I wouldn't worry about it. I saw McNamara on Boots 'n' All last week, he said they are just going over to have "fun" so the results don't really matter

The problem with that line of thinking is that the coaches who rule with an iron rod and make it all about the ‘job at hand’ also fail – Capello in the World Cup springs to mind

Tony Smith had some pretty good results as GB/England coach – a 3-0 series win over NZ and making the final of the last 4 Nations but it all fell apart when he went on tour – he wasn’t the right man for the job of keeping the team together on foreign soil over a tournament

I’m not saying that McNamara is going to succeed but I will only class him as failure if he fails and not before he has even picked his squad

A final in appearance in this 4 Nations would be a step in the right direction

It'll be interesting to see who plays 7 with Eastmond and McGuire both out.

Burrow? Long? Myler? It's not a good list.

I'd expect another 3 or 4 withdrawals as well. Ellis is rumoured to be headed for an operation on his back for one.

It's McNamara we're talking about. It'll probably be Deacon.

Why not Danny Brough at 7 with Tomkins a 6. I reckon he will go with Kevin Brown at 6 and Tomkins at 7.

Brown will get murdered out there!

It won't be Long, that's for sure

Burrow has never really let himself down internationally and at this stage I would expect him to be in front of Myler in the pecking order

Is Eastmond definitely out? - he is struggling for the Grand Final but he has 3 weeks after that till the first 4 Nations match

We really need a 7 who has a good kicking game. That rules out Burrow and for me Myler has never lived up to his hype. Whenever i have seen him he seems to be another decent support halfback with not much else. Sinfield at 6? He has an ok kicking game. I would go Brough 7 and tompkins 6 which would give us a good kicking game but Brough always gets overlooked. I think McN will go with Tompkins and Brown at halves then if Eastmond is injured.

See, the real problem is not always the coach, in this case I have little faith in him but...


Look at the suggested teams on this forum. Its the same faces, or more importantly, some players are automatically dismissed because they dont play for the right club.

Our wings are weak you say? Who says? Just because Leeds, Saints or Wigan have poor options on the wing doesnt mean all the other clubs do. - What about the likes of Cudjoe or Lawrence - oh sorry, they arent austrailian and dont play for XYZ so they must be crap.

s? Again XYZ all have aussie/kiwi centres so GB musnt have any good ones. Or maybe, just maybe they dont play for the chosen clubs...

Halfbacks? There are more halfbacks of English origin than I can remember these days.

Somone has said Brown would get murdered over there. Why? He has been the guiding force behind the Giants for two seasons, not Hodgson - he has just added some real class at times but Kev Brown has been the real reason for our success.

Robinson, the only thing he is guilty of is trying too hard sometimes, but he has been superb at hooker this season and has the defence to bring down the big men too. Oh and he has a cracking kicking game

Maybe, just maybe if some people took of their blinkers and realised that the player pool at international level is a much, much different place than it was just 5 years ago, even 2 years ago then the better.

Maybe McNamara isnt the coach for the job, but so far he at least seems to be not letting the petty club prejudices of too many fans cloud his judgement for the train on squad.

I would be happy with both of these two in the squad

Cudjoe can cover full back and wing and has had an excellent season and peaked for the play offs

As for Lawrence - probably not quite enough pace for the wing but he is very solid defensively and he wouldn't be a bad option in centres for me

As for Robinson - it’s a funny one as I would rather have seen Lunt play the year at hooker for the Giants, I thought he was on his way to becoming a World Class number 9. With Brown playing Robinson at 9 and Lunt in the second row, he may have harmed both their international chances (this is not a criticism of Brown as he has to do what he feels is right for Huddersfield)

Agree with a lot there. Roby and Robinson would be a good hooking rotation i think. There are very good halves in SL outside the usual suspects (who have not excelled at international level). A mixture of Roby, Robbo, Tompkins, Brough and Brown would give us good options at international level. Just because certain halfbacks play for top 4 teams dont mean they are the best options come tri nations time.

No it won't be. Australia have many injuries as well, despite the fact that they have more depth the replacements are not the quality of those they will be replacing; no matter how afraid everyone will be of them anyway.

Also, Brian Smith will be helping England out in this tournament, he is a fantastic coach with an excellent reputation (despite the lack of a grand final victory).

Id like to see something like

Widdop
T.Briscoe
Gleeson
Atkins
Cudjoe
Tomkins
Brough
Graham
Sinfield
Morley
Ellis
Burgess
O'Loughlin

Roby
J.Tomkins
Fielden
Westwood

We need a good kicker and Brough is the best imo. Burgess to play the 80 and moving up to prop when needed.

Australia will be without Greg Inglis, Jamie Lyon, Michael Jennings, Timana Tahu, who all would've been considered at centre. Darren Lockyer, Johnathan Thurston, Scott Prince are all in doubt for the halves. England could be facing a backline mostly featuring players they've never played against before. You're not the only team with injuries.

Has Brough actually declared himself for England again or is he still Scottish?

Scottish last we heard