Well to my absolute astonishment and disbelief Leroy Cudjoe has been picked over Darrell Goulding. This is despite Cudjoe playing in a Huddersfield team that is on a well documented downward slide in this last month & Goulding playing his part in the best on form centre/wing partnership in Super League who are on an equally well reported upward spiral. Josh Charnley is the runaway leading try scorer & his inside centre is on red hot form in Daz Goulding. All the above are facts. Statistically Daz blows him out the water too:
Goulding Cudjoe
Tries: 8 - 6
Try assists: 11 - 4
Clean breaks: 17 - 6
Tackle Busts: 30 - 29
Missed Tackles: 15 - 24
Errors: 6 - 14
Penalties: 3- 7
Note I don't have a problem with Leroy Cudjoe being in the overall squad. I think he's a damn sight better than Kris Welham or Michael Shenton. However when it's irrefutably evident that Darrell Goulding is the on form centre in Super League & is playing far better than Cudjoe his omission is wholly astounding.
Omitting Mike McIlorum infuriates me more than Goulding's omission but I find it so ridiculous I just have to laugh. McIlorum is at the very fulcrum of the best side in Super League who have systematically dismantled, annihilated and utterly humiliated Leeds and St.Helens in the space of two weeks. Yet Rob Burrow and James Roby get picked ahead of him...
It reminds me of when Brian Noble was in charge of Wigan. Picking players on reputation rather than form. It's almost like McNamara and Noble have worked together before isn't it? Oh wait...
I yearn for the day when we have a coach in charge of the International side who has the balls (or better yet the intellect) to pick players who are
on form and not pick on reputation or who his old pals are. Carl Ablett? Still religiously picking a 35-year old ancient relic in Jamie Peacock as captain? Jon Wilkin?
The whole international setup is typical British BS. We picked a man who was evidently grossly incompetent at club level for the highest position in English RL with the requirements that he had to be full-time and he had to be British & we're now stuck with arguably the most talented group of players we've had in the last decade with a realistic chance of perhaps winning the World Cup being led by an utterly incapable & inexperienced Yorkshire moron.