Can't really argue with any of the selections to be honest, for me the only real surprise is Lyne, thought maybe Gildart, Cudjoe, Josh Griffin and possibly Shenton would have been above him for selection but fair play he's obviously impressed the selectors.

all of the others, Johnstone particularly have more or less picked themselves.

Stefan Ratchford
Jermaine McGillvary
Jake Connor
Mark Percival
Tom Johnstone
Sam Tomkins
Luke Gale
George Burgess
Josh Hodgson
James Graham
Elliot Whitehead
Sam Burgess
Sean O'Loughlin

Tom Burgess
Daryl Clark
Joe Greenwood
John Bateman

Tomkins at fullback, doesn’t add anything for me at 6. Jake Connor moves into the halves with Lyne coming into Centre.

I’ll let you off with your poor judgment as you’re a Catalan fan. Oh, sorry I meant Leeds.

Wow, things must be bad when two Wakefield players are getting a gig!

Excited to see Tom Johnstone in the England set up. Having a Good centre with the ability to put him in space would be a huge bonus.

As for Reece, I was suprised at his inclusion but I totally wish him the best. You can’t help but like a player like him. He came to wakey as a thin raw winger and in his first season or two got a bit of stick. But he’s clearly a determined young man and year on year he made small improvements to the point he is now. He’s a solid centre, bulked out into a strong player who can make the hard yards and can find the tryline too. As has been said he’s not world class but he is an honest pro who has clearly worked very hard to become what he is, a good standard centre.

I think he’s more in him too. If he keeps up his steady progress he and improvements he could become one of the top centres in the comp in a few years.

Ultimately though, he deserves it. He’s the definition of a player who’s not gifted naturally but works extremely hard to make up for it.

Last year I would have agreed; the Burgii were absolutely terrible in terms of errors. This year, however, they've been superb. If anything Sam is the weakest of the 3, still prone to errors and pushing unrealistic offloads.


Has all the skills and assets to be an international, but unfortunately he's a penalty machine with a tendency to brain-farts. We simply cannot afford players like that against Aus/NZ.

I like that squad - but let's do everything we can to avoid playing ANYONE out of position.

They wouldn’t be there if Ryan Hall and Kallum Watkins weren’t injured.

Injured

Wrong as ever.

Lyne probably wouldn’t but Johnstone certainly would. He might be second choice to Hall but he’d be in the squad.

You may not understand RL but Bennett does. He is not stupid enough or blinkered enough to ignore the fastest and highest scoring winger in the comp. One who has an uncanny ability to create his own tries from nothing which makes him both a game breaker and a match winner.

He may be a bit overwhelmed to start with as most players are but with a bit of luck his quality will shine.

Any decent England fan would rejoice in this but not you - I wonder why?

Agreed - was surprised to see Lyne included (personally would have picked Gildart who I think is a great young player, but will no doubt go with Knights on tour to PNG and develop there which wont do him any harm) and being short of centres, I'd rather see somebody like Lyne who plays there every week have a chance than move people out of position.

As for Johnstone, him and Makinson have been the form wingers all season imo and would like to see both of them included. Johnstone has been a pleasure to watch and seems very confident for a young kid, scores tries for fun (which is what a winger is there for mainly) and has pace to burn. Surely nobody can deny he is there on merit and deserves his place.

I think its good to see some new faces included and given a chance in the squad. I just hope players like Milner, Johnstone, Makinson, Thompson, Connor, Greenwood, Lyne & Percival (who was outcast in World Cup last year) all get some decent game time and an opportunity to showcase their talents and aren't just there to make up the numbers, get minutes against France and not feature much other than that.

Yes Lyne is a surprise selection and probably won't play but I do see the logic of the selection. Lyne is big, strong and versatile and can play either side and either wing if needed. He's not a classic centre but few British centres are but he does make hard yards and can get the ball over the line and he can defend with the best of them.

Either way he has worked hard to get where he is now which should help him if he is needed.

I agree - and as I said above, I would like to see him (and the other new faces) given a chance to play vs New Zealand and showcase what he can do rather than get 20 mins game time against France and nothing else. Some "top class" players have failed at international level, whereas some "lesser" SL players have stepped up and really impressed for England in the past. We are short on centres anyway, the lad has played well this year so why not give him a chance.

Don't really have much to lose this year so would rather see players picked in their club positions and tried out on the international stage to start building us towards next World Cup

I dont know what Bennetts plans are but I think Connor and Johnstone would make a cracking partnership if he chooses to go down that route. We know what a good finisher Johnstone is and Connor is a wingers centre. He is very good at sucking in defenders and slipping the ball out. I'm not sure Percival and Johnstone would work so well. Percival is better when he is finishing the chances himself. Not trying to make them for others, so I think it would be a waste putting Johnstone outside of him.

The Burgesses have had their best season since they won the title in 2014. They look like different players to twelve months ago.