"This side without the Burgii, Graham and Hodgeson is not doing better. "

Burgenses

Were do we do from here?

I think only the wingers, Lomax and Williams from the backs came out with any credit, some of the big name players in the pack like Hodgson and Sam Burgess disappointed.

Think the pack is ok, plenty of depth, need better centres or at least the current ones to improve as not much else out there and find a partner for Williams

Easy mistake to make when you're sat half a mile away in that awful stadium.
I had the advantage of seeing it in close up on TV

Not sure I agree with all of that but certainly do with the sentiment. What winds me up is for the last few years when we slip, say, 8 points behind and the game is starting to slip away but we are still just in it we play the same way rather than mixing it up and causing a fight. On the rare occasions we have had Oz on the back foot they have always done that to break the momentum. We play like idiots and unsurpringly end up with the same result each time. Sad thing is we're falling back not progressing.

With the 2nd one with Hodgson I think at least he was taking into account their was only about 50 secs left of the half so was trying to deliberately go for extra yardage on his kick because they would only have 2/3 tackles before the hooter. The first one from Widdop was just dreadfully unnecessary.

All the more reason to play safe. Take the ball in 5 times and put a good kick in.

Back from a thoroughly depressing game.

We created chances and spilled the ball 4 times when almost over the line or down the wing during breaks.

Missed touch with two pen kicks- awful.

Missed tackles we should have made in the centre channels.

We did lots right but made far too many mistakes yet again.

The reasons WB was brought in: smarter plays, better game management, better discipline. We appear to have gone backwards.

The big thing I was disappointed with from the start was line speed and aggression. Far too slow closing down them in defence, almost zero speed when taking the ball up in attack. The absolute basics we should be doing to use our strength in the forwards.

All this great work in training- none of it visible.

I really think Shaun Wane would have had them ripping in to the aussies in defence and attack.

I see for the 20th year in a row our pack was just as good as theirs

The truth is, Australia's 4th choice pack would be as good as ours

Regards

King James

Yes. Totally agree. The pattern us we have a couple of big guys who do some good work early on. The supposedly inferior Aussie forward just keep coming in relentlessly for 80 minutes and by about 60 minutes are in total and utter control.

Then after the players have a good old laugh with there Aussie mates,,
Simply not good enough,,crying like school girls instead of getting in to them in first half,,,Watkins looked like he was apologising to the Aussie kicker he took out late after he had a go at him.
Then when the game is up we want to play tough guys.

NZ have beaten Aus by playing off the cuff RL with a lot of offloading.
We actually seemed to have the edge on the Aussies out wide, Dugan can't defend at centre and GI kept overcompensating for holmes and leaving gaps.
At the same time our pack was well beaten.
Why we attacked the edges LESS in the second half is a complete joke.

Also we will never win any test match defending our line like we did in the last 30. I mean not numbering up on a scrum?! you would have a go at an under 12s team for that.

Just on the Wayne Bennett front - those who were expecting better tactics, set plays, game management etc, are barking up the wrong tree - that's not his strong point. His greatest strength is his man management - he's always surrounded himself with various assistants who cover the game plan/tactics, fitness, technique etc - he's the calming influence, the words of wisdom, the motivator to 'be the best you can'.

For motivation I'd have Wane any day of the week.

I did cringe at that. Keith Senior would have dropped Cronk for giving him that much spray.

I think personally I'd have gone Williams and Gale and given them all three games. While I get the point your making I think you've got to bear in mind Bennett gets more than just games to asses the players on.

I think the fact he had Williams only on the bench suggested two things to me. He doesn't trust him or know him, so likely went for Bett's pick in Brown, and after 4 weeks of camp and games he was no closer to working out his best pairing.