6 and 7 just not up to it im afraid and Widdop made some poor decisions too. Sooner some of out half-backs got to the NRL, the better.

Ain't that what I said?

Great game that.looking at the match stats there wasn't a fag paper between the sides apart from we had double the errors, which sums up why we fall short, but we went toe to toe with the best for the full 80 and with a bit more luck could have nicked it.

What an improvement that is on 2008 when we capitulated at every turn.we can hold our heads up high and look forward to the kiwi series with real hope and optimism now.The Aussies without the Queensland conection will be there for the taking in the Ashes series in 2019, bring it on.

A bit of me would quite like to see England play QL and NSW separately - invite them over for tours. When we've beaten them, the Aussies can shut up about that as the pinnacle of the game.

Whilst that is a bit contradictory (you criticise Widdop and then say our halves need to play in the NRL to improve, even though Widdop has come through the NRL system) I am mostly in agreement.
The NRL is certainly a competition where halves get much less time to make decisions and as such, the likes of Thurston, Cronk, Morgan et al have much more experience playing in intense game (even more so when they have experienced many origin games).
Our players lack that experience and it showed in some of the decisions they made today, which I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have made given the extra thinking time they get in Super League (I’ve never seen Gale kick on the second tackle for a Castleford, particularly when chasing points).
However, and here’s the conundrum, playing in big games is a massive learning curve. It would seem rather daft now Gale has built this, to kick him into touch (metaphorically) and replace him with someone with no big game international experience who will need to go through the same learning curve! He’s young enough to be available for the next World Cup, so building on his experience so far seems more sensible than replacing him with someone who hasn’t been as good domestically and doesn’t have the international experience. However, that’s not to say he should be an automatic pick if some young half back explodes into the scene in the next four years, or if Gale’s domestic form goes out of the window (though that didn’t seem to matter for Kevin Brown!).
Of course, we all hope that there are some teenagers waiting to become the next World-class English half and by the next World Cup we have a 21 year old Englishman ripping NRL defences fo shreds. But unless that happens we are better to take advantage of the experience our players have built through this tournament and the next three years to bring home the trophy in 2021 (or whenever it is).

It was an outstanding effort, it truly was. We went into their own backyard and took them the distance. Ultimately, we can't ask any more.

We need to not be too disheartened, execution in the final third let us down, but if we keep putting ourselves in these games that will come.

Eh? Widdop was head and shoulders our best player today. Was a utterly stupid thing to say

Regards

King James

Good at FB, very poor at Stand Off. Too stuttering, slow and predictable. He will never in a million years make a decent international stand off.

With all due respect, I completely disagree. Graham, Whitehead and Hill were better than Widdop. Watch it back. Whitehead came up with another couple of try savers at vital times. Widdop made a couple of wrong options in attack, dropped the ball etc.

Widdop also played full back last time i checked. My point about 6 and 7 was aimed at Brown and Gale. Just not up to it i'm afraid.

A gutsy performance, but we lost. Put Edwards and Gregory in at 6 & 7 in their prime and they'd have torn the aussies apart.

Put meninga at 3 and Daley at 6 and they would have torn the Pom’s apart

Regards

King James

Cronk gone now, although I always thought he was the weakest of the 3. I think the other 2 will retire too as only 1 Aussies test next year and neither will still be going by the time the next tourney is happening anyhow.