The thing is we all know whst we like, so it will not be a shock if he changes it for PNG just annoying.

I hope our pack show up this year. Brown won't have all the responsibility of creating tries as we have Roberts for most of that. Brown's distribution is top notch, even if that is his only 'excellent' attribute.

What I'd give for a Hodgson at the back though.*

*EDIT: Brett not Josh*

I completely agree that Brown will be much improved next season, but I expect the same for every one of our players.

That's what happens under the renewed vigor brought about by a coaching change plus a handful of new arrivals.

Brown wasn't poor last season simply because of our pack. There were a number of reasons.

I expect he will play better next season mainly because of:

* New head coach (bringing new structure, renewed impetus & motivation to the whole team).
* Partnering him with a top class NRL import to lighten the load.

I think nailing 100% of Brown's failings last season / improvement in an England shirt on the pack alone is incorrect.

Doesn't matter what he does at International level, he has to do it regularly for us before he gets any plaudit's

I don't say he'll win it...however for a hb at arguably the richest and one of the biggest clubs in RL...33/1 is a very big price.
My thoughts would be he ought to have been a 14/1 or 16/1 tops.

quite surprising some of the comments on here and on facebook, the first twenty minutes, england as a whole looked good though widdop outside brown did the good passes.

Then when we took the foot off the gas, it was aimless kicks and them short matt rodwell style passes to mcmeeken making him look bad that he's been doing to jack hughes this year.

Named in the Q/F starting line up along with Hill ,Currie on the bench, Ratchford not included ,hardly surprising when Bennett played him on the wing.

Ratchford will not play again in the competition unless there is an injury. If Lomax gets fit for the semi final then Kev Brown will make way for Widdop in the halfs. Bennett has his team (favourites) and there will be no changing unless there are injuries. Josh Hodgson is favoured over James Roby, who in my opinion is a much better dummy half.

Correct. Making him far more effective off the bench once the opposition start to tire. Daryl Clark would be far more effective coming off the bench running against a tired pack.

Not taking him over is justified then. Should we make the final...The Aussies won't have a tiring pack.

Having backed the MoS and top tryscorer correctly before the start of last season, I think 33/1 is worth a couple of quid. Brown seems to be a bit of a media pin-up boy which should help him.
However, this year my money goes on Gale again as the player I think will win it, and Grant Millington at 66/1.
In terms of top tryscorer, I’m not convinced it will be whoever plays on Cas’ left wing this year. In 2016 we had Dorn and in 2017 we had Hardaker who could both attack that left edge and make space for the winger. We haven’t got that this year. Tom Johnstone at 20/1 looks worth a gamble.
On another note, Garry Lo at 10/1 seems bizarre given he has never played SL level and is likely to be behind Eden and Minikin (and possibly even Hitchcox) at Cas.

Isn't Lo being loaned back to Sheffield?

Apparently it’s dual reg, so he’ll only play for Sheffield when he is not needed at Cas. Assuming his tries at Sheffield won’t count, it’s bizarre he is one of the favourites for top tryscorer.