first but the last two seasons were garbage and some very ordinary players were signed which makes you raise your eyebrows and think who was in charge of the recruitment there?

Precisely you work with whats in front of you,who the hell knows whatss gone on behind the scenes?last year England were not good,have the players warmed to McNmara? Have the so called Saints /Leeds factions been ironed out? is rugby league england proffessional set up on field and off field actually bearing fruit? .Can England improve on this 4n win or lose next week? Of course 2 years time factor in improvment of current squad plus ones injured and untried .Anyway wait n see

I went to a work shop through my work run by the Warrington sports psychologist and then also working with the England team. It was in the lead up to the world cup and he told me they took the squad through some army training to assess them as people, after the exercise the lead officer said "put it this way if they were my men going into battle I'd kill 70% of them before we left". The opinion was that there was a disruptive, negative element in the team, looks like McNamara has worked to improve this.

What's equally a problem is when you get fans who watch the scoreboard rather than the game. It's the same at club level. If a team loses, then the coach and players are usually blamed regardless of the circumstances, and equally if a team wins but plays poorly then a majority of fans are normally too one-eyed to see the weaknesses. The truth is that both Australia and NZ are as weak on paper as I can remember, whereas England are as strong as I can remember. England were poor last night, and will need to improve massively to beat Australia next week. If they do beat Australia then credit goes to McNamara for achieving his goals, but I've seen nothing from him as yet to suggest he is capable of that level of improvement.

I'll admit that when McNamara was appointed I was appalled. But, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, he's in the position, nothing I can do and its just silly to want the team to fail, so he can be ousted.

I've been mightily impressed with what he has done with the team. His selections made me raise an eyebrow on more than one occasion, but hes proving now that he isn't a mug, he knows what he is doing. The most impressive aspect is how he's changed the culture of the team. The cliques and primadonna attitudes of the Noble era and the lack of confidence that has dogged the team for years have gone. In its place he has brought in a real sense of confidence, team spirit and professionalism.

Even if we don't beat the Aussies next week (which I am confident we can do), I'm very confident about the prospects of two more years of building and the WC.

This is the England team that lost to NZ in the 2008 World Cup.


Look at the difference in quality, is it any wonder performances have improved?

Can't make my mind up if he has got the half back combo right, and the real test will be next week. Will he have the tactics right to beat the Aussies, the players certainly have put in the effort but will he come up with the right game plan.
Comparing the NZ and OZ of the past the present sides are mediocre but England can only beat whats in front of them. OZ will step up a gear because its in there winning DNA. England will need to step a few more gears, will McNamara be able to shift us up to win this comp.

Very interesting insight and post Seth Yes from what i have seen thus far the England team have perceptibly improved,i dont know if this is the case for other casual observers but what you said seems evident from what ive seen so far WE ARE NOT IN AWE OF OZ!!!! no frozen rabbit in headlights.It has been a very long time since i have seen an England side have the audacity to be confident,self assured and actually believeing that yes we can bl00dy win this.Not the 65 minute wonders waite n noble produced.