Lebanon's disruption of the ruck was blatant throughout and was still not penalised. Presumably the style of refereeing has been dictated by the NRL but for me that was why the game was such a poor spectacle and it kind of destroys the myth that NRL rucks are far cleaner than those in SL.

[sizeATTENTION MODS !!!!!!!!
[/size
[sizeCan we please do something about this Downo character trolling every England match thread with his 'anti-english' crap, we had last week's locked and this is gonna go the same way, i want to read and post about how the England team played not have to scroll through pages of this idiot slagging everything English off and people who cannot resist replying to him, how hard would it be to remove him from the thread/board or just delete his stuff ???

Sorry but it's really really annoying and frustrating !!!!!![/size

Thought it was a pretty mundane performance, whether that was to save energy and use minimum effort to get the win i dont know but i would have liked to see us put them to the sword a bit more.

Again i thought Gale was non existent and i would have expected him to show up more against weaker opposition but he didn't, it's a shame cos i wanna see the Luke Gale that's been ripping Super league up all year do that on the world stage but it ain't happening.

We need a bit more aggression down the middle i think as we aren't really picking up any momentum on our plays, we got the win but i doubt Aus, NZ or even PNG will be worried by what they saw.

McMeekan deserves a run out.

For me Hodgson is one of the most overrated players I have ever seen as a 9. It looks like he didn't play as a 9 when he was a kid but I'm not sure whether he did or he didn't, he actually kills England's speed around the ruck with his refusal to pass from the floor.

Last week against Aus I thought Roby was hurting them around the middle with quick ball to the forwards who were ghosting past the markers. Hodgson brings the defence up and the markers into play by the time the forward gets the ball.

It's shocking 9 play and I'm convinced Bennett only favours him because he doesn't see the others play a lot. I'd like to hear his thoughts if he was offered the chance to sign Hodgson for the Broncos, I imagine he wouldn't be too much of a fan then.

If Josh Hodgson carries on stealing the halfbacks space by stepping out of dummy half and giving them zero space or time to make the plays then we're going absolutely nowhere.

Gale has struggled but he along with Widdop, Williams and Brown, Matty Smith etc before them, are getting rushed by the defence constantly because the ball to them is so slow.

James Roby must start (which I know he won't) or the games up.

Why, you cad!!!

Gale is proving that he is a Danny brough type player and flat track bully, although flat track today and did nothing, we all no it's the structured play and set moves that make him, and the whole cas side look better than they are.
Williams is a far more talented player who had a quite season, but williams should be given a chance to take the shirt coz Gale has not done enough to keep it.

Last week Roby was far better than Josh Hodgson and was probably our 3rd best player overall behind the 2 wingers.

Wouldn't mind an experiment as such next week as id Back any SL side to beat France so we are more or less guaranteed second. Then WB can maybe ponder the squad for the last 8.

The way Roby finished 2017 though was sensational so for me I can't grasp him not being first choice 9.

Hodgson is a joke, he's being woefully short of international class since his inclusion, done nothing stellar in any of his appearances, Danny Houghton far better and if we don't have Roby starting in the big games we are fooked.
Hill and Heighington need to be left out, not overly impressed with Whitehead, Bateman tried hard but is still not a centre in a month of Sundays. Walmsley looked okay but not outstanding, tbh our forwards looked lacklustre in general. Our spine looks rather laborious and predictable, still too many errors in our play.
We won't even make the semi finals at this rate!

Hodgson is first choice because he plays in the NRL, Roby is, and always has been the better player.
I guarantee Gale would look far better with Roby at hooker.

Hodgson seems to have gone backwards this year. There are probably 3 better hookers than him in SL who never even made it onto the plane but he'll get picked because he plays in the NRL

Mundane is exactly the right word for that performance.

Both halves did nothing - Widdop appears to have gone back to his bang average passenger type and Gale looks out of place.

Bateman puts in the graft, but is never a centre. You only have to watch how he carries the ball to see that - it's constantly tucked in the crook of his left arm, he rarely has both hands on the ball so is never in a position to pass (the one time he did today and it was a try).

Our overall tactic appears to be to spin it wide (usually before earning the right to do so by going forward) and use the boring, obvious, predictable wedge for another wedge play out the back that's been predicatbale and easy to defend for at least 4 years. That simply won't be good enough against he better teams.

If we ran into Tonga along the way, there's a serious chance we get blown off the park.

I thought Widdop went ok.

His short kicking into the in goal showed that he played nrl as it always went into space and gave the defender little room to manoeuvre. He also has shown over the two games the vision to put players into space on the right.

Gale on the other hand is used to playing in SL on a short Cas pitch and so doesnt have that kicking game at all.
I was also dissapointed that he didnt attack the line at all, instead just passing it along the line.

Williams only played a few minutes but in the time he was on he ran at players and created problems for the opposition defence.

I would therefore go with Williams on the left with Widdop on the right. Gale would go for me. He hasnt shown anything at this level so far. Last week you could excuse fact he was against Australia and behind a beaten pack, however this week he was with a pack going forward but still offered up nothing.

Hodgson got the MOM and i think it was because he was on for 80 minutes. As others allude to he appears to interrupt the flow of play around the ruck.

I agree.

Well, Hodgson isn’t a joke, he’s just afforded all the time and space in the world around the NRL’s clean and quick rucks with two refs sorting all that out. Most 9s look decent in that league and the best ones look out of this World. He’s no better or is worse than Clark Roby Houghton McIlorum and McShane.

As a Wire it’s painful watching Hill. He just lies on, puts his hands on the ball or offers so little go-forward I’m scratching my head thinking of the player from 2011-2016. But not all players are good from the start to finish of their careers.

What has Whitehead done in two games? Other than put his hands on the ball in the ruck?

Our forwards in general are slow, not particularly powerful or skilful as a pack. We’ve probably got the fourth best pack in the WC.

Gale looked out of his depth in two of the three big-Time games of the season for Cas. Hull away in the CC and the GF he was completely anonymous. And is just playing at that level in an England shirt.

Bateman isn’t a Centre.

Heighington? What about Watts? Cuthbertson? Taylor?

And as a whole, the style of play is painfully slow and boring. No creativity, no style.

We play like Bennett’s interviews pan out. Uncomfortable to watch and boring.

And why have we got our hands on the ball in the ruck so much? It’s loving awful to see!