Like most on here, I think Atkins is fortunate to get a second run but he is a hot and cold player – never going to have the hands of an international centre but he is big and strong going forward so let’s hope he gets a couple of chances to run

I wouldn’t have selected a forward at six, we have been down that road before but it does give us a stiffer looking defence until we get to the edges – the key here will be to reduce the number of time the Aussies can get wide early

Glad Burgess has been moved up to the front row as it will force him down the middle where he is at his best and hopefully he can knock a few of them around

The back row looks strong and mobile and the bench has more impact than last week which is a good sign

All in all, close to the best side available I think

For those proclaiming that the gap is bigger than ever with the Aussies – you have to look at both sides... this Australian 4 Nations side is one of the worst I have seen

As always, I will be shouting the team on and hoping for the best... I will reserve any criticism for after the performance, not before

Finally, if, as many people say, the Kiwis are the best team in this competition, then we have every chance on Sunday – the English performance last week was below par and if they step up the intensity they could do well in this game

Come on England!

Martin Gleeson has problems other than his rugby though doesn't he. Maybe he's informally burned his bridges?

Actually Brown has been in superb form for Huddersfield this season, and the Huddersfield fans defence of him (me included) stems from this. And the frustration that he simply isnt playing in his own style like he does for the Giants, except in patches where he has looked quite capable at international level.

Has he been good enough this tour? No. Is he the best option we have? Yes.

Quite simply, if he plays his natural game (which is as a quiet organiser and distributer, a facilitator for the flash stuff of others) then it would be ok, and if he was still playing poorly you wouldnt hear anyone complaining about him being dropped...but he isnt the first English half back to fail to take club form to the international stage, in reality he is august company on that mark.

On the other hand I just read this in the SL website abotu CudjoeFor all his lack of international experience, Cudjoe’s statistics in 2010 speak for themselves

Pretty impressive really.

Brown is quality. Probably not world class, but he is the current player of the year at one of the top super leauge sides. His performance in the warm up game wasn't good, but he played fairly well against the Kiwis.

Amazing isnt it! Also amazing how people refuse to remove their club blinkers when it comes it international rl

Club blinkers can also blind people to how good someone has been at another club too, dont forget that...

I agree with you on this, it happens countless times where a young British player has a decent game and is immediately branded as a future international star. The Tyrer, Moore and Brown examples are good ones same goes for Aspinwall, Ashley Gibson, Scott Murrell, Carl Ablett and most recently Chris Clarkson.
It puts too much pressure on these young lads when they should be learning their game without the focus and pressure on them to perform week-in week-out at a young age, sadly there isn't a good enough reserve grade for them to play in and so either have to play SL or move to a Championship club where too often their careers falter. Hopefully the dual reg system will help with that but we'll still have to put up with young players being hyped up sadly.

52-4 was the score the last time we played in Melbourne. That game we have Leon Pryce and Rob Burrow at 6 and 7 and Gleeson and Senior in the centres.

This could get very, very ugly.

I wont, said lockers shouldnt be 6 also said i dont think goulding is upto this standard. Plus as coming though the wigan system, I would love to see brown and robinson do well, I think robinson is just about good enough, but I cant take Brown seriously at this level.

As much of a contradiction it is good club form doesnt always translate to International Level Rl, look at long

Every silver lining has a cloud with you doesn’t it?

Yes, we had these players (if you think that those are actually better than those on Sunday which is arguable) but we also had Calderwood and Gardner on the wings while the Aussies had Inglis and Folau in the centres who are miles in front of the two Australian centres playing on Sunday

It's been blatantly obvious to anyone who's watched the last 3 months of SL that Tomkins has been the best player in the league at full-back. That we are now changing the players in three key positions to accomodate him there (dropping our only other regular half in the process) is coaching at it's very worst. Clueless.

Bench looks weak too. That said, the lads have my full support. and I'm looking forward to seeing how the new caps go at this level.

and the aussies has slater,inglis,thurston & lockyer....


tomorrow,slater & lockyer aside, the rest of the backs are distinctly average and could'nt put 70 or 80 on little PNG.....


but yeah they'll do it against us!!! give ya head a wobble man...

PNG had Glen Nami and Dion Aiye at 6 and 7 and Jessy Joe Parker and Menzie Yere in the centres.

They conceded 42 points. Yet we could "easily" concede 70-80.

I don't know why you don't drop the overly pessimistic "online personality" because when you stick to your actual opinions, rather than what you think your "character" should say, you're worth reading.

i dont see why macnamara doesnt push the 2nd rowers into the cenre position when defending giv us a bit of size and strength out wide i dont see why we cant get a result i think if we keep it tight down the middle be really agressive and play atticking flowing off the cuff rugby we coud get the result but macnamara cant think this tactically i think i should be the next england manager ( i would pick a better selection of players obviously)

Completely agree. I think Gleeson and Senior should have both been on that plane. He could have even played Gleeson as a 6 as opposed to SOL. It's unfortunate that McGuire and Eastmond aren't available, but what can you do if there's not enough strength in depth...