Was sat in the corner Briscoe was defending at Wembley in the first half so had a close-up view of how the Yeaman-Briscoe partnership worked. Basically it relies on Briscoe constantly making allowances for and covering where Yeaman's supposed to be, as well as defending his own position. I thought Briscoe did outstandingly well, but Yeaman was a liability. Would have Atkins or Hardaker in front of him in an instant, but in the circumstances would go for Widdop in the centres, or even Ablett if we're benching Chase and playing Widdop inside.

Tomkins was superb but still have doubts about him as a full-back rather than a half, and he should have stopped the Luke Lewis try (look what Billy Slater did to Westwood for comparison). Hall, Briscoe, Reed and Roby were all in the tick column. Ellis was the best forward on the pitch while he was on. Our main go-forward tactic was "give it to Gaz Ellis", twice a set.

Without injuries to him and Graham we'd propably have won, but it's also not beyond possibility that an RL forward will get injured and it did expose our light bench and McNamara not going with four props when a knackered Morley and an outgunned Heighington were our front-rowers while Australia scored most of their points.

rangi chase should be on the bench for the NZ game - at best !

One of the problems is that Chase despite his MOS award does not have the intense big match experience of either the SL playoffs, Cup Final or NRL State of origin. For much of the time he looks lost at this level and to keep him in when there are alternatives will be a mistake IMO

What's people's thoughts on a bit of a reshuffle. Sinfield back to 13, McGuire in at 7 with Widdop at 6. Definitely need the fourth prop, highlighted by the injuries. To lose Graham and Ellis, plus have JP hobbling around for a while was bad luck. Wilkin hmmmmmm not in my 17, same for Chase.

I feel desperately sorry for him.He has won awards during a campaign when Castleford were considered a one man team when he played,but the pressure grew at the climax to the season.
The penalty kick defeat to Leeds in the Challenge Cup semi-final - after reports of his pending court case.He then travels back to Australia and the subsequent publicity and the dredging up of his childhood/upbringing.
Returns to England and there is the brouhaha when he is selected to represent England - where he will be living to complete the 4 years of his contract with Castleford.
Emotional stress and the pressure of gelling with a new half-back partner in a high-pressure situation.
Not easy.He hardly received comforting words from his new coach post-match on Saturday.
How will he react should he not be selected against New Zealand ? How will he perform if he is selected ? Will he try too hard and make errors ?
I certainly think he will have a loss of form in 2012.

As I've said on other threads, aside from a couple of errors which need to be cut out, I thought Chase looked a threat with Sinfield at 6 controlling and structuring things. He looked lost with Widdop at 6 after he came on. I'd stick with Sinfield and Chase for next time. I think they're a good mix of a controlling, reliable pivot at 6 and an exciting, off the cuff playmaker at 7.

Heighington came with big write-ups from down under, but I haven't been impressed so far. He has a lot to prove for me, otherwise I may continue to believe that he was selected purely because it says "plays every week in NRL" on his CV. Probably our least effective forward in 2 matches so far.

I honestly think that Leeds on a good day would make a better fist of beating Australia than England. Wire, Sts and Wigan fans may feel the same about their teams. This suggests that the players cannot adapt easily to playing alongside others with whom they're unfamiliar - and the less orthodox the player, the greater the difficulties facing their team-mates. This is why Chase at 7 cannot work for me.

He does look a threat at times, granted, but as a line breaker rather than a link player. And certainly not often enough to win a test on his own.

Off the cuff is right but he plays too much one-man stuff and, at this level, gets caught in possession too much to be considered a playmaker.

Same could be said of McGuire though

Agreed - and when a player does the one-man stuff all the time they become very predictable.

I think you're being incredibly kind to Chase there El D.

Compare the number of England tries where one of the last two passes has come from Sinfield (supposedly the organiser rather than the playmaker) to those where Chase has had a key involvement.

At times he's looked like a kid from the under 17s who gets asked to play open age when they're short. The game seems to pass him by. A victim of the England system not being built around him in the way that Cas are?

One thing is for sure,he was crap on saturday and he shouldn't play for England again.

I agree he has lost his form.

he lost his form at easter

Agree. I still wouldn't like a NZ in the England team but if he was in good form going into the internationals then fair enough. The argument seems to be he won man of steel. But for me he won this before Easter, and TBH was very lucky to pick up the award. For me both Roby and Tomkins were more deserving.

He has helped cas improve from 9th to... 9th.