Not Farrell. He offers little at this level. Ablett over Farrell every time. I think Mossop, like Farrell, is also fairly fortunate to have been selected for the squad, but I'd take him over Farrell if necessary because of his extra size. Farrell is one of those players who look good in SL because opposition defences aren't always very good, but just doesn't have the ability to perform to a good standard against an international-class defence.

Squad's getting a bit light though now so they may need to be reintroduced if we pick up a couple of knocks. I think if they had been dismissed from the squad the news would have got hold of it.

SM should get it out there if he has booted players out. More trouble in camp etc etc..
Give the Kiwis more reasons to underestimate England on Saturday

Agreed, it went badly when he didn't do it at the beginning of the tournament and followed it up with a really bad attempt of a cover up with Hardaker. Don't like to quote the other code but the Aussie Rah Rahs had a very similar issue with drinkers recently and went public with it and how they were all getting bans or ticked off and that included Quade-Cooper who is one of their stars.

Don't want to see Tanya Arnold get treated shabbily on Saturday if she asks a valid question, fuelled by rumours, that turn out to be true.

I think this thread could cause problems either way and if nothing has happened then we are at fault for making things up. That said there may be no smoke etc.

There is no evidence of anyone being booted out FFS

Cahse has not offered enough, Widdop was back up and a good one at that. He made a change
Burrow coming inis no surprise.

So which Leeds player can we expect to be dropped from the squad this week for going on the p1ss having not been picked? ..or are they all picked to improve the squad discipline stats?

Of course when we lose, it will be Widdop's fault.

Blah blah blah, he was built up to be this big thing playing in the NRL, blah blah blah, he was crap, should have stuck with Chase, blah blah blah.

Ever the optimist!

Got to love RLFANS, critical of having Chase in the squad and not selecting Widdop and now that happens assuming that there were problems in the camp and looking to dish out blame

I was thinking more end of handle that one pulls or twists

Chase not being included has to be either disciplinary or because of an injury. As much as I'm not a fan of Chase playing for England, it would be dumb to just change the halfback combination we've been practicing with for any other reason.

For the team out of that 19 man squad I'd go with:

Tomkins,
Charnley, Cudjoe, Watkins, Hall,
Widdop, Sinfield
Hill, Roby, Graham,
S. Burgess, Ferres, O'Loughlin.

Burrow, G. Burgess, Westwood, Ablett/Mossop.

I think I'd pick Ablett over Mossop or Farrell for the last bench spot. He offers cover for the backs if needed.
That only leaves 3 props - Graham, Hill, G. Burgess - but Graham always plays big minutes and Sam Burgess can always move up to prop if required.

I don't do optimism.

Assuming there are no discipline issues, which is just a rumor.

I can see the logic in trying something different. IMHO Chase has had several games to impress and really apart from half a game at Hull he has done very little to impress. I know the French game was knockout rugby, but really Graham could play standoff against the French and we should still win.

Now it's do or die and in a way the coach has little to lose. He's tried Chase and waited and waited for it to come good. He got 30 minutes from him in a game we had took control of. If he goes out with the same players, why would the result differ.

The coach is also up for a new contract. He can see what we have so far is not enough possible to get the job done against the Champions. So on a risk basis, if he feels 'his man' is not going to get the job done, then drop him.

I've no issue with dropping MM. I thought from his work in the season he earned a chance and he was given a chance for England, but I was far from thinking he was putting up a challenge to either Burrow or Roby.

Some times the best players in one team do not shine in another. I remember Danny Ore Being a god at Cas, but put him in the Wigan outfit and he faded.
I think the same applies for MM and Chase. Chase has games where he looks untouchable, but this set up has not worked for him. MM deserved a shot, but did not shine.

Others eg Sinfield pre tournement I thought he was a bad choice, but actually I've been impressed with what I've seen.

It's easy to always bag the team, in the end if you back them to lose, then it's a risk free bet. If they win, no one will care. If they lose, you can declare some great wisdom.

What I will say is that the halfbacks are thin on the ground so booting anyone out would be impossible. If we progress and Sinfield or Widdop get an injury, we'd be looking at hookers to cover halfback.

Does not what what the team is if we lose it will all be Sinfields fault

WOW, you're all completely forgetting who's the coach !!!!

We'll probably see Tomkins and Sinfield in the halfs and Widdop put as full back.