He said "OR LINKED WITH THE WIRE" do keep up

I can just see it now Slater and Thurston literally sh*tting themselves with worry, as one poster has already said maybe France won't come last.

On the other hand maybe a lack of ego will help the team gel, doubtful that the team will challenge Australia but an under strength NZ and France are beatable.
I also think that Myler will be the player of the tournament for England provided that Morley and the rest of the pack protect him and give him the platform he deserves.

All in all things can't be any worse than last year in the WC when England were torn apart by the Leeds and Saints factions that this time Smith has mercifully left out of the squad.

Now we will just have the Warrington factions fighting between themselves

From that list, only Mozza is good enough to play at international level. I am embarrassed that the likes of Westwood and Bridge have even been selected in the squad. They are terrible. The Kangaroos would be able to pick 20+ players in each position that these two can play in, who are far better. Add to that we have a coach who wasn't even good enough for a senior coaching job in the NRL.

Myler will be a top international IMO but he doesn't have the expereince or know-how just yet.

If Ratchford is not involved in eth games, I will be supporting NZ, and I hope that the Aussies smash England.

20 better aussie second rowers than Westwood??? Go on...

I don't like Westwood but he's a decent player, not one who will scare the Aussies but one who has done well for England so far and one who can play in a couple of different roles...his is one of the least surprising selections for me.

As I've said before, Paul Sykes is the big one that bamboozles me...how he can get in ahead of Tony Clubb, Kirk Yeaman, Leon Pryce, Stuart Littler is beyond me.

And Lee Smith is contracted to Leeds RL til the end of November too which explains his selection.

Better get a Kiwi top then

Ooh. I'll have a go, Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday, Jamal Idris, David Stagg, Tom Lleyroyd-Lars, Chris Flannery, Luke O'Donnell, Anthony Laffranchi, Glenn Stewart, Anthony Watmough, Ryan Hoffman, Nathan Hindmarsh, Luke Lewis, Paul Gallen, Eddie Pettybourne, Neville Costigan, Ben Creagh, and Dane Laurie. So, That's 18 second rowers that are better than Ben Westwood imo.
"20," that's just crazy talk...

OK OK I'll give you at least half of them...but Chris Flannery????
And there's a few in there that are only nominally 2nd rowers too...whenever I've seen Idris play he's been at centre or wing, Gallen i've always seen as a lock forward same with Costigan (who I don't rate either!) and a few others (Lewis, O'Donnell, Creagh, Laurie - wouldnt be first choice 2nd rowers per se though they can all clearly do a job there)

We all know that there are far more players for the Aussies to choose from in all positions...maybe the more pertinent question is, are there any 2nd rowers available who haven't been picked for England?? Apart from The Terminator Ian Sibbit of course

Luke Douglas
Paul Gallen
Yilleen Gordon
Andrew Ryan
Glenn Stewart
Anthony Whatmough
Shane Rodney
Corey Parker
Sam Thaiday
Ryan Hoffman
Dallas Johnson
Steve Southern
Carl Webb
Luke O’Donnell
Neville Costigan
Ben Creagh
Anthony Laffranchi
Nate Myles
Willie Mason
Shane Shackleton
Eddie Pettybourne
Mick Crocker (?)
Nathan Hindmarsh
Dane Laurie
Alan Tongue
Steve Simpson
Trent Waterhouse
Gavin Cooper
Corey Payne
Chris Heighington

That's 30. Believe me, I am being kind

You haven't watched him much. Prior to playing lock he played second-row. I was at the game in which he scored his first try in first grade. He's basically a second-rower asked to play at lock, and very occasionally as a stand-off.