I'd say that, assuming we play with 4 props, the first three spots are going to Peacock, Morley and Graham. Has Eorl done enough for the 4th spot? Carvell is one that jumps out to me, but I've seen more of him this season.

Would you rate Crabtree as a [ibig game[/i player?

watch him play - then decide !

If you call carrying 3 tacklers 10 yards and then getting an offload away 9 times out of 10 enough then yes !.
depends what peoples description of a good prop is ??

I think Morley should be omitted due to his age We're supposed to be bringing the fresh blood through. Some people might say the same thing about Peacock.

Morley has had a cracking season though.

Crabtree is an impact prop. You bring him on after 20mins and watch him run at the line. He makes things happen. Get the halves on his shoulder and watch him offload the ball. On top of that if he gets a bit of space he will go as well. He has better footwork than Morley or Peacock. He is the highest offloader in the league.

He offers something no other prop does and he's having a great season. I would pick him.

Graham or Crabtree...I'd say Crabtree because he gives up fewer penalties, wins more and I would bet my bottom dollar is faster on his feet too.

also, he isnt ginger.

It is difficult to compare. Crabtree is more of an impact prop he makes his best impression when coming on from the bench. If you have three hard grafting props like Morley,Peacock and Graham then you need an impact prop as well. Recently for England this has been Fassavalu but for me Crabtree is miles better and more consistant then Fassavalu (who is injured anyway).
So for me he has to make the 17 for England in the end of season series as i cannot think of anyone who offers the same sort of skills as he does.

More importantly with his ability to pull in tacklers then offload, he adds a massive X factor we have lacked in midfield for a long time.

Put him on, tell whoever the England backs are to stick on his shoulders like glue and then reap the rewards.

Why should the first three spots go to them? Because they have already played and failed for the national team before. If England wants to be the best then continuing with the same failures year after year is not the answer. I'd have both Crabtree and Graham in the team with and either Peacock or Morley for experience. However the likes of Carvell, Mason, Burgess, Lynch and LMS should be considered if we want major changes which I think we need.

Assuming that Crabtree might be battling with Lynch, Carvell and Fassavalu for the fourth props spot i thought i would do a bit of research.
These are the 2009 stats for the above players.

metres per carry tackles per game offlaods penalties


Lynch 6.75, 35, 40, 15
Fassavalu 8.15, 15, 16, 9
Carvell 8.34, 21, 22, 9
Crabtree 8.61, 19, 43, 2


These stats prove to me that Crabtree has been the most effective of these four props this season.

Maybe, but he'll have to up his tackles playing against the aussies. It will be between Lynch Carvell and Crabtree imo.

Lynch is prop that plays a lot of minutes and is not really an impact player. I think Lynch is the sort of player you would want to start a game and as such will be challenging Peacock and Morley for a place rather than Crabtree.

I'm of the opinion that when looking at "no of tackles" with props, its just as much indicative of how long they're on the pitch as it is on how hard working/good defender they are. I get the impression Eorl isn't doing as bigger minutes as Lynch or Carvell would be.

Regarding my comment about the first 3 spots going to Graham, Morley and Peacock, apart from them generally being established as the top 3 props -

Morley - I've seen him quite a few times this season and he's always been really outstanding.
Graham - I watch him every week and know how much he's carrying our pack, and we do sit top of the pile.
Peacock - fair enough, I may be working on assumption as I've not seen an awful lot of him this year. He is the captain, mind.

Watch this weeks boots 'N' All, you'll see why Eorl is the best prop in the league this season. Crabtree should be the first props name on the England team sheet with Peacock, Morley, Graham, Lynch, Carvell and Fassavalu fighting it out for the other spots.

i agree. Crabtree is making fewer tackles this season as he is been given less game time. That has left him with more energy and has massivley improved his go forward.
This is down to Nathan Brown spelling him when previously he has played big minutes. This IMO though has only been possible because of the massive performances of Keith Mason who has led the pack well all season and put in the hard defencive graft allowng Eorl to come on and cause havoc.

Indeed, I am sure Crabtree was playing 60 minutes per game last season, still doing well.

But this season he is a game winner, without a doubt.