Interesting appointment, i would have thought SOL was ahead of him, but could be just what england and he needs, the responsibility might calm down the whinging that has crept into his game. He's Englands best forward, and has the required passion, possibly a great move by mcbanana

What is the England captain curse?

EDIT: Oh, you mean Peacock and Morley? Is that all?

O'Loughlin lost the captaincy of Wigan as soon as they got a decent coach, what makes him good enought to captain England?

Given that the England captain has such a good history of finishing off players I would rather Jammer not have the job.

I would have thought that Gareth Ellis would have got the job but McNamarra has shown a definite bias against Leeds players. Sean O'Loughlin must have been in the running too but him being stripped of his Wigan captaincy at the beginning of the year and the fact he is far from a guarenteed pick probably worked against him.

The England captain has to be someone that will keep the referee honest and question the questionable decisions and Jammer does have a reputation for doing that. The man is a great leader and will likely be Saints captain next year.

It is a great honour to be captain but the England team is a sinking ship if ever there was one.

I don’t think (as others suggest) that shouting at the referee is a demonstration of passion and commitment but I cannot fault Graham’s work rate and commitment on the field

He wouldn’t have been my choice as captain but as an England fan I hope he is successful and I will be shouting him and the rest of the team on come Saturday morning (shouting at the TV of course, but I would love to be there)

Congratulations to Graham on captaining his country

Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Lets see how he goes in his first game.

I think he'll do well.

Do we know the referee for Saturday?

James Graham

The England captain has to be someone who is certain of their place in the team, and whose performance will be of a consistently high level to inspire his teammates ...........

leaves you a choice of James Graham or Sam Tomkins

A one-off test win against the Australian Schoolboys down under you mean?

Good to see McNamara going with a player who has plenty of recent experience of poor results in big games, sets the tone nicely for the rest of the squad.

James Graham after we go behind (after about 35 seconds)

No wonder England never do well their own fans cant be happy with the captain! Personally I never saw Peacock as a great captain but support the managers decision as that what he's paid for. Be interesting if England do well to see what happens to captaincy next year!

Based on his performance last Saturday morning I think not.

Not once did he hit a player around the chops with a forearm. Infact very few of his tackles were head high at all. Thank God we sent Joel Tomkins out there.