We’ve got weakness at Full Back
Bateman isn’t a centre
I’m still unconvinced by Luke Gale when playing outside of Castleford
Hodgeson always jumps out to challenge the first marker before passing which delays the pass to the Half Backs putting them under pressure, it’s OK when there’s a move on but not every time
I’ve no idea why Heighington in the squad over a number of better more deserving players
We lack pace all over the field

The difference in quality makes makes it hard to know what you can take from the game.

I don't think anyone nailed down a claim to the left centre position. Bateman passed to Hall for a couple of tries and made a few good carries, will be solid but not ideal. Percival played on the wing in the second half but didn't do much.

Widdop and Gale both had good touches. Roby looked a lot better than Hodgson to me. Burgess and Hill stood out in the first half. Walmsley and Tom Burgess did damage in the second half, Tom did have at least one knock on.

Ratchford made a couple of errors at fullback, Lomax didn't even play, Widdop had a quarter there and looked alright. Fullback and centre are the big questions but any solution seems underwhelming.

Overall they had good line speed, strong defence. Completed well, showed some good hands for some of the tries. Kicked pretty well when they had to. The tries they conceded were interceptions, at least we didn't concede from defensive mistakes but we can't afford to let Australia and New Zealand score off our mistakes with the ball. One was similar to a try Shaun Johnson scored last year.

For what it was, I think they did well. They lost to Italy in the warm up for the last World Cup.

Looking forward to next Friday now.

Thought Tom Burgess probably ensured he would make the 17. I'd say Gale was man of the match. Think we will lack pace with Bateman or Currie at centre.

It's very hard to judge against such poor opposition though, the things Gale was doing might not work against a decent defence, and Bateman/Currie might have shown their worth if they had quality backs to defend against.

Tom Burgess and Alex Walmsley looked OK in the pack, think Roby has the edge over Hodgson with his quicker distribution and variety of play. Never been impressed with Widdop in the past but I think he should be in the 17 with his composure and experience, for the centres its a short list of Watkins, Percival and Currie, we looked unbalanced with Bateman at centre he seemed to go alone a lot and likes to do a long wrestle instead of a quick play the ball.
You would think it would be either Widdop/Williams/Gale in the halves not totally convinced with Gale though of being a top international player, plenty of choice in the backrowers Whitehead would be first choice for me, then we have O'Loughlin, Sam Burgess etc.
Bennet had a couple of players out of position, don't think he really gained anything from it

Personally think if England are gunna make the final then for the crunch games I would go with Roby at hooker and play 4 monster forwards off the bench.

The likes of Walmsley McMeekan T Burgess & Scott Taylor could add some real impact and yards off the bench. My logic on Roby is that he has just got better as the season has progressed, is massively in form , experienced and can play 80 minutes no worries.

Are the highlights available anywhere?

Australia would have put 100+ against CAS. That's the difference

Regards

King James

Quote: Charlie Sheen "Are the highlights available anywhere?'" Here you go Charles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-pJ-JpFrHI

Quote: Charlie Sheen "Are the highlights available anywhere?'" Here you go Charles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-pJ-JpFrHI

100+? I would say more likely 150+!

v France possibly.

Did this count as a capped match? Just wondering as Hall is only 12 tries off the all time RL test record (10 now if the match was capped)

No.

21 tries against tier two nations though, 10 from 15 appearances is still a good haul though. comparing try scoring records in proper 'tests' from BITD to modern day internationals isn't possible. Sure you play what's in front of you but scoring against Australia or a French team that was beating/superior to Australia is not the same as scoring against a mickey poor French side that would struggle in SL or other tier two teams.
I hope Hall gets a hatfull in any case.

6 tries in 7 games vs Aus shows he is far more than a flat track bully (his record vs NZ has been tarnished by playing them 3 times with Bateman as his centre)

If he gets the record he deserves it but I think he would have to stay in the England team for the next 2 years after this to do it

Ryan Hall is the perfect example of why the people who cry foul that teams aren't picked solely 'on form' are wrong. He's scored 10 try's in superleague this year I believe yet he'd be the first name on my list for an England spot. He's never been hugely prolific at superleague level in comparison to some players who've smashed it over a short period of time (in regards to try scoring) but he's the ultimate big game player.

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