Fundamentally this is my main fear. NZ really were there for the taking, even with our pedestrian one dimensional team....we are in grave danger of missing a wonderful opportunity to win a test series against an awfully medicore, weakened team. There really are no excuses.

Steve McNamara =Stuart Lancaster of Rugby league, both clueless and play a forward in the centres.

They are talented players, that defence was world class. Strong in the middle and the outside backs made some fantastic reads. What they did with the ball was incomprehensible.

Just watched the game as was working. A very dour affair, haven't enjoyed either game so far. Could be a chance lost, but ultimate a pointless series I cannot get particularly excited about

Just wasted an afternoon at the Olympic Stadium watching the most ordinary game of RL I've seen for years. Massive showcase, big opportunity to demonstrate why so many of us fans call our game the 'Greatest Game' and we turn in a one dimensional performance of such mind numbing ordinariness that I ended up wondering if Mc Namara was in the pay of the RFU!

I mean all that scooting from dummy half, inside passes to on coming props, a truly awful kicking game, one out football and middle channel ultra dullness! Gee whizz what rubbish - two very ordinary sides! Widdop and Williams at half back?! I mean really!! Hardaker brought nothing to the attack, Bateman is not an international class centre in anyones reckoning.

I'd rather we got tonked throwing the ball about and having a go at playing some expansive/entertaining stuff. What we got was plop!

Opportunity missed on many levels

agree with the above, so many people in attendance today who were non diehard league fans, we had a chance to showcase our sport, instead what was on offer was the most turgid lacklustre game of league i have witnessed in many year along with a dire atmosphere,did we create any line breaks? off loading? Graham tried his heart out as always but where was the imagination and spark, awful game

Agree with that.
The kicking game in particular is annoying because if you're going to play such as simple a gameplan as McNamara is then your kicking is vital. It was rubbish. Did we even put 1 decent high bomb up?

So if he moved to Leeds, he'd suddenly develop a good long kicking game?

If he moved to Leeds, he'd suddenly start being able to pass to the right accurately? He'd become a dominant voice in the side and a competent organiser?

These are skills you've either got or you haven't. The level of the opposition is irrelevant to whether you can do these things, and on the evidence of his performances in an England shirt Widdop can't.

Like I said, he's decent when he's surrounded by world class players. When the responsibility is put on him to be the main man, his deficiencies are exposed.

That you can't see any difference in being able to be a dominant voice and organiser in a side that comes together for one month a year and a side that would play together week in week out in extremely alarming.

No what is really alarming is that you won't acknowledge or can't see that Widdop hasn't got the basic skill set at the correct level to be a dominant half back in any elite league arena.

If he can't be an organiser in a side desperate for someone to fill that role given the time span of the camp - how is he ever going to be the organiser of a team that has already established a method of playing and inbuilt hierarchy?

Williams and Bateman should both be dropped, but as McNamara is using this as a warm up for the World Cup, and wants to blood young players, I think he'll stick with the same team. Luke Gale deserves a shot (although McGuire should be at 7 anyway) and God only knows what Shenton and Cudjoe must be thinking. World's best winger, and they stick a half decent second row as his centre. McNamara out!

Williams looked like the speed of the game was to fast for him. So many times he got the ball, looked to pass but then held on and got clobbered. I lost count. As the senior half back widdop was poor. Offered nothing.

Shame that the game was so poor. The crowd was good with so many new people I can't help but thinking that they won't bother next time.

This is totally the kind of guff we have had to read about Sinfield for well over 10 years from other clubs fans.

Exactly ^^

I agree with you. However, i watch very little NRL these days and have not seen anything of Widdop TBH. Is he a totally different player for St George than the one we get to see for England? because imo he has had a fair crack of it the last few years while others have taken stick and has rarely if ever performed above average in an England shirt.He was pretty woeful yesterday, however not alone. He does need to start playing better than that as senior half back now or people are rightly going to criticise, comes with the territory.