As a Leeds fan I would question Watkins and Ablett's inclusion, with the following qualifications:
Ablett is one of the most consistent and underrated players in Superleague. He may not do the spectacular stuff but he makes the big plays when it really matters.
Watkins was blistering for the first half of the season. Only Briscoe has made more metres than him at centre this year. He's also made over 400 tackles which is an awesome amount for a centre and only Ryan Atkins has made more offloads than him in that position. (surprisingly given Moon's reputation, he is level with him on offloads)

As for the Hardaker/Escare debate there's really no contest. Escare is a great talent and I love watching him, but he is way behind Hardaker in both attack and defence.
Hardaker (despite his deserved 5 match ban) is still the 3rd highest metre maker in the league. Escare only just makes it into the top 20. Escare may have scored more tries but Hardaker more than makes up for this with a whole host of quite brilliant try-saving tackles.

Ryan Hall has scored more of his miracle tries this season, although so has Monaghan. The clincher for me is the hard yards Hall makes out of defence. The stats again show a massive difference in metres gained, (Hall has made almost 50% more than Monaghan)

The real no brainer is Peacock. He has been a monster in every facet of the game:
Most carries in the league (by some distance)
4th highest metre maker
3nd lowest percentage of errors per carry
10th highest tackler
3rd highest marker tackler
4th highest number of offloads

yet he makes less meters per carry.. has less tries, less assists, has made loads more errors and has made alot less tackles.

your 'clincher' only really shows that you have been over reliant on him to do your forwards work, which could be argued has weakened his try scoring ability.

maybe you should play him in the second row.

Who is james Deighton? This is the team he submitted (no joke): Zak Hardaker (Leeds); Ryan Hall (Leeds), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield); Kevin Sinfield (Leeds), Tim Smith (Wakefield); Jamie Peacock (Leeds), Daryl Clark (Castleford), Andy Lynch (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Weller Hauraki (Castleford), James Donaldson (Bradford) m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/29175604 It's no wonder this lacks credibility when you have these sorts of people choosing???

Who is james Deighton? This is the team he submitted (no joke): Zak Hardaker (Leeds); Ryan Hall (Leeds), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield); Kevin Sinfield (Leeds), Tim Smith (Wakefield); Jamie Peacock (Leeds), Daryl Clark (Castleford), Andy Lynch (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Weller Hauraki (Castleford), James Donaldson (Bradford) m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/29175604 It's no wonder this lacks credibility when you have these sorts of people choosing???

Quote Albion="Albion"Who is james Deighton? This is the team he submitted (no joke): Zak Hardaker (Leeds); Ryan Hall (Leeds), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield); Kevin Sinfield (Leeds), Tim Smith (Wakefield); Jamie Peacock (Leeds), Daryl Clark (Castleford), Andy Lynch (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Weller Hauraki (Castleford), James Donaldson (Bradford) m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/29175604 It's no wonder this lacks credibility when you have these sorts of people choosing???'" is that a real submission ? the only conclusion to be drawn from that is that is WAS weller hauraki that picked it.

Quote Albion="Albion"Who is james Deighton? This is the team he submitted (no joke): Zak Hardaker (Leeds); Ryan Hall (Leeds), Michael Shenton (Castleford), Kallum Watkins (Leeds), Jermaine McGillvary (Huddersfield); Kevin Sinfield (Leeds), Tim Smith (Wakefield); Jamie Peacock (Leeds), Daryl Clark (Castleford), Andy Lynch (Castleford), Brett Ferres (Huddersfield), Weller Hauraki (Castleford), James Donaldson (Bradford) m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/29175604 It's no wonder this lacks credibility when you have these sorts of people choosing???'" is that a real submission ? the only conclusion to be drawn from that is that is WAS weller hauraki that picked it.

Some of the selections are mystifying beyond belief. I suppose it doesn't matter one jot, however, I don't think it's right that players that have worked their backsides off all season have perhaps not got the recognition they deserve at the expense of slotting in a few players on reputation.

I don't have an issue with Hardaker at full-back. Escare would have been my first choice but both have had good seasons regardless of Hardaker's indiscretion and both offer exceptional qualities.

Ryan Hall's selection is way out IMO. He's a good player but his form has nowhere been representative of his standards from previous seasons. By the same contrast Joel Monaghan's omission is completely perplexing given that he has been the best winger and scored some quality tries.

Joe Burgess, Tom Makinson and even Charnley - who has missed eight games than Hall - scored more tries than him and topped Wigan's try scoring charts. Then there is Carney and McGillvary also worth shouts too.

Shenton's inclusion is an obvious choice, but Watkins falls into the same category as Hall. Good start, but average across the year. My choice would have been someone who seems to have gone under the radar a bit but has been outstanding for Salford in their average season - Junior Sa'u.

In the halves, Kevin Brown is an OK choice but Sneyd has provided more assists and has outshone Brown when playing against each other so I think it's harsh on young Marc. Naturally you have Brough and Chase around too and I'd go for Brough and Sneyd in the halves.

Up front - can't argue with Peacock and Hill. Think Lynch deserves recognition and he's been fairly comparable to JP in most aspects of his game. Daz Clark, can't argue with same as Whitehead.

Ablett is another odd choice. He's a decent player and plays a steady game but without sounding disrespectful that's all. There are players like Ta'ai and Taia who offer a bit more in attack I feel and then there's Liam Farrell, who has had a disappointing season by his standards but still eclipses Ablett.

At loose-forward, O'Loughlin is undoubtedly a top player but he shouldn't be anywhere near the side. Westerman deserves recognition and should be the loose.

What annoys me is that a lot of the media were claiming likes of Carney and Walsh couldn't be included. If you're including Hardaker (six games missed), O'Loughlin (11 games missed) and so on then people like Luke Walsh and Charnley deserve to be included on their 16 games alone. It's farcical.

So yeah, my team would be:

Escare; Monaghan, Shenton, Sa'u, Makinson, Brough, Sneyd, Peacock, Clark, Hill, Whitehead, Taia, Westerman.

7 players from in the top four, six from outside. A more fairer representation than the six selected in the Dream Team and also the five players from sixth position.

This.

I think the only thing we can pretty much agree on, is that the front row is spot on.

No problem with Hardaker, we are basing it on rugby..anything else doesn't count IMO.
The biggest mistake and frankly it is a joke is that SOL gets picked over Westerman, I'd like to be sipping what the ones whom picked him over Joe who has being outstanding this year. Think SOl was lucky to get in last year as well tbh, 15 games in 2013 and was bang average.

Still it's better than being a racist and a huge plonker isn't it?

no idea, as I am neither

exactly!! What makes George Riley an "expert" on rugby league. As far as I can tell he is a fan, but other than being a news reader I am not sure what other expertise does he bring?

From that article on the BBC "experts" choices, Dave Woods has picked Ryan Hall for his contribution in the wrong competition, and James Deighton admits to be being biased to Yorkshire clubs.