Gerry also has a very very good attacking kick on him too, able to put the ball back inside for the likes of Tomkins (s)

Aye, seen him do it a few times this season, never seems to panic unlike some other wingers.

I think that I'd fancy

Tomkins
Briscoe
Yeaman
Bridge
Hall

with Cudjoe in the squad as backup, as I rate him at both centre and wing.



We've got some quality young threequarters now, plenty of potential.

All of these are 25 or under:

FB: Tomkins, Widdop, BJB
W: Briscoe, Hall, McGilavray, Charnley,
C: Watkins, Cudjoe, Shenton, Arundel

This doesn't include Atkins, Foster, Broughton, Owen, and Welham who I think are good but won't get to a level good enough for internation rugby.

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I put Shenton in front of him due to the fact that I thought that he played impressively in last years 4 nations.

I put Arundel in front of him because I feel that he has more potential than Welham and will get to a higher standard.

I'm not calling Welham a bad player, if I thought that then I wouldn't mention him, but I think that he won't get to an international standard due to his suspect defense.

The lists towards the end that included players such as Watkins and Arundel was not the list of people that I thought should be in contention for this years internationals, but people who I think will feature for England over the coming years, due to being young (all 25 and under) and having great ability/potential.

Your opinion. But I've seen alot of him this year, and let's face it, Rovers have hardly been ripping up trees this year, and he's still the leading try scorer In the league. Says alot about the kid. Hope Mcnamara see's sence and puts him the team based on form as he said he would!

how good is welham against the teams with the best defences?

We need big who can tackle in the centres, not get drawn into stupid positions and wingers who can jump and catch a ball. Stopping tries should be the number one priority, especially inside our 20m. Australia and NZ will both play off good kicking and field position. We need to learn at some point that we need to do the same!

At least we're looking like having a few better athletes in the backs than in the past. I walked past Calderwood and Lee Smith in Brisbane a few years ago, and the physical contrast between them and the Australian threequarters I've seen around town was staggering.

England need to use this tournament to try some of these younger players out. Excelling in SL is not the same as excelling against Australia/NZ. We need to find players who rise to the occasion and really take it to the opposition - in both attack and defence. They may still lose but I've seen too many GB/England backs beaten before they get on the pitch, and simply playing scared.

Part of the problem is also down to us having nothing resembling a structured attack. We desperately need the combination of Sam Tomkins/Widdop/scrum half to actually give our threequarters something to work with. Otherwise the selection issues are meaningless.

Quote: SmokeyTA "I cant agree, Hall makes metres, time and time again, alot of carries, often taking it up as first receiver like a prop rather than running from dummy half. I'd play Hall on the right, because i think he could work well with Tomkins. Yeaman and Briscoe play together on the left at club level it would seem silly to move them. Given a straight choice I'd go for Hall.'" superleague.co.uk/statistics_pla ... eason=2011 Apart from Trys and carries Briscoe stats are alround better than Hall, who is playing for a better side IMO. More Metres More metres per carry More offloads More tackle bust More clean breaks More tackles Less tackles missed Less mistakes FWIW I'd have Briscoe and Hall on the wings for England.

Quote: SmokeyTA "I cant agree, Hall makes metres, time and time again, alot of carries, often taking it up as first receiver like a prop rather than running from dummy half. I'd play Hall on the right, because i think he could work well with Tomkins. Yeaman and Briscoe play together on the left at club level it would seem silly to move them. Given a straight choice I'd go for Hall.'" superleague.co.uk/statistics_pla ... eason=2011 Apart from Trys and carries Briscoe stats are alround better than Hall, who is playing for a better side IMO. More Metres More metres per carry More offloads More tackle bust More clean breaks More tackles Less tackles missed Less mistakes FWIW I'd have Briscoe and Hall on the wings for England.

Thats why I would play them both.

Good to have compettion in Charnley and Mcgillvery.

Centres are still our weakess position IMO, hopefully Watkins can have a good season next year as he looks the nearest player to becoming a top centre, Sarginson of Quins looks good aswell and maybe Evans at warrington if he plays centre, not to much after that?

What's Briscoe like in the centres? Im just not sure about Yeaman because he's played international before and didn't do well IMO. England need to try new things.

Very much agree with both point made here. The physical attributes (I would say physicality but I hate that word) of our young outside backs are miles ahead of the previous generation. I can’t remember seeing Calderwood ever break a tackle for example. Players such as Briscoe, Hall, McGilavray, Charnley, Watkins, Cudjoe, Arundel, Welham etc are all good athletes

Also, the creative spine of the team is looking better than the recent past

Tomkins at full back, a combination from Brough, Widdop and Lomax in the halves and Roby and Robinson at dummy half has a really creative and talented look about it

Looks like you were wrong!!