Fair play to Gareth Ellis he new he could come back to Super League and he'd be able to choose the highest bidder despite as we have seen this season he's no longer the player he once was.

And yet, dear William, he was undoubtedly a stand out in the NRL and you keep telling us that that's a higher level than international can hope to achieve owing to the poor English game, so what's the deal there?

He was player of the year at Wests Tigers several times which suggests he was very popular among his fellow Tigers players more than anything else, considering it's the players themselves who do the voting. On the playing front, Wests Tigers percentage win record was 52% when Ellis played but that percentage win record rose to 61.54% when he was absent. Those figures don't suggest to me that he was that influential or a stand-out for his club in the NRL.


Facing the Kangaroos at international level is facing higher level opposition than during weekly NRL rounds surely? I don't recall any stand-out performance from Ellis at international level against them. I do recall some extremely ineffective performances though.

Maybe I read different reports to you, but the impression I got was that he was respected right across the NRL, by players, coaches and journalists alike. As for your percentages, they're meaningless unless you're happy to list the opposition in the matches he missed. You probably reckon Tim Sheens knows a thing or two don't you? Well he said that "In my time here, dollar-for-dollar, he's been the best buy this club has had." But then he was probably joking.


I don't know, I mean do they even try against our lot? We're just international whipping boy rabble aren't we?

He's really 5hit, so hoepfully McNamara wont pick him in the World Cup

I wasn't aware that a player had to be a stand-out in the NRL to be granted respect. I'm sure there are plenty of other solid and workmanlike players in the NRL just like Ellis who are also respected in the NRL by players, coaches and journos alike. The likes of Aiden Tolman, Tim Mannah, Kevin Kingston and Ryan Hinchcliffe immediately spring to mind.


rlSheens has had quite a few things to say about Ellisrl.


They did in the first half rlHERErl and rlHERErl


That's what the international evidence suggests results-wise, and particularly so during the SL-era where we've won 4 out of 25 tests against Australia and 14 out of 51 against Australia & NZ combined with one series win and 14 series losses.

My opinion on Ellis is that he shouldn't be anywhere near the England team for the 2013 World Cup. He's no longer the player he was a few seasons ago (4 seasons of toil in the NRL has seen to that) but more importantly... the national side really needs to move on from the disaster of the 2008 World Cup where... apart from James Graham and James Roby... none of that embarrassing 2008 generation should still be involved at international level.