Personally, I think it's time for McNamara to go, although there isn't likely to be a huge queue of people banging his door down.

There is clearly an issue with discipline in the England camp and it is something that McNamara hasn't dealt with particularly well. His press conference following the Gareth Hock incident last year was cringe worthy, that was followed by another breach of discipline shortly afterwards and this year, we see Josh Hodgson trashing a student flat. I can't imagine that sort of thing happening under Shaun Wane.

On the playing front, he's done OK with the tools he had, but he's misused a lot of those tools as well. I don't understand the logic in only having one hooker in the match day squad when you plan to spell that hooker with a second rower.

Winning trophies at Leeds in 2004 was not a piece of cake by any means. Leeds won in large part due to Smith's ability to give talented players the confidence to win as well as to finely hone their skills - all the Leeds players from that era will acknowledge the debt they owe Smith in both respects.

Wane I don't know about; I imagine he is living off the structures put in place by Maguire and the tactical nous of Paul Deacon. At Leeds it was Smith who was responsible for both.

so it's all paul deacon now, except we won the double last year when Harris was there so it must have been all him.

you don't have to like Shaun Wane or think he should be England coach but let's stop talking crap and realise he's a very good rugby league coach.

Garry Schofield wants Wane or Powell to get the job.

Not like him to be climbing aboard a bandwagon, unless there's free beer on it.

More time and more resources,perhaps?

TBF all touring parties have discipline problems.

Mal Reilly was/is a much scarier prosepct than Shaun Wane yet players still went off the rails in 1990 and 1992 when Reilly was GB coach. Bobbie Goulding ended up in court and Lee Crooks and Andy Gregory went off on one (according to their own biographies).

I expect there are many more stories that never got out.

It comes with the territory.

All said and done, does anyone feel the slightest bit sorry for McNamara? He was minutes away from taking England to a World Cup final, a finger tip away from a victory over Australia last week and a couple of missed conversions from beating the Kiwis.

Must be hard to take for the bloke.

I keep reading this from a few sources.

We weren't a finger tip away from anything. We were a fair TV ref away from knocking Australia out. That same TV ref is back on duty this weekend.

Point being, McNamara has been desperately unlucky at crucial times of the game.

I agree.

It's just that I'm still sore!

How true! Just shows how narrow the margins are between winning and losing at top level RL. Never Mac's biggest fan but can't help but feel sorry for him - he nearly got England to the World Cup final and now he's nearly got England to the Four Nations!

Most of the elite players in England are coached by Wane. Nearly all the rest used to be.