The good thing about our pack is that it's got improvement in it. I think guys like Tomkins and Bateman can kick on a level as can lads like Crosby, Clubb and Pettybourne. The signings of Tautai and Patrick are shrewd as well and both will add a line breaking ability. Mossop to come back in too and Flower to come back mid season will add to the side.

Out of them all Bateman is the lad I have high hopes for both for us and England.

Agreed. He's just outstanding and I don't think the will ever be a prop of his kind ever again. He can ball play, he does the hard yards, he tackles, he's aggressive and does long mins.

He's easily amongst the best 5 players in the world for me.

TBF Adam Blair threw an awesome no look pass in the second half, I was pretty impressed with that.

Graham puts his body on the line so many times when he takes the ball to the line and passes. He commits the edge be to the point he's getting hit after it's gone.

I know he's a saint and I'm prob biased but he's just a freak of a player.

I feel for Graham so much. He's a warrior and an inspiration and the game just keeps kicking him in the guts! The bloke couldn't win an argument through no fault of his own. He's the best prop in the world yet it seems at the end of every big game he plays in he's left either an emotional wreck heaped on the floor or he's losing the plot somewhere chasing refs or throwing medals in the crowd.

One day he's got to get a break and when he does I'll be made up for him. If it comes in an England shirt then all the better.

I think some of the criticism of Smith is unfair he's been ok, he's never going to skip round defenders and make many breaks but he's given England shape and control. Widdop has been the big disappointment for me he was billed as the player whom would add spark the England midfield but he's been the invisible man in this tournament. if Johnson was in the England side we'd have won that game comfortably IMO.
England's main problem though throughout the tournament has been their line speed . They gave NZ far too much space, especially close to our line.

Full credit to both teams though on a classic test match

I think England have at least 2 of the best props in the world in Hill, and Graham, and George is up there too. It's such a shame we didn't have Sam Burgess, Roby and Westwood available though.

I said the same about Widdop last night. It looks nice the fact he can skip past the odd man but there's been little substance to his play. He needs to demand the ball more and direct the play.

Fully agree about the line speed. It's been an issue in all three games and needs addressing. We've missed Mickey McIlorum in that department IMO. He sets the tone for others to follow at Wigan and as much as I don't want to get in to a debate about him as an international player he would have been invaluable on this trip.

Smith is great in a very strutchered system that Wigan play where he knows his role. That's why he's been a success at Wigan more than saints and Salford but when that structure goes out the window he struggles.

I've never seen widdup play well ever.

Regarding Smith, I got what I was expecting from him, plenty of talking, consistency and kicking game. I was expecting the flair to come from Widdop and Tomkins, that never came and that's what has disappointed me with out creative play. We have the wingers to score tries, we just didn't get them in space enough.

I can't believe the criticism that Widdop is attracting. If people can't see the improvement since Rangi Chase has been replaced then they are blind.

However it's always been my view that Sam Tomkins is England's best half back. For next year's games I'd like to see Sam in at SO or SH with Lomax or Ratchford in at full back.

A lot of people on here have said the same regarding Sam, Armchair coaches, and I'm including myself in that. The fact is though, he's not played halfback since halfway through the 2010 season.

Brian Noble was reportedly trying switch him to Fullback, Madge played him at FB, Wane, McNamara, Elliott & McFadden all see him as a fullback. They can't all be wrong can they?

No definitely not wrong. Agreed.

Full back was the right move at that stage of his career. Moving back to the halves just like Darren Lockyer did is the right move at this stage. It will prolong his career anyway. Getting mullered at Full back in the NRL week after week and hardly getting a decent pass worth the name off Johnson, can't be much fun. Time to come home Sam - just like Joel and Lee.

I think moving Tomkins to 6 would actually benefit our attack because having a genuine running threat in the midfield causes doubt in the defence and frees up space for the centres and the FB linking into the line around the back. At the moment Smith and Widdop offer no running threat, and our 2nd row lacks the punch to attract defenders so the opposition defenders can concentrate on marking Tomkins and the England centres because they know that's where the attack will go. I also don't think Tomkins returns the ball that well from FB these days, the more I see him the more I think he's a HB.