Some NRL stats to look at

[urlhttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/numbers-attest-to-melbourne-storm-five-eighth-gareth-widdops-progress/story-e6frfgbo-1226047142576[/url

There was a valid argument (wrongly IMO) that Widdop was fast tracked too early last year and the fact that he had only 1 NRL game behind him opened us up to ridicule by Ausie fans. I think some fans took against him for those reasons but to be fair he took his chances last year and the experience he gained will have been invaluable.

This year he's the 1st choice No6 in a team widely tipped to go all the way, he's being credited as a major reason for the Storms potency and as the stats in the link above show, he's up there with Thurston & Marshall after 10 games of the season.

It's a shame he won't get to work with Broughy before the four Nations but even so I think we'll see the beginnings of a very potent halfback partnership that could serve us for the next four or five years.

But then I'd say someone like Charnley is scoring more than either of them at the minute.

i think Briscoe is the most quality English winger in SL, he's playing well and I think should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Either Foster or McG on the other wing I wouldn't mind.

Another name I wanna throw into the mix for the props is Lee Mossop though, having a huge year on the sly.

Accommodate Slater? Widdop was not the incumbent who suddenly shifted for Billy Slater. His chance has come about because Finch has moved to Wigan.

briscoe is light years ahead of foster as a rugby league player.

and thats being kind.

Foster will be a good clubman, good skills for a not all that athletic bloke (in rugby league terms). Briscoe will be a special player

Foster reminds me so much of David Beckham (and I don’t mean a similarity in looks), both have very good skills but lack the physical attributes to be world class. Beckham could cross a cracking ball and was great with set pieces but didn’t have any pace so it meant he would never be a world class winger. Foster is a very skilful RL winger but lacks the size and pace to excel on the international scene

Oh jesus...

jamie foster is the same height and only 5kg lighter than current australia winger brett morris.......and brett morris is a very "english" type winger......and i've not seen morris finish like foster has this season...or obviously kick a ball like foster does....

given all that im not sure i'd pick foster for the exiles game..theres briscoe,charnley,Jmac & maybe ryan hall infront of foster

Foster doesnt have Morris' pace either though. If Morris is having a bad year (not seen much NRL this year) then fair enough but he's still a much better player than Foster

I love how Ryan Hall has supposedly slipped behind all these half-season wonders when it comes to picking representative sides.

He's got probably the best tries to games ratio over his career of any English qualified winger and is a real handful when coming in to help out his forwards. Yes he's not the greatest defender in the world, but if you're picking wingers on the basis of how well they tackle then you've already lost the plot.