Fully agree with you there. For far too long we've persisted with the old guard then thrown up and coming players in at the deep end expecting them to just slot into international rugby league. They need some experience first.

I agree with this, both are gifted players and need to show they can step up.

Deluded one eyed Cas fans - never change. Your a decent team, that doesn't make you a team of internationals.

Two, four and six years ago we had a teams firing like yours but we produced no internationals bar Atkins and rightly so, we were just a good team. Get over yourself.

Clark is the only one I'd look at, your defeating your own argument with Shenton who was given a chance and found wanting and Huby again "s".

Kirmond deserves a chance well ahead of Westerman but hey not a Cas lad so we won't mention him will we.

I don't know how much of Westerman you've seen this season but Kirmond isn't in his league based on recent form. One of the good things Radford has done is get him back in his proper role a of ball playing forward, as a result he is getting his hands on the ball a lot more. Not only is his work rate better than anyone (and I mean anyone) in Superleague, but his link up play has resulted in a lot of tries and chances being created.

Stats aren't everything but let's take a look at a select few:

Carries:
Westerman - 230, Kirmond - 99
Metres:
Westerman - 1355, Kirmond - 648
Tackles:
Westerman - 395, Kirmond - 313
Offloads:
Westerman - 15, Kirmond - 5
Try Assists:
Westerman - 5, Kirmond - 0
Tackle Busts:
Westerman - 34, Kirmond - 13

Their errors, penalties and missed tackles are similar, but given Joe's extra involvement he wins in all these catergories too. This is only half of it, like I've said his strength this year has been his ability to draw in defenders in the middle and link with the backs, this is something he does very well and it's resulted in a lot of tries.

So stop talking rubbish, Kirmond is a good player and always impresses me with his attitude and professionalism, but he's got an awful long way to go to get to Westerman's level.

Kirmonds a decent player but not international standard. He is a hard worker and he hits hard but we have better.

Westerman has always had the potential to be something special, he just never put it together for a long period of time. He has had a good start to the year but needs to put it together for at least one whole season before looking at international caps.

Do you have an indication of games played by the two lads to give these stats some better perspective?

Westerman has played 11. He plays 80 minutes most weeks but he has been brought off early in each of our last 2. Kirmond has played 10, I don't know how many minutes he generally plays.

Given Kirmond is a big player for Wakey, I don't imagine them spelling him much. In this light, Westerman's stats look very impressive in comparison.

Glad things are working out for him. He seemed to have stuttered a little following his move to Hull, especially as people were calling him the next big thing when he came through at Cas.

How's Liam Watts doing?

Last season Watts disappointed a bit. This year he missed the first few games with injury, but I thought he looked good when he came back. Trouble is we have Paea, Feka, Carvell, Watts, Bowden, Green and Thompson (he was given a run at prop when we had injuries and really impressed there) at prop, and Radford tends to rotate them, so he's been in and out of the team, he's only played 5 times.

Thought Shenton got a centre lesson from Watkins last night. Shenton is a good SL centre, but he be found out like that against the Aussies. Need to look to the future.

Not a fan of players out of position, but for me would Watkins and Hardraker, with the Leeds wingers also.

Burgess obviously has to be replaced which is much easier said than done, probably by two players given that he plays all across the pack. I would give Westerman first shot as he has the size and skill set to be a success at a higher level, he looks like he's finally showing what he is capable of. I like Liam Farrell too and wouldn't be disappointed if he got a run but I would prefer a bit more size. There are plenty of candidates at prop but with McNamara tending to favour a 3-prop rotation I don't think we could do better than George, Graham and Hill

Cudjoe had a decent World Cup but I wouldn't be against someone else getting a go should they show the form to merit it. Shenton looks to be playing very well on Cas' left edge and had Cudjoe clutching at straws on a few occasions last week - he's ever let England down in the past either and looks in great touch.

Would like to replace Chase too but unlike prop this is a position where we are not particularly blessed. Kevin Brown is in great form but I don't think I'm being unfair in saying that a lot of his good plays in Super League would get short shrift from the Antipodean defences.

Apart from that I don't think there's a need to make wholesale changes to what was a pretty successful World Cup squad.

It will be interesting to see if Hock wants to play and if he does, will McNamara pick him. I believe his form for Salford has been excellent so far this season.