Having been impressed as ever with the amount of club-rivalry infighting we RL fans get up to on an international weekend (see "it was all <player from another club>'s fault, he should have picked <player from our club> then we would have won" for details) I thought I'd do the opposite and visit the home boards of a couple of outstanding performers at Wembley.

Dubious play-acting notwithstanding (and how the Hull did that not actually hurt, head of steel?) Westwood was awesome on Saturday. There was a point in the first half when I was sure there must be 2 of him on the field. Great player.

Ben Westwood, we salute you.

What? He was really dumb at the weekend. Too many penalties and his aggression wasn't targeted as well as it usually is. I'm a big fan of his, but that wasn't his finest hour.

I think the effort was remarkable, given Ellis, Graham and Peacock had all been injured, but there wasn't much of usual dominance in the game.

Ben Westwood the Cristiano Ronaldo of rugby league

I fear that's going to leave poster maufacturers out of pocket...

Each to their own. But if the price of that kind of enthusiasm in defence is the occasional penalty, then I'll happily take it.

I thought he worked tirelessly in defence.... topping the tackle count in 55 mins playing time... I also thought a few of the penalty's against him were debatable.

Some one eyed wigan fan think he should be dropped

Those saying Westwood had a "stinker" or a "bad day at the office" need to watch the game more closely. Yes, he gave away a couple of pens, but his workrate was (as usual) outstanding, and his defence was, I believe, frustrating, even hurting, the Aussies, to the extent that I don't feel it was a big surprise that they went in on him with that extremely dubious 'hit' by Williams.

My annoyance was that I had a couple of quid on Benny to score first, and Slater nicked the ball off him when he was all but over the line

Maybe, but he did not have a stinker by any stretch. I'd argue he was England's best forward on the day.

Yeah he should be a little more dominant like Wilkin.

Defo...his work rate is immense, i cant wait to watch him next season..

I was comparing Ben to his own high standards, so not sure where you get the petty club-based dig from. I wouldn't have Wilkin in the squad myself, but I didn't pick the team.

Petty club biased dig ........ I call it banter...

A bit of play acting.. who does he think he is? Sam Tomkins!

Ben Westwood had nothing to gain and everything to lose by coming out and saying he was play acting after the Williams high shot, he's now created a situation where refs will think twice before giving him a penalty even if its warranted.

I doubt Tony Smith was best pleased with his revelation that he admitted to play acting, he needs to pause sometimes and have a quick think both on and off the pitch before he does or says anything, when he got penalised for wrestling Sam Thaiday to the floor the ref couldn't have been any louder in shouting held then for some reason Ben Westwood had to carry on to win a personal battle with an opposition player even though its going to result in an obvious pen against his team.

A great full blooded, no nonsense player but he has a tendancy for brain explosions that undoes his good work.