That s true and he has played centre sometimes where most fans think his best position is second row.

Agree with that, we had quite a few players in key positions that are at the end of their careers and could pull out the occasional good performance but not capable of being consistent all through the rounds. By the time we got to that semi final the likes of Tomkins, Watkins, Hill, Cooper and McLlorum had gone off the boil, the latter never reachd boiling point in that regard.

As for the emergence of the younger players it does look promising with a question mark on Pearce Paul we don't really know what his best position is going to be and Wane shouldn't have used him as a "work in progress" inexperienced utility player during the World Cup Competition.

Bring Nobby Noble back.

To be fair pack players don’t normally hit their prime until late 20’s early 30’s. Lees, Oledski, Batchelor, Knowles etc all have that to come. Pearce-Paul will develop too over there. Ryan Sutton may be in contention if he carries on playing well over there. Luke Thompson will be around. S

Young and Farnworth (if they stay fit will be starters again). Newman was unlucky not to feature due to injury. Simm may develop well over in Aus too. Handley might sustain his form? Dodd will have 3 years more experience at the top. Welsby (should he continue his great form should be the FB unless someone else emerges). Pryce (depending on how his stint in Aus goes) will be in contention. Lots to look forward too.

With Pryce, I agree, it depends if he gets 1st team games in the NRL.

If he doesn`t play regular first team rugby in Australia, going over there could stunt his development.

I wish we could turn the clock back. I wanted Ackers and Sneyd in that game.

We needed someone organising and in Welsby and Williams, we didn't get it.

Of the three, I believe Sneyd would have got us out of trouble and led us better around the pitch.

When you need a big play such as a 40/20 or a drop goal, I believe he would have done it.

On Wane, he made some odd choices and some odd changes. Why was Burgess off so quick and for so long?

Why did he bring MM back on at a crucial time when he was clearly under performing and knackered.

Watkins was not right from the start. I don't think he was fit to play personally.

I don't think Sneyd would have improved things, Williams and Welsby are pretty evasive if they get a little bit of time and space but they were playing on the back foot most of the time. With the exception of Burgess and Whitehead the rest of the pack were not giving us any momentum to go forward. Service to the kicker on the end of sets be it to Williams or Tomkins was pretty poor and it wouldn't have been any different with Sneyd, I think we got lost a couple of times and that last last 5th tackle pass went to our backrow forwards on 2 occasions, that was a mess.

Samoa saw that weak defensive right hand edge early in the game and got most of their points from that side. The whole England team just didn't raise the intensity of the game to match Samoa, Wane and the players knew what was coming but most of our experienced players didn't show much leadership and composure.

How many times did Williams get tackled with the ball late in the tackle count?

you would not have seen Sneyd getting tackled with the ball.

it's just my opinion.

England scored 26 points which should have been enough to win the game, we didn't defend well enough particularly on the edges. Sneyd would have made that worse. Sadly three or four players had their worse games of the competition.

If Steve McNamara can't come back to the England fold there is only one man for the job.

The master at getting the best out of a team thrown together on scarce resources especially in knock out football - he has the silverware to prove it.


...John Kear.

They should be looking to get prize him off Widnes and Wales.

Wales did overproduce based on their player pool, and they did look very well coached. Not sure he is the answer but he did better than Wane did.

The tries that hurt us were down the right hand side because a certain second rower was no where to be seen instead of helping his centre. Remind who that was again?

He did well last time he had the role.

Only thing you need to be reminded of is to take your meds