If shenton comes up against inglis or jennings, he won't just be outplayed.

He'll die.

Put him against most centres, I think inglis come out on top. He's one of the best players, ever. Defensively, Shentons probably the best centre we have.

For me

1. Hardaker (if not banned)
2. Charnley
3. Watkins
4. Shenton
5. Hall
6. Tomkins
7. Widdop
8. Hill
9. Roby
10. Graham
11. Ablett
12. Ferres
13 O'loughlin

14. Clark
15. Huby
16. G Burgess
17. Bateman

As a warm up, before he announces his squad, we could have a trial match, England v.s England knights. More people would come to see it, it would be more competitive.

Knights

1. Ratchford
2. Makinson
3. Murphy
4. Wardle
5. Briscoe
6. Sneyd
7. Mellor
8. Taylor
9. Mcclorum
10. Amor
11. Whitehead
12. Tomkins
13. Westerman

14. Lunt
15. Walmsley
16. Adam Walker
17. Liam Farrell

McNamara can lay down the gauntlet, his is my strongest 17, but places are up for grabs. The knights would give it to them.

Tomkins
Charnley
Watkins
Hardaker
Hall
Widdop
Smith
G Burgess
Roby
Graham
Ferres
Farrell
O'Loughlin

Clark
Hill
Westwood (though would be tempted to put Bateman or Whitehead in)
Another prop (Walmsley, T Burgess, Taylor, Cooper, Huby)

If Ben Harrison doesn't make the squad at least i will be gobsmacked! along with Hill recently he has been carrying Warrington's pack. Also surprised that nobody has mentioned Chris Bridge

Its odd that for once England look to have more strength in depth in the outside backs than the forwards. Back row looks poor to me, whatever combinations are picked. I wouldn't pick Luke Burgess at prop as I think we have better options, but I'd definitely have Cooper in the squad.

Clark and Roby are too similar, they only thrive on quick ptb's which we won't be getting too much of. Mcilorum has to start for me to soften their forwards up then it's either Clark or Roby off the bench.

We've also spent far too many years playing people out of position so Tomkins should play full back.

How anyone can pick Briscoe or Makinson over Charnley is beyond me, look how many tries Josh has scored compared to the games played. Last year everyone wanted Briscoe in because he only didn't score much because Hull were rubbish, what's the excuse this year?

Tomkins
Charnley
Watkins
Shenton
Hall

Widdop
Smith

Graham
Mcilorum
Cooper
Farrell
Westwood
O'Loughlin

Clark
Cooper
G Burgess
Ferres

This is the one that makes me laugh. People (although normally only Wigan fans) thinking McIllorum should play just because he is our most aggressive hooker. He might have aggression but everything else is distinctly average. Clark and Roby are much better players.
Anybody who think McIllorum would worry the Aussie because he is aggressive is just kidding themselves. The Aussies would more than likely relish the fact that a young pommy thinks they can take them on, and McIllorum would get worse than he can give. That's if he's on the field long enough before getting sent off.

I'd also add that Roby isn't the same type of player he was in 2007, it just goes to show how little people actually notice during the 80 minutes they watch. Robes is an excellent all round hooker and his game against the Aussies last year proved it. His play selection was excellent in that game, his distribution is slick, he's got a good kicking game, he's creative, he makes over 40 tackles every week AND he's a threat from dummy half if there's a quick play the ball.
Obviously though, since he's never broken anyone's jaw and Saints haven't won a trophy lately, he's nowhere near as good as Mickey Mac.

We're all a bit biased in favour of our own players, but this is on another level. Nice one.

When is the last time you watched that game?

Two tries in about 8 minutes were scored down Shenton's side just before he got injured. The flood of points had already started, and yes, it continued after he went off.

If Shenton plays this year, he'll also have Konrad Hurrell to worry about now.

Could there be a case made to put Ablett there, purely to avoid any of our other centres getting trampled to death by Inglis and Hurrell?

Not if your half backs are defending the centre channel, which is oft the case.

While Tompkins and Widdopp look good on paper, I'd really worry about kicking (short and long).

For that reason I'd have Smith in the team.