I believe his mother had died suddenly a few days before so whether the lad was in the right state to be on the pitch in the first place is open to question.

That's all very here and now.

Thurston is a great player though and can be regarded in the same category as previous Aussie greats.

Buderus and Smith, there is nothing that Smith adds other than kicking to what Buderus had. If anything I don't think Smith has quite reached Buderus yet, but they are very close. Certainly Smith does not add "so much more".

Inglis is a great athlete, whome the many say is better at fullback then centre. But he isn't the be all and end all since Meninga. There have been a lot of great athletic centres equally as good in that period. Likes of Miles, Iro, Blackmore, Renouf, even Folau and he not swithed would have been in the same category. Other than weak Tomkins attempt on Saturday our two centres had Inglis well under control.

Not convinced again that Slater is the best fullback ever. He is very good, but does have weaknesses. Minnichello in his day was equally very good. Brett Webb as an example before injury was every bit like Slater. But there have been others also, without the same platform to demonstrate how good they are.

I agree but if he ever backs away from Billy Slater from a scrum again he needs a good dry slap.

We've got, potentially, the best pair of centres I can remember. The only problem, apart from them regularly seeing quality ball, is that neither of them appear to recognise just how good they are.

They are not in the same league as Senior, Gleeson or Connolly.

RG-Connolly and Senior were outstanding centres and to be fair Gleeson had 3 good seasons but Cudjoe and Watkins are much more dynamic and explosive than Gleeson ever was imo.
Plus both of the new lads have time on their side to improve further.

Every winger who played outside Gleeson scored tries by the bucketful.

Edit

Gleeson is one of the most over rated players ever. Don't recall more than a couple of good seasons from him. He was the equivalent of a Phil Hassan type player. Bothe Watkins and Cudjoe at this age are far superior to him.

Schofield (has there ever been a better centre) & Lydon (just a natural, gifted complete player).

Gleeson would have been run over by Inglis. Watkins handled him fairly comfortably physically, which can't be said of almost all the opponents he faces.

Watkins and Cudjoe both absolutely look the part physically - big and strong and quick. They are an absolute breath of fresh air to me. England's 1-5 are miles better than anything we've been able to put out for years (Mark Calderwood outside Lee Smith anyone?).

Watkins could become a real world class centre - its not just about him recognising how good he can be but Leeds as well. He's got size and speed but more importantly has great footwork for a big guy and looks to pass. He's got a lot to learn but he just looks a class player to me, especially with a good defender inside him.

Agree with Cudjoe taking the dummy, but its something England players as a bunch do too much of. I'm not sure why, when the best option in that situation is to smash Slater into the ground. Its the same with defence on the line not moving up. Has there ever been a time against any opposition when not moving off your line has been a good idea?

If Watkins can stay injury free and continue developing, I can see him NRL bound in a couple of seasons. Think Tomkins will make a pigs ear of his time down there and Kallum can be a back Aussies take to their hearts in the same way Moz, Burgesseseses and Ellis did for British forwards.

Senior is the best centre we have produced in at least 30 years, arguably the best player of the SL era for consistent brilliance. But he was virtually on his own. Both our current ones can be as good as him & have more natural talent, just not his belief. Gleeson had decent talent but squandered most of it through lack of application; he was very average internationally. Both are better than Gleeson now. Connolly was the best international FB we never had. A very good international centre but just remind me of his try scoring record?
Newlove had the natural ability to be the best but again lacked application, or bottle to be less polite. I probably saw nearly everyone of his international games but am struggling to remember much of it when it mattered.