Hayne played on the wing.

Not a patch on Slater...even the Aussie coach thinks that, hence Slater being picked at Full back.

Hayne has one decent season and named player of the season, but Slater has consistently been the NRL top fullback for a few seasons now and quite rightly deserves to start there for Oz, despite his brain fart in the WC final.

Of course Hayne and Stewart are both fantastic too, and to pick the best out of all 3 would be a real challenge.....but for the sake of the argument.....have you ever seen a carhorse break the line from 30+ metres out and dummy Slater (whether he be 1st, 2nd or 3rd best FB in Oz?)....I doubt it.

From the NRL website...... Now we know why Russell Crowe shelled out all those Hollywood dollars to get England tyro Sam Burgess to South Sydney. If ever there was a performance to prove Burgess was worth every penny of the estimated $500,000 it took to buy out the backrower's deal with Super League side Bradford, his effort in a losing Four Nations final side was it. England lost 46-16 at the weekend but it was Burgess - and not just with his two tries - who had the home side on the brink of an amazing upset win when he charged over from short range to give his side a 16-14 lead ten minutes into the second half. Burgess was creating mayhem all over Saturday night and was arguably the best player on the paddock, not a bad effort for a bloke in a side trounced by 30 points. "He showed me didn't he," said Australia backrower Nathan Hindmarsh, who dared label Burgess's first-up game against the Kangaroos just over a fortnight ago "quiet." "I ran at him with the second last hit-up of the game and he picked me up and drove me. "He's got a bit of skill and a bit of footwork and he's got good toe, it'll be interesting to see how he goes (in the NRL)." Burgess's most stunning play was his 40-metre run to open the scoring after 11 minutes, a blazing effort featuring speed, strength and a pair of dazzling left foot steps which left both Petero Civoniceva and Billy Slater flat on their backs. It was enough to convince Civoniceva that Burgess was ready to leave his mark on the NRL, despite being just 20 years of age. "What a weapon, he's unbelievable," Civoniceva said. "I think he's going to take the NRL by storm. www.nrl.com/newsviews/latestnews ... fault.aspx

From the NRL website...... Now we know why Russell Crowe shelled out all those Hollywood dollars to get England tyro Sam Burgess to South Sydney. If ever there was a performance to prove Burgess was worth every penny of the estimated $500,000 it took to buy out the backrower's deal with Super League side Bradford, his effort in a losing Four Nations final side was it. England lost 46-16 at the weekend but it was Burgess - and not just with his two tries - who had the home side on the brink of an amazing upset win when he charged over from short range to give his side a 16-14 lead ten minutes into the second half. Burgess was creating mayhem all over Saturday night and was arguably the best player on the paddock, not a bad effort for a bloke in a side trounced by 30 points. "He showed me didn't he," said Australia backrower Nathan Hindmarsh, who dared label Burgess's first-up game against the Kangaroos just over a fortnight ago "quiet." "I ran at him with the second last hit-up of the game and he picked me up and drove me. "He's got a bit of skill and a bit of footwork and he's got good toe, it'll be interesting to see how he goes (in the NRL)." Burgess's most stunning play was his 40-metre run to open the scoring after 11 minutes, a blazing effort featuring speed, strength and a pair of dazzling left foot steps which left both Petero Civoniceva and Billy Slater flat on their backs. It was enough to convince Civoniceva that Burgess was ready to leave his mark on the NRL, despite being just 20 years of age. "What a weapon, he's unbelievable," Civoniceva said. "I think he's going to take the NRL by storm. www.nrl.com/newsviews/latestnews ... fault.aspx

Wether we lose it in the first 20 or the last 20 reality is we are still no nearer beating them when it counts. HAving said that we were 100% better than the WC performaces so not all bad I guess!

Please don't mind the bloke trying to pump Australia's tyres, we're not all like him in OZ.

Would just like to say that unlike him most of us -do- show humility after sporting wins (and will give credit to those who beat us). England took advantage of key moments in the Ashes to win; despite spending more time across the series with the momentum, we never took the big opportunities when they were there and that cost us. That's cold hard fact, and we must move on, learn from our mistakes and get that urn back.

