Yawn. Sick to death of English fans using that as an excuse.
Anyway, if you had a "[ineutral[/i" ref - one who wasn't concerned about the look of the thing - you would have been playing with 12 from the 9th minute. Calling the ref "you f***ing cheating c***" is a send off every day of the year. Sutton [imight[/i have missed a high tackle on Widdop (although I thought it came up off the shoulder), but he took the cowards way out by not marching the ear-biting serial bully Graham.

The fact that Cameron Smith said it was the toughest game he had played in says everything about the intensity of the game. We just needed to execute better. Keep saying it but Watts (a prop with speed, good lines and an offload) and Shaul (off the cuff, unpredictability, pace) could have made a difference in that game

The trifecta:

Whingeing Poms
Soap dodgers
State of origin more important

Now that this is over, there's at least one good thing, the ocker trolls can f*ck right off until next time.

The loss of SOL was the difference there. We struggled to score when he wasn't on the field throughout the tournament and, against the Aussies, it was clear that we had no one to straighten us up and play at the line. That said, a better, more inventive half back partnership could have gone some way to negating this. That's why I think it's imperative we get Tomkins and Williams playing in the halves for Wigan. The Aussie axis is based on years of playing together at club level. We need to have the same advantage. I just hope Shaun Wane has his England hat on this coming season.

Watts is way too much of a penalty machine for me. Taylor a better option IMO, always seems to be difficult to put down, very rarely drops the ball or gives away a penalty. I'd be earmarking Walmsley to take the starting spot from Graham when he retires, and Taylor to come onto the bench. That's all form-dependent, obviously. Hopefully George Burgess can regain his form and push for a spot.