Yeh, I couldn't quite believe that either, and I'm a Hull fan. The lad has struggled to even get into the 17 at times this season.

Alright then - Mike McMeeken at Cas.

I don't see why the likes of Farrell and Watkins should be in there when a) they have been either dogturd or anonymous at international level, and b) in Watkins' case particular they've been e in the domestic league. It's similar to when Roy took Gerrard and Rooney to the 2014 World Cup, both didn't deserve to and both proved utterly useless.

Really good shout. McMeekan I have no doubt will play for England. Perhaps a year too soon, but he has all the attributes to play at the top level. Ginger Thompson works hard but lacks the quality.

McMeeken is a good call, he's still young and I think he's showed constant progression in his career so far. If he played for a bigger team than Cas he would probably be in the squad now, possibly needs a little bit more time, or maybe he needs to go to the NRL to hit the next level. I think Farrell is a very good SL player but I have my doubts about whether he is really physical enough against full strength Aussie and Kiwi sides, I have same concern about Bateman. Perversely I'm not a great fan of Ferres, but I think he's a bit more robust than Farrell or Bateman.

I see that argument about Bateman a lot, that he lacks the physicality to take on the Aussies.

I'm not so sure. Whilst he is smaller in stature than other back rowers, he most be one of the most difficult men to put down in the whole of SL. He makes tackle busts for fun, loads of offloads, & scores and assists plenty of tries. Defensively he very rarely takes a backwards step. I think Aus/NZ will hate playing against him.

Agreed - I don't like the lad, but he's one of the most difficult players in SL to defend against, because he refuses to go down, or give ground; tough as nails.

I saw him at Leeds last season & he was like a fish out of water. His development since then has been staggering.

Agree. I don't think he's quite ready for International level yet, but if he continues to add to his game like he has done the past 18 months or so, he should be in contention for a WC spot.

Is O'Loughlin now available for the four nations?

Good question, he was never ruled out. Wane said something like he would talk to him about it. I didn't include him as the info at the time was he was out for the season. I think it would be a huge gamble to pick a player who has only played 1 game in the last 5 or 6 weeks.

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Hope not. But he's the Captain, so he's automatically picked regardless, a bit like Rooney.