Looking at the squads...... theres some pretty good half back combos.....

Australia 6) Thurston 7) Cronk
Scotland 6) Brough 7) Wallace (that could be a the suprise package)
England 6) Sinfield 7) Widdop
NZ 6) Johnson 7) Foran
Wales 6) White 7) Seamark
Ireland 6) ??? 7) Finn
Italy 6) Campese 7) Gower

Some really good combinations......

England Wales and Ireland look the weakest to be fair

Ireland may use Grix as stand off

Play Sam Tomkins in the half backs
keep Sinfield away from 6 !!!!

And where does Sinfield play then? Lockers is better at 13 and Roby better at 9 - so the captain doesn't get a game??

The problem is, with sinfield being captain he has to be shoehorned into the team by hook or crook.

I'm not so much saying sinfield shouldn't be captain, he is a tremendous leader and after peacock left he was the logical choice. It's just if he wasn't captain, it would be easy to select a team without him. But it is what it is.

With that in mind, that set up I would have is

13. Sinfield
6. Widdop
7. Chase
8. Roby

That means leaving O'loughlin out, which sucks as he is a quality player. But i think widdop must be selected at 6. He starts there week in week out for one of the top NRL teams so i don't think we can turn our noses up at that type of quality in what has been a weak position for us for many a year. I'd hate to see him have to come off the bench like in 2011.

But if widdop is at 6, and you still accomodate sinfield and o'loughlin into the 17 you are going to end up lacking muscle in the pack, as o'loughlin ends up coming from the bench most likely.

If sinfield is at 13 (a position where you rarely see ball players these days), then you are going to want plenty of muscle off the bench. But what about some impact like a burrow?

Probably for the first time in a long time, england actually have lots of selection choices and headaches, between players that actually play the positions in question, that can only be a good thing.

I mean, no disrespect, but remember a few years ago when we had wellens, wellens, and wellens to choose from at fullback? That's a pretty grim choice for an international fullback, someone without any pace.

Now we have the class of tomkins and hardaker. Both fast, skillful, exciting and very good fullbacks. Even widdops done good stints there in the past before settling in at 5/8.

We may not ultimatley be up to australia's standard, but the quality of the national squad has improved, without a doubt.

If I was picking the team I would have:

1) S.Tomkins
6) Widdop
7) M.Smith
9) Roby
13) O'Loughlin

The players which I think will play are:

1) S.Tomkins
6) Sinfield
7) Chase
9) Roby
13) O'Loughlin

I don't think Sinfield or Chase have done anything exceptional at international level...... Sinfield is way too slow....... and Chase doesn't have the right head to play at international level......

doubt we will see widdop partner sinfield. would like to see it though

I think Sinfield's importance is more as goalkicker than Captain tbh.
Yes Widdop can kick but is nowhere near as good as Sinfield and not a regular kicker for Melbourne, so is decent back up but that's about it. In tight games you need an A+ kicker under pressure

Personally I don't buy into the Sinfield bit. IMO he has had more than his fair share of chances at international level and has failed to shine. As mentioned above, you could pick a stronger team without him. So, for mine I'd give the captaincy to someone else, maybe lockers, even though I'm not a fan by any means but, lets face it, Wigan look a different team when he's leading and he gets a place in the England team on merit.

So, back on topic, I'd probably pick Chase/Widdop.

Every time I've seen the Sinfield/Chase combination I've always thought it completely kills Sam Tomkins' threat from full back. This could be down to coaching and the attacking structures but I think a lot of it is down the Sinfield being too slow and Chase being too off the cuff. England need to play in a similar style to Wigan, and maximise Tomkins' efffectiveness chiming in from the back.

I really hope we don't see 6. Sinfield 7.Chase with Widdop completely wasted and sat on the bench for 60 minutes, but I've got a feeling we will.

Wow, dumbest post of 2013. Well done.

Whilst Sinfield's squad number is 13, he's not a loose forward as long as he's got a hole in his .
He's a half back, he has been for years. Even when Leeds used to select Burrow and McGuire in the halves, they'd split them left and right and Sinfield would play the central role that is more aligned with that of a scrum half.
Playing with 3 ball players is redundant now anyway, especially given the extra creative input full backs have these days, so the idea of dropping a player with the power and ability of someone like O#Loughlin, Westwood or Burgess is a nonsense imo.

I'm a Saints fan, so I've suffered at the hands of Sinfield's qualities more than most, but I don't automatically buy into that transferring to his international game. At Leeds he's had years of consistency to develop himself into a certain role, working with the same players year in year out, player that are signed to compliment the player already in place.
A great of Rugby League, there can be no doubt, but unquestionable talent? Not for me.
That said, his kicking game is excellent and, as Shaun Wane has shown with Matty Smith, a player with a the correct basic skills can run a game and come out on top. In fact, give Shaun Wane the England reins and I'm pretty bloody sure we wouldn't be losing to Italy. But England lost and McNamara will do his usual job of sounding very poignant and thoughtful and tell us how we'll use it as a learning curve. I hope his input doesn't spoil what's gearing up to be a cracking tournament.

Italy would have had a great combination if Gower and Campese had been able to play (both injured).
Good thing they don't need those guys to win.

That boat has already sailed. In the real world, he's not going to just strip sinfield of the captaincy days before the opening ceremony.