I’m optimistic for the World Cup. Whatever happens with England, I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait to get up to Newcastle for that first game. What I do hope is everyone doesn’t throw their toys out the pram if we lose that first game. We can still get past Tonga in a quarter IMO and take Samoa on again in the semi. It would be nice to start with the win but it’s not the be all and end all.

As for this warm up fixture, I can understand it not being full strength. I look at who isn’t playing and Bateman/Knowles are banned and I get the feeling Sam Tomkins isn’t at 100% going in to this tournament. I doubt Oledzki is 100% either, given he battled through the play offs. That leaves Makinson and Lees, who both also had niggles at the back end of the season. A little rest will freshen them all up hopefully.

I also think we can win the first game,would set it up great if we did.

We all should put local rivalries aside and shout for England be it your Welsby,Batty,Wlliams etc.

I'm looking forward to the competition as a whole but concerned about how England will match up. The real fear is it ends up being humiliating and a real reality check about the difference in standard between the hemispheres. Frankly if someone offered a semi-final exit with competitive games I'd take it and run just now.

England look to be in a transitional phase just now - in 2017 we had Graham, S Burgess, O'Loughlin, Roby, Widdop, Mcgillvary etc who have all now gone. We're obviously missing some big names in Walmsley, Newman, Hodgson with Lomax being the big one. Our playmaker options are either untested/unproven at this level (Sneyd, Ackers, Welsby), out of form (Williams), or carrying an injury (Tomkins). We also have a number of players who clearly have been picked for their experience which I can understand to a degree but there's no denying that most of them are past their best (Hall, Mcilorum, Cooper, Hill).

There are reasons to be hopeful - we do still have the potential of a very good forward pack particularly with Tom Burgess, Luke Thompson, Elliot Whitehead and Victor Radley. We have some exciting players out wide with Makinson, Farnworth and Young (although I worry it might be a bit soon for the latter - would have gone for Joe Burgess personally). Shaun Wane will no doubt prepare them very well and they'll be fired up. But looking at the other squads on paper it looks ominous.

The big misses for me are Newman and Lomax. I actually don’t think Walmsley is as big a miss as those 2 because a guy like that isn’t anything out of the ordinary for these NRL players and I think as we always see with a Wane team, the plan will be to out work and out last these big packs and guys like Knowles, Radley, Thompson, Bateman, Lees etc are perfect for him. It’s not to say Walmsley isn’t a miss, it’s good to have that point of difference but I’m not sure it’s as big as it looks at first glance.

There are some players in there probably past their best. McIlorum would be one but you know what we’ll get with him and in tough conditions, he’ll rock up and just rattle people. I doubt Cooper will play many minutes and the same possibly goes for Hill. I get why he’s gone with that experience in and around the squad however.

I’m excited mainly about the names the younger/less experienced players can make for themselves. We don’t look at Welsby, Young, Farnworth, Oledzki, Lees, Pearce-Paul and Batchelor and are proven international quality but they’ve just not had the opportunity to show it yet. I think 3 or 4 of those will walk away with their reputations hugely enhanced and will give us confidence as a nation going forward past this World Cup.

I saw somebody say the Aussie squad was the poorest they’d ever seen. I’m not having that at all! It’s inexperienced at international level (as it would be with Covid and the NRL trying to stop internationals taking place) but it’s pretty scary.

The backline will be along the lines of Tedesco, Holmes, Mitchell, Wighton, Addo-Carr, Munster and Clearly! To think guys like Edwards and Hynes haven’t even made it as back up is incredible.

Agree with all of that. And i have to be honest McIlorum surprised me in the game vs. combined nations, thought he had a belter of a game. I think it is quite clever of wane having him, tomkins and williams all playing. All players in key positions comfortable playing together and all comfortable playing under wane. I think it showed in the combined nations game, there was a certain fluidity to it that i felt came from these 3.

Interested to see how harry smith ges on in the game vs. fiji if he is picked (seems like he will be). Will be out of the country unfortunatly and seems the game will be showed on the RLWC2021 app, hopefully i can get it to playback later or something if i don't get chance to watch live.

Leeming, Sutton and Burgess should have been in for Cooper, Hall and Ackers IMO.

That backline is better than anything England or GB has ever put together.

Better than a backline with Mark Calderwood and Ade Gardner on the wings?!

Don’t be so disrespectful.

As the title says Smith for England........... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/63143981

As the title says Smith for England........... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/63143981

Hard to say but realistically you’d imagine Marshall was the next winger in line, Smith the next halfback and Wardle the next centre. It’s Powell that makes me wonder because surely Leeming, Clark or McShane were next up in that position.

Boston, Ashton, Fox, Sullivan, Bolton and Murphy. The best RL backline EVER.

Why did you not mention Gerry Round at full back Brian? Agree with you that theirs was the best back line GB have ever named and played.

Once in conversation off air and suggested a reserve GB to the one you mentioned.
My reserve team was - Eric Fraser, Ike Southward, Jim Challinor, Alan Davies, Frank Carlton, Harold Poynton, Jackie Edwards.
A very long time ago now.