Williams, McMeeken and Ratchford were dropped out of the squad.

Apologies, seen it now. Not too bothered about who is bringing water on etc. Bateman at centre is the big issue for me, a really negative option. Especially when you have Hall playing outside him, who is probably our only proven strike weapon at this level. We should be doing everything we can to put the ball in Hall's hands in space. I wouldn't have picked Heighington personally as I don't think we should be relying on players who see us as a second option, especially 35 year olds, Can't complain too much about the rest really. Glad we have kept Widdop at 6 rather than trying to shoehorn another halfback in there.

I thought Bateman was unlucky not to get 2 more tries at last weeks game and on another day we would have been saying he had to be in if they had gone his way.

It’s not the squad I’d have picked, but I trust Wayne Bennett’s judgment, he is the World’s most successful coach after all. I can see what he’s gone for, size, strength and a solid defence. Wall of white.

Not sure Lomax falls under that description, but he's a talent. Question marks over Bateman, rather than a "proper" centre but like you say, solid if not spectacular. Which is probably Bennett's motto for this game.

Assuming the 17 from the matchday squad list are the starting 17, then England look desperately short of options if any of the backs get injured during the game.

Whilst I'll stay optimistic didn't Bennett try the same tactic in the 4 Nations borefest at the Olympic Stadium vs Australia ? Then when the Aussies stepped up their game, we just had no flair or variation to respond.

I could well see the same thing happening again

We can't match the Aussies at their own game so we should be looking to adapt. Why not try throwing the ball around and cause confusion in their defence. Get them chasing the ball for once. I'd rather lose a game 50 - 28 by throwing the ball around and having a dig than trying to match the Aussies style and losing 38-12.

Where is it?

I'm OK with the squad. I don't get the Heighington selection though, Bateman to the bench and Percival to centre is the only change i'd make. Everyone seems to have written us off and many slating Bennett. But he has won more than anyone on here or the twitter experts. He masterminded NZ's WC win against a much better Australia side than the one we'll face (although he did have Benji Marshall at his peak)

He has been consistent in his selection. the majority of the team have played and trained together for about a year now. That's a big plus. The last WC under Mcnamara we had a different half back combination every game up until the semi. The players will be familiar with Bennett, his tactics, and each other.

Last year we had:

Widdop and Gale
Williams and Gale
Brown and Widdop

All four of those players have been picked for this tournament again, and we saw many combos used in that friendly last week.

Quote LifeLongHKRFan="LifeLongHKRFan"We can't match the Aussies at their own game so we should be looking to adapt. Why not try throwing the ball around and cause confusion in their defence. Get them chasing the ball for once. I'd rather lose a game 50 - 28 by throwing the ball around and having a dig than trying to match the Aussies style and losing 38-12.'" They may decide to respond by throwing it around themselves, they have been known to do that at times and the result is often damaging for the opposing team. https://youtu.be/_P6WvC59jQM

Quote LifeLongHKRFan="LifeLongHKRFan"We can't match the Aussies at their own game so we should be looking to adapt. Why not try throwing the ball around and cause confusion in their defence. Get them chasing the ball for once. I'd rather lose a game 50 - 28 by throwing the ball around and having a dig than trying to match the Aussies style and losing 38-12.'" They may decide to respond by throwing it around themselves, they have been known to do that at times and the result is often damaging for the opposing team. https://youtu.be/_P6WvC59jQM