what number is that then?

makes a bit of a mockery of having these up and coming young players but hen picking JJB(whats that all about?)peacock,carvell,wilkin etc, not saying these aren't good players but surely we should be looking forward not back? surely these guys have had their chance and should be replaced by new faces?
why not throw in a few surprises and give some of the knights players a chance to test themselves in an international shirt?
and why do we insist on picking loose forwards/2nd rowers at stand off!!

S Tomkins
Briscoe
Shenton
Cudjoe
Hall
Brough
Myler
Graham
Roby
Morley
J Tomkins
Westwood
O Loughlin

Wilkin
Carvell
Crabtree
Robinson

All I will say on this thread is:

a) I'm disappointed with the squad
b) It's the same players who have underperformed in previous tournaments
c) What happened to the "we're preparing for the 2013 World Cup" line that was trotted out.

Underwhelmed, pick from the big teams once again, ignore players in form. Same old, same old. Lost interest in the Eng v Exiles fixture now. I wanted to see how good the 'new wave' was going to be.

but the exiles game is'nt about seeing the "new wave"......its about giving the current crop a decent hit out.....the knights is all about the "new wave"


the 2013RLWC is the mine aim...but getting to this years 4nations final is just as important as its the last tournament before the world cup...and with it being at home,like the world cup, it'll lay down a serious marker....

Agree the present is also important but I can't see us getting anywhere near and can't see any markers being put down

To be fair Fitler used to play loose forward or stand off for Aus, didnt do them any harm. It depends on the player, Sinfield can and does comfortably play either position and has a good passing and kicking game

Farrell, Sculthorpe and O'loughlin are/were loose forwards who were just filling in at stand off

i swear i'm sure i'm the only one with any faith round here

But you can't see how the new quality players coming through perform on the highest stage; let's face it, a hit out against Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with no disrespect to those nations, is not comparable.

People have already mentioned the likes of Welham, McGillvary etc. How are they meant to prove themselves playing in what is essentially a reserve team? They can't. They have played week in, week out against the players in the Exiles side so they should be able to fit into the England squad fairly easy but it would be good to get them used to the test environment.

I think it's a lost opportunity wasted on players that probably/possibly won't be involved in the setup in a few years time.

wtf do people keep mentioning welham for??????? he's rubbish and could'nt tackle the zip on his fly


and yeah playing them against...france & samoa in oct/nov actually...will do these kids in the knights the world of good cos its all about creating a pathway from academy to knights to england v exiles to england v australia/NZ...because chucking 19 year old kids,who have played a season of SL,into games against the best has done sod all for us in the past...

no because sinfield will be the utility/no 14 bench spot in the 4nations....giving roby a breather if he needs it and being able to come on @ 6 or 13 should we need too change things about....

so it does make sense to have brough & sinfield playing together.....and we already know brough & brown can play together so we'd learn nothing new by playing them

We also already know what Sinfield can contribute at international level.

If Sinfield gets injured, then McBanana will have no choice but to throw in Lomax, Brown or someone else against the Aussies/Kiwi's - someone who wont have had the opportunity to have a step up in the Exiles game.

not at 6 alongside brough we don't