Graham might do one of his 80 minute stints...

Either way, I think it's a good choice. The gobbing off to ref's thing is a trait Edwards, Muphy, T. Bishop and Hanley all had and they were great captains.

I just hope the rest of the team shows some aggresion next week. We cant afford another poor display against the rabble that is PNG.

Sadly, given the fact that rugby nous seems to have gone down hill in the last 20 years, I think i'll be disappointed.

I sincerely hope not, he looked completely knackered in the Grand Final so I can't see him performing for a whole game at an even higher level of intensity.

teams have got wise to graham. we ran at him virtually every play in the first 20 minutes of the semi final and,quite understandably, he was shot and cost saints points.
he needs to be used in spells and used right. however with mcnabanana in charge............................

Correct.

Won't stop the blindingly ted "Shenton got injured, otherwise England WOULD OF won" opinions to continue doing the rounds though.

I had a wager on Australia to win that match by 24+ points. I was confident of that wager being successful before Shenton got injured.

We might lose by more than 48 points?

OTOH, if we don't, he's done a better job than Tony Smith did.

I hate to agree with Mr Swiftcorn (well, hate's a strong word) but the gap in quality in the halves and outside backs between us and the Aussies and Kiwis seems to be getting wider. Centres remain my great hobby-horse. Why can we not produce decent centres in this country at the moment. We have a few wingers with the potential to become very good players, but in the centres, Shenton and Atkins look the best of the bunch and, while still young just look like very limited players to me. Even without Morley we'll match up OK in the forwards, but it's hard to see where enough quality behind the pack is coming from. Tomkins could yet prove a very good player, but he can't carry a test team yet, and certainly not without a bit of support.

Perhaps I'll be proved wrong, and I'll still get behind the team and everything, but the warm-up performances have not served to lift much of the pessimism induced by a look at the initial squad.

I hope James Graham doesnt do his usual when we start losing(after about 35 seconds), thats all you need from a captain isnt it! 3.19140625:5