This is the team i would of liked to have seen in this tournement if it had been possible:
1.S.Tomkins
2.L.Cudjoe
3.M.Shenton
4.G.Widdop
5.R.Hall good pace for his size, can score tries
6.K.Sinfield? not really sure as he is playing out of position and does not seem to perform in internatonal matches
7.K.Eastmond bit of pace and skill to beat the man
8.J.Graham never stops and good offload
9.J.Roby
10.J.Peacock can bust a tackle and offload
11.B.Westwood does his work but can give away silly penalities
12.G.Ellis another worker with good offload
13.S.Burgess can bust a tackle and offload

14.E.Crabtree
15.J.Tomkins
16.L.Robinson
17.A.Morley

what do you think a good mix of youth, experience, strength and pace?

Can i just categorically state that any RL player, from the downright average to the absolute legendary, can never, never, have the ability to make errors coached out of them. Never, d'ya hear me?

As another poster stated earlier, the problems stem from junior rugby. We always seem to have this attitude of [i'He's a big lad, play him at prop'[/i, and as a result we end up with a plethora of Wayne McDonald clones and no Greg Inglises.

We were seriously lacking an organising half and after the Aussie game people are wanting Eastmond at 7???? We need a bloke who can do a job of organising and kicking. Eastmond is not that player. He reminds me of Jason Robinson and would make a world class winger. He is too much of a runner to be a 7. Early in robinsons career they acknowledged he was not going to be a scrum half.

Benji Marshall?
Darren Lockyer?

Eastmond is an organising and kicking scrum half at Saints, and would be wasted trying to make him into a winger.

Eastmond does not look like a organising 7 to me. He looks like a similar player to Burrow of Leeds. I honestly think Eastmonds skill set is not that of an international scrum half. He may do a fair job of it in SL, but SL is nowhere near the NRL or international standard.

I'd run with Robininson at scrum half working the middle, and Eastmond and SO and Tomkins and FB, working the edges. Put a runner at loose, like Westwood or Burgess, and a lively hooker with another on the bench, and the balance is about right

The lad is 21 years old for goodness sake

Andrew Johns and Darren Lockyer, widely regarded as the best two half backs of the last decade, played at hooker and full back respectively before moving into the half backs internationally and yet Eastmond looked the part in last year’s 4 Nations

Given another couple of seasons of consistent selection policy, the likes of Sam Tomkins and Kyle Eastmond could be the best players in the finest England team for years

Eastmond has all the qualities of a top class half back and just because he can run doesn't make him a winger, it makes him a dangerous half back

Johns played 9 for Oz yes, but he played 1st receiver on that tour (in effect half back) with Toovey having a 7 on his back playing dummy half all game. This was the 95 world cup i think. Lockyer was a fullback early on but basically played stand off in attack anyway. Both of the above during this time had the required skills to play in the halves. I have not seen Eastmond display a great kicking game or the organisational skills that could cross over to the international arena. I know he is only in his early 20's but iam sick of hearing the hype about the likes of Eastmond and Myler and not seeing what this hype wants me to believe. Eastmond can run like the wind but that trait alone will not make a good international 7. Iam sorry i dont agree with your optimistic view of our English SL half backs.

I agree that Myler has a lot to do to live up to the hype he has received over the past couple of years but I think Eastmond has shown enough in the last 4 Nations and an injury hit season with Saints to justify some optimism

Time will tell I guess

Prior to Eastmond getting injured, he was Saints best player, and many Saints fans tips for MOS. He was outstanding in many games at half back with an excellent and varied kicking game, and also set up a lot of play.
Problem is that because he has blistering pace some people get blinded by that, and all they see his him scoring great trys, and assume he is merely a runner.

Despite missing a third of the league season. Eastmond was Saints main go to kicker when on the field. This would not have been the case if he was merely a runner. A quick look at the SL stats shows he was eighth for number of attacking kicks last season. Not bad for a guy who played less than 20 games and a few of those he was playing on one leg.