Depends if Brough is eligible. Thought you had to allow for a year to pass before you were allowed to be considered for new nationality.

I agree with the "one day" part for George but he isn't there yet. He just hasn't had enough g ame time yet due to injuries.
I think Ferguson would do a good job right now and has more ahead of him.

Really pleased for shenny! Ive got a feeling smiths goin to bring the old man back in to partner hall on the left tho, think shenny will b put on the right to tackle his backside off.

If Senior comes back there won't be a place for Shenton against the Aussies or Kiwis, perhaps France. Shenton isn't better than Gleeson and Smith knows this.

We saw this last weekend when Shenton was annonymous while Gleeson popped up places to cause damage.
Tonights game again.. great prospect, needs a couple more kilos on him imo

Shenton has got a long way to go before he's at the level Martin Gleeson is.

The frustrating thing is the amount of times Gleeson doesnt turn up.
Against the aussies he's simply not big enough or fast enough either yet he's still the best option outside of Senior.
Shenton does seem to have the step, the size, the pace but im not sure if he's got that experience yet, it's a different game international footy, where patience and clinical finishing is required.

Gleeson on his day is still a fairly class centre, I think sometimes he gets disgarded due to being one of the old guard and sometimes people would rather pick players because they're new but in reality they'd be found out more than the old guard. You can blood a couple but put 3 or 4 inexperienced in against the aussies and you're screwed

Well done Shenny, Englands first choice centre!

Gleeson, still a decent player but at international level he's tried, tested and failed miserably

And the cup winners and it could still very well be a Leeds v Wigan grand final. So he didnt do that bad really.

Gutted for Owen and Westerman they should at least be in the training squad. Shenton should be a starting centre IMO he has had decent season and is solid in defence. He will offer a alot more than Sykes.

So when does is Shenton gain this 'experience' against Wales or France? When the standard is no better than super league ( national league in the case of wales).In order to compete with the best you must play them on a regular basis. Get rid of these tired old men who have failed with every chance theyve been given and get the young lads in NOW that way we'l be ready to compete come the next world cup/ashes.Oh and 'clinical finishing' how many tries has gleeson scored compared to shenny this season?

Shenton has failed to impress in the final few weeks of the season for Cas but over the course of the full season I'd place him 4th of the English centres behind Senior, Gleeson & Atkins. Atkins is injured and Senior has retired so Shenton probably gets bumped up to challenging for a starting spot.

A mate of mine that's a Bradford supporter has been underwhelmed with Sykes performances for them this season whilst at centre, saying his defence ain't good enough. But he's been a different player over the final few weeks of the season having been switched to stand off.

I can't imagine Tony Smith is contemplating playing Sykes at stand off so I'm a little bemused as to why he's in the squad - perhaps just shows how poorly off we are for centres at the mo!

Owen was probably Cas' most impressive player over the last 2 games of the season but had come back from around 6 games out through injury and that maybe cost him a spot.

Westerman hasn't stood out this season apart from to us biased Cas fans.

I'd be more perturbed if I was a Wakey fan. Ferguson deserved a place in the train on squad as possibly did Blaymire and Brough (if he qualifies) who I'd say is the best allround English halfback currently playing.

Been underwhelmed with gleeson all season, he's struggled to score tries (as oppososed to shenny who is sl's highest scoring centre, despite being starved of the ball when sherwin was out) whilst he has been defensivley sound so has shenton. Gleeson at his best is a fantastic centre, this season has been the worst i can remember from him. Tony smith, like all the rest of the national coaches will probabley look at a couple of good playoff performances as being more important than having a good season, unfortunatly. This for me makes a whole joke of the selection process as if you only perform in the playoffs you are either lazy or cant keep up good performances for long periods.

As for atkins he has been very good, utilising his strength in both attack and defence, but has issues with passing to his winger, something we know is no problem for shenton.

I'm confidnet that if shenton gets a start and is utilised properly (ie not like the wales/france games where he hardly touched the ball as all play was directed down the opposite side) he will do us proud and make the england centre spot his own.

hmm I see your point and the logic regarding playing them now ready for the next WC but I disagree on your overall point. For the experience alone he may well get a spot but imo he's still behind Gleeson as a player.
Gleeson's had no problem scoring on the intenational stage and he certainly wasn't one of the failures of the last WC, scored a couple of good tries.
Shenton is Cas' main strike weapon whereas at Wigan they favour their left side which is why Gleeson hasn't scored as many tries. Maybe Shenton would be better with better players around him but when i've seen Cas this year there's been too much dropped ball/missed opportunities down that side, something you cant afford at the top level.
General experience can refer to SL, or even playoff footie. The internationals against france are still good experience to see how a player fits in the pattern of the team, he's still young, plenty of time yet.
We obviously disagree on this issue but oh well, we'll see what Smith goes with. I think he'll go with Gleeson because simply you pick your strongest available team.