Would also like to respond to the guy who said we're not that crash hot at a lot of sports right now - yeah fair enough, we've lost when we've played England the last couple of times in the rugby union world cup (although looking at the official site we are ranked 3rd, your mob 6th), and I've got a lot of respect for the English sides that got that done. But one thing I get sick of, one thing I think is really rich coming from certain English fans, is when they knock us as a nation, knock our sporting culture, after they win something against us despite sitting back and accepting their extended periods of mediocrity (a lot of the time performances that weren't even worthy of the mediocre tag) across so many sports in between the wins. Things like ACCEPTING the non-competitive 5-0 whitewash in the 06/07 Ashes just because there were some "hall of famers in waiting" in the Australian side (the way the media in England talked about the 2005 Ashes during the 09 series as if 06/07 didn't happen at all was ordinary imo). Just CONCEDING that the Australian rugby league team is something that cannot be stopped because of its stronger domestic competition background, so a 30 point loss isn't too bad. There is a big big difference between accepting a loss and accepting responsibility for a loss.

The other thing is when we win, we're happy about it and all the rest of it, but we won't go around slagging the crap out of the other country. I'm talking about overall as a nation, not speaking for the occasional individual who is an exception (like the other guy on here). When we lose it burns like hell, and we'll take responsibility for the loss by striving to better ourselves for next time. But if England lose, people just sweep it under the rug only returning to point and laugh at the opposition when they get up and win again. I've got a lot of English blood relatives, and when one of my Aussie rellies went over there for a while to stay with them in 2005 he copped rabid niggling and jeering the whole time about the cricket. First thing he said after telling us about it was that you don't see that sort of thing the other way around in Australia. And he's right, you don't.

I know that any Australian side that fronts up to play in an international game will never accept a situation as impossible; they will always believe in themselves and will fight until the end. So when a side beats them they earn my respect straight away. But I think the way so many English fans stick the knives into us after a victory, when our teams will at least have unconditional belief in themselves and never lower their standards, is pretty poor.

Anyway I don't really follow Rugby League given I don't live in Queensland or New South Wales, but it was good to see us respond to the grit shown by England for much of the game. Still think NZ deserves to be callled the top side though until someone can take the WC off them.

Same old story for hapless Poms By Andrew Johns From: The Daily Telegraph November 16, 2009 12:00AM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
Add to DiggAdd to del.icio.usAdd to FacebookAdd to KwoffAdd to MyspaceAdd to NewsvineWhat are these?IF administrators follow cricket's lead and shorten rugby league Tests to 60 minutes, the Poms would be a realistic chance of beating us.
At the moment, they don't have the mental toughness to go the full distance - and it's been that way for 15 years.

The Four Nations final was another classic example of England's frailty under pressure and the Kangaroos' ability to exploit it.

It was a great contest for 60 minutes. The Poms stuck it to us and their back-row - Jamie Peacock, Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess - was outstanding.

Burgess is a fantastic talent. He is big and mobile and the step he put on Petero Civoniceva for the opening try was sensational. No wonder Russell Crowe chased so hard to get him to South Sydney. He will be a big hit out here.

But all the good work the home side did in the opening three quarters of the game was undone by what they didn't do in the final 20 minutes. As soon as a crack appeared, the Kangaroos came pouring through.

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Once on the front foot and sensing a kill, the spine of our team - Cameron Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater - dominated to such an extent that we blew them away in the end.

Slater's three-try performance surely will silence his knockers. I can't understand why his position is ever questioned. Slater and Greg Inglis have been our best players on tour, even allowing for a couple of missed tackles by the fullback in the opening game against New Zealand.

Inglis was a powerhouse again and Lockyer and Smith had some great touches, but Thurston's role was enormous.

Just his overall involvement was outstanding, but he really stood up for the Kangaroos at the crucial moments. His brilliant kick under pressure for Brett Morris' second-half try was right from the top shelf and was the beginning of the end for the home side.

The result was a triumph for Lockyer. He has been a great player and leader for Australia and his face at fulltime showed how much winning meant after the disappointment of last year's World Cup final.

There were some positives for England, but the simple fact is they are never going to beat Australia consistently until they learn how to compete for the full game.

It's that simple.

Shayne Hayne would have reffed the final.

Neither has Burgess got top end speed.
Also if he hadn't been a greedy sod you might have been 12-0 up.
He forgot this is a team game and thought only about Burgess,...still he can learn ..he is coming to play in the most skilful league ever,...NRL.

Does the union jack on our flag make you jealous,because Australia can put more pride into it than the poms can??.....Dont worry mate the Onion jack will be off the flag before very long after our next referendom we shall become a republic free of the shackles of paying for bloody expensive holidays in Australia for YOUR QUEEN AND ALL HER RETARDED FAMILY....THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE TO WIN THE MEDAL COUNTS AT FUTURE COMMONWEALTH GAMES which will be the first time since 1986.

'"

Can i just add, that I agree about the 'retarded' family bit, that was actually quite good

He is

Been the best defender out of our backs this tournemount.