That's assuming we've seen the last of Chase of course.

Kevin Brown is the best HB in England (assuming Brough is Scottish). He should have been 6 with Widdop at 7.

And therein lies the problem with the British game - Brown is ok and certainly worth a shout with what we have available, but would he have an impact at International level??

The standard of half back in the modern game, or at least what is demanded of a half back, is very, very average.... A John Woods or a Andy Gregory with this present England side would make a massive difference.

A half back should be a spark - most nowadays are just there to do the basics like pass the ball on along the line, or hoof the ball upfield on the fifth tackle and, bizarrely, anybody who can do this reasonably well, is seen as some sort of genius.

Unfortunately, with kids being brought up on the modern game, which is so sterile and structured, the days of the half back being the master locksmith to an opposition's defence will very soon be long forgotten - Let's not forget, we presently have a champion side which won their title by having NO half backs.

I don't think it's a case of young lads having the spark trained out of them in favour of structure. HB's need to have natural talent. Natural ability. We simply have not produced those types of HB since the likes of Edwards and Gregory. In the same way that Aussies struggle with ball-playing forwards, an area where we produce plenty. People suggesting Brown could do a job at International level are right. He could be an excellent water carrier.

Until another one comes along, and we must be due one, we have to put up with solid HB's like Smith, or stupidly play forwards in the halves.

I agree totally with the natural talent point. However, if young kids are being introduced to the game thinking that the Matty Smith-style of half back is the norm, then it is almost inevitable that any youngster thinking of going the half back route, will grow up believing the modern-day basic method is the way to go and the more old-school off-the-cuff half back will become extinct.

The problem is that many clubs have now adopted the sterile method where flair is a distant second to disciplined structure - Would a teenage John Woods, Andy Gregory, or even Lee Briers be allowed to develop into the off-the-cuff players they were in the 2014 RL academies, or would they have it drilled out of them at an early stage in their careers?

Brown over Widdop? Get off that crack you drug-crazed fiends. The was won in defence. They shut down our attack and we couldn't slow down their's.

Why move a 6 in Widdop to 7 just to accommodate another 6 who is not as good? That's almost ridiculous as moving Tomkins to centre just to accommodate Hardaker.

There is no difference between 6&7 in some/most teams, one on the left, one on the right. Brown is the only creative HB available, certainly as a classic SO. He made twice the metres of Smith despite being in a far less competitive team. Smith is a poor man's Deacon without the kicking skills.

Who is going to provide us with our kicking game if Smith isn't in the team? Certainly not Brown, who has more mistakes in him than either of the current pair. If he was Tommy Martyn then perhaps I could agree but he isn't. He's a poor man's Nigel Wright.

Travesty of injuries.

Had everything other than luck.

I'v said this before, at junior level too many clubs use ' feeder clubs ' pushing all the best young talent to 1 place, you create a situation where young HB s dont need to develop because they already have the best FB, the biggest forwards and the fastest backs

Perfect example of that is St George, with Widdop and Benji Marshal, they do it to great effect too