You misunderstood. He clearly wants us to win. It is not patriotism (as he isn’t English) but pride in his own coaching credentials and his commitment to those he is leading
You misunderstood. He clearly wants us to win. It is not patriotism (as he isn’t English) but pride in his own coaching credentials and his commitment to those he is leading
I agree and not just at centre. We lack depth in the skill positions still. Some talented players coming through but not enough with experience yet
This is where Roby is so important as he gets the best out of the pack in my view. I would have started him but I fully expect him to get 60 minutes
I'm not surprised by Bateman getting the nod ahead of Percy. It's obviously Bennet's favoured selection, so I think Percy would have had to play out of his skin against France to change his mind. He didn't do much wrong, but I don't think it was a particularly eye-catching performance from him either, so I suspect that's it for Percy this time (barring injuries to both Bateman and Currie).
I'm pleased he's gone for Brown. He doesn't do anything flashy but by playing square he frees up space outside him (pretty much the role Smith should have been performing for Saints). Williams, by contrast, tends to run towards the touchline before releasing the ball - this seemed to contribute to our timing going out of the window once he was on for Gale at the weekend.
I can't get my head around starting with Hodgson, though. He is a good player and has clearly done well down under, but it's as plain as the nose on your face who the best hooker in the squad is. I just hope there's a plan to introduce Roby early in the game.
Bennett is one of the few Aussie coaches who has been an advocate of International RL at both club and country level. The team seem to be far more together this time than for a while. I have e friend who has gone out there for the whole tour and says that he he has seen players from the different club teams out together on various occasions, unlike 2008.
Bennett IMP was the best man for the job when selected, it doesn't bother me where he was born. he has always been "word wise" with the press. However if you listen to Sinfields comments it would appear that he completely different with his players.
The difference to 2008 and now though is that IIRC, 75% of the squad then was from Saints and Leeds. We had been the best two teams for years and the players from both teams had kicked lumps out of each other a few times each season plus Finals. Now there is a more even spread and only Watkins is playing from Leeds who played Cas in the Final.
Accepted. We were in the same Hotel as the players in Townsville and the atmosphere was awful. Players out in their own "groups" and even after they'd beaten PNG it was still the same.
They knew what they were there for and in reality it should have been the management' job to get them together as an England team. We haven't been on an England RL tour since so it was interesting to hear the views of someone who was over there.
Mind you I'm not sure the team bonding of Crooks and Schofield rolling around the streets of Kings Cross in Sydney a couple of tours earlier was the right way either
I don't think we have improved at all under Bennett, he appears to have very little respect for Superleague and is very conservative in his selections, he is also boring the pants off everybody in his communication skills with the English Supporters. The Burgess brothers are not as good as they use to be, Graham and O'Loughlin are coming to the end of there careers, Bennet doesn't know who is best centres are, still doesn't know his best half back combination and has preference to a NRL hooker over a Superleague hooker despite the obvious differences in skill set.
Probably in another 2 seasons the international side will need a complete re-build, Bennett one of the best coaches in rugby league will not leave any legacy for the benefit of England just the like others who have gone before him.
Exactly the team I expected. Widdop was always destined for fullback after last week then it was just a case of who goes stand off.
I thought Brown was pretty fair and give the centres a bit of room and of course choice is limited.
It does show the lack of quality at centre.
I also believe this tour has emphasised our deficiencies at 6 and 7. I still think that with a bit more maturity and different circumstances Williams will be OK. The fact that he is the only young one that comes to mind for the next 3 -4 years shows how desperately short we are.
Think thats unfair on Newlove and Connolly. However, they were on their own. As with Saints, it doesn't matter how good your centre is, if you only attack down one side its easy too defend. Even in the eras we did have a world class centre, we never had another one (or two) to play down the other side to keep the attack balanced. Let alone a third to actually ensure the first two perform (as underperforming has happened all too often in an England shirt).
Yes i accept that,you really do need two or three as you stated,otherwise your attack becomes very predictable,Watkins is an excellent centre, but because we don't have a centre of his ability on the other side we really become a side which is very easy to defend against.
Senior was a class strike centre, look at his try scoring record at International level. A few International coaches have been asked to pick "their teams" you can probably find it on you tube and Senior was picked by most. It would be interesting to see how his wingers fared outside him as compared to say Watkins.
Absolute rubbish about Newlove he was definitely world class.
Senior had power and pace but came nowhere near the skillsets of Connolly nor Newlove.
No he wasn't look at his stats,one of my favourite Saints player but as an International when it is the best against the best he was lacking,if you want my honest opinion Cunningham was the same,never showed his class against the Australians.
The true greats in any sport do it at International level.