Given that his endurance is one of his greatest assets I hardly think that Hull using it is holding him back. However his style of play doesn't sit well with the current coaching regime so I'm afraid he's had it as for as playing for England goes. That doesn't diminish him as a player - some of the alternatives are good players in their own right and may in the coaches idea fit into the game plan better. The only time when I think Houghton has been badly done by has been when McIlorum was selected in front of him - a talentless thug who has repeatedly shown nothing at international level.

Best indeed for Houghton to start doing a family tree search to find another way into the world cup - he deserves a trip out there. It doesn't matter if his new country is no good either, after watching yesterday's State of Origin then England will also be soundly thrashed.

Surely he has had to develop himself into a role as an 80 minute/defensive orientated hooker though no as that is what was being asked of him.
He can clearly tackle, he can clearly kick, he can clearly spot a gap, clearly has commitment very rarely seen at the top level but England don't want an 80minute hooker which is what DH is most effective at being and has developed into as that was seen by the club as the way forward.
That is a direct result of what the club has asked DH to be, that's not to say they shouldn't take advantage of his strengths but that strength is because they in the first instance wnated him to be that type of hooker.

I personally thought we (England) would go better with an 80 minute hooker in the England set up with our big forwards as he would take a more of the tackling responsibility away from them (even compared to a dual hooker pairing of clarke and Hodgson) whilst freeing up a bench spot for another interchange forward thus they being more effective.
quite honestly his commitment and rarely having an off day is why i would have had him in front of all of them and utilise the 4 forwards off the bench route on the back of him being able to do 80min.
That that doesn't match how England coaches see things is very unfortunate for him on a personal level.

Have been attending rugby league matches for over 7 decades and the first half was the fastest I have ever witnessed. At least a couple of NSW players said they were trying to be sick at half-time due to the high pace of the game.