If McGuire and Burrow have been 2 of our best players in recent times(and it's probably true) it shows how average we truely are because the both of them have been no better then that.

We really do need a freshen up for this quad nations.

If Gregory and Edwards were so good and Edwards apparently better than most of his Australian counterparts.......


How come neither won a series against Oz?
I see the posts about the hard uncompromising forwards that were around in the eighties and early nineties and the "World class" backs like Offiah, Edwards, and Lydon and what did they win?

Far more games then this current bunch have done?

During the days of Hanley, Edwards, Schofield etc we were at least always competative but not anymore.

When the Aussies can be bothered turning up against us anymore they'll always put at least 30-40 points on us until we start to produce better players.

Your comparing a Subaru with a ferrari there mate. Players like long briers and goulding are cheap imitation sports cars compared to the real deal and players of edwards' calabre

Ok .....good analysis there Gary!!

maybe cos there are 13 blokes ina rugby team not 2

And we've been just as "competative" since those players retired. The teams of the late 80s and 90s won just as much as the current crop. The fact is we were 5hit then and we're 5hit now, and I'm not convinced the young players coming through will change anything. No doubt the likes of Myler and Westerman will get their chance, be average for 1 or 2 games, and be written off as not good enough, and then the cries will start again for "the youngsters to be given a chance"... and so the cycle continues.

I don't remember regular 30-40-50 point hidings at the hands of Australia during the late 80's-early 90's.

We may have been beaten in series against them and in world cups but they were alot closer then the way we've pushed them in the past 4-5 years.

We got beat by 40+ points in the world cup, in the tri nations final of 2004 and by nearly 60 points in the one off test over there aswell a few years back. That never used to happen.

We pushed them to the edge in 1992 and in 1995 aswell as in Ashes series before that.

We may not have even been any good back then but i tell you we were a dam site better then we are now

I would go with a youthful team. Nothing to lose so why not give some of the young lads ago?

Briscoe
Ainscough
Shenton
Lee Smith
Hall
McGuire? Any other young British stand offs?
Myler
Luke Burgess
Diskin
James Graham
Burnett
Sam Buress
Westerman

Cant think of another young stand off playing in SL. To be honest I think that would do a job on the French team. Try get them playing together as I see some of them being in the GB team for years to come.

Tomkins? wheeler?

McGuire, and Pryce are in better form anyway, and I don't think Wheeler has played 6 that much this season.

Just the first young standoffs i could think of, plus i thouhgt the idea was to name some new young talent to be given a chance.