Herbie has been played at right centre in the NRL, although you'd think he'd prefer the left, where he has spent most of his time.

Saw Wardle with O’Loughlin before the game at Wigan and he was noticeably limping.

Likely a sad coincidence this run of injuries around internationals then. He must be hugely frustrated with it all. Whatever it is, I hope he's available for the Ashes, then the World Cup and beyond. Watching Farnworth was mouthwatering and if you could get him and Wardle on either side, you really are running with a special pair of centres.

Playing devil's advocate here a little, but is Harry Newman not a specialist centre? I know people will have different views on his ability / attitude but there's no doubt he can play.

Either way, with Farnworth nailed on for 1 centre spot, we've got some good competition for the other centre plus Percival at Saints could still do a job (i know he's latter end of his career), and we've Eckersley coming through the ranks at Wigan (still long way to go before he'll get considered for internationals?)

The poster said special centres not specialist centres.

Yes Newman is a centre but going off the last couple of seasons he’s not a patch on Wardle all though to be fair he does go well for England.

yep, i did see that



i dont know / see enough of Newman to say he's special, but he's certainly capable of special things from what i have seen of him, whether he can do that week in / week out, its only likely be Leeds fans who could comment further

At Wigan we are privileged to see what Wardle does every week, and i'm not saying Newman is a better player, but he's certainly got the talent to be at that level IMO, but can he do it regularly?

I thought we saw good and bad from Newman in the series. He's a competitor and with the ball, he is a threat but he was a worry defensively. I do rate him but would see him as very much third choice if Wardle was available. Farnworth is just incredible and a clear first choice and Wardle is comfortably the best British centre in Superleague. I think we'll need Farnworth and Wardle available to give us a shot against the Aussies next year.

Newman is still raw but has plenty of potential. Needs to wise up defensively and also be more direct with his running - that crossfield stuff might work in some SL games but will be punished by the Aussies.

As with any international selection for as long as I can remember when it comes to taking on the Aussies we need all our 1st choice players fit as there is hardly any depth.

Wing and Loose Forward are the only two positions we could afford absences in pretty much (although there is a fair gap between Radley and the rest). Maybe hooker because we have 3 or 4 options that are much of a muchness but I do think O'Neill would be extremely useful if he can come back ok from his injury.

The Aussies are interesting. There will always be huge depth not it's maybe not as high class as once was because in the past guys like Nanai, Haas, Kikau etc would've put their hands up to play for them but now they're moving towards the countries of their heritage.

I don't think we're a million miles away from our strongest England team already but I would certainly have room for O'Neill in there assuming he can get back to something like his best. Wardle too

i think Dodd and Nicholson going over to Oz may add a little to our strength if they go well.

I'd say at this point Smith and Williams are the preferred hb combination, but to have Lewis and Dodd (if he goes well) could well be interesting, and give him a bit more of a headache. Will also be interesting to see if Welsby is moved into the halves at Saints this year, as that would add more competition but equally leave us light at full back, as he's not really got any competition there internationally at the minute

Wings, we can also add Handley into the mix, so we are definitely well stocked with good competition there

so in the backs at this moment in time, i think our potential weakness would be FB if Welsby is moved into the halves, as we have no real english depth there at the minute

Packwise, i've no real issues as we have some good solid props with Thompson, Havard and Lees all capable of doing big minutes, plus some good backup. Hooker we've got some good options, with differing skillset from o'Neill on the defensive, to Clarke / Walker who are a bit more dynamic scooting. 2nd row we are well stocked, and if Nicholson goes well, will add another into the mix. Loose with Radley, Knowles, Minchella, we are again well stocked with quality players.

i know to beat the Ozzies we need our strongest side to start and perform, but there is good solid starting side there, and hopefully with some further development (Dodd, Nicholson, Junior) over the next 12 months we can have a squad capable of beating the Ozzies in a test series

Welsby

Yeah, it's there or thereabouts in this series and you'd be surprised if anyone really jumped out and barged their way in for the Ashes bar Wardle and O'Neill. I think those two are in our best 17 and the only area you think might not be totally nailed down is prop. I'd like to see Oledzki really step it up next season and kick on. He was good in 2024 but he needs to do better and he should be getting in a 24 man squad with his talent. I guess his international career may be unofficially over but a swansong for Walmsley maybe 'if' he got back to his best. In fairness I was pretty happy with our props in this series. Guys like Havard and Lees are victims of the lack of opportunities at this level to show how good they can be and they more then held their own and Thompson clearly is top class.

I thought Welsby took a bit of unwarranted stick after Saturday. Plenty of Leeds fans around us where giving it to him but me and my mate were discussing how slick he is with the ball and how much he tested the Samoans with his distribution. I don't think he's had his best season but he's obviously a class act and he'll be big for us in the Ashes. I think that sort of environment will be right up his street. If anything did happen to him, I think we'd move Farnworth in to fullback. I believe that is where he'd like to play in the NRL but the opportunity hasn't come up yet. He could be an absolute sensation playing at fullback going off this series. He's a centre but is constantly coming in field and getting on the call and looks a threat every time he gets it.

i think Welsby has been very efficient (trying to think of the correct term) during this series. He's not been outstanding, but he has contributed quite a bit more than others will probably give him credit for, as i think his timing joining the line has been excellent

i think there are sometimes differing views on the other side of the Pennines

. I was on facebook and commented on someone from KR complaining the Wane didnt like yorkshiremen, so i asked who he had not picked that warranted being in the squad - Petr Hiku was the response

. i was actually waiting on them saying Minchella, who i agree has had a great season, but he aint going to displace Radley, and with Knowles and Smithies in the squad, it would have been a wasted spot. Similarly with Smith at Leeds, but that again shows some of the depth we have. Just named 5 loose forwards who could play at international level, but we can only go with the best and at the minute that is Radley by some distance

Welsby has certainly taken some stick on social media after the game. He was definitely at fault for the one that he tried to kick dead and missed although in mitigation the ball did bounce funny.

His class in attack has never been in doubt, its defensively that I still feel he needs to work on which is really frustrating as a Saints fan, that his coach at club level is arguably one of the best defensive FB's ever to play the game. He doesn't seem to have made any real big improvements in his positioning and he can still be worrying under a high ball.

I think he's come into this series low on confidence after a stop start poor season. However NK is spot on- the Aussies will bring out the best in him as he's a real competitor

From an England point of view we are building nicely and I think we'll give the Aussies a real test if indeed it is confirmed that they are coming here next year.

I also think its good to build those club combinations at international level. If Ashton and Young are fit then Marshall probably misses out but Smith, Nsemba and Wardle could be that left side in attack.

At almost 25 he's not young anymore, for me his defence just isn't at the level it needs to be for the international game.
He's greedy, which may be the result of playing in a team where he's one of the stars, and barring being quick and able to snap up an intercept I don't see much to his game.

Wardle, Percival, or even Bateman (and I never thought I'd say that!) ahead of him at centre for England.
Farnworth is first name on the teamsheet for me.

After Farnworth, Wardle and Newman who do we have in the centres? It's a bit thin there. As mentioned it's even worse at fullback. Welsby is out on his own. He wasn't as influential in this series as he has been in the past but I really don't see who else threatens his place.

O'Neill and Clark have hooker sewn up. I don't really rate Walker.

In the pack we have plenty but I'm not sure our back three is as big and mobile as the Aussie back three. In the world cup I was struck by how much quicker they all were and they combined that with size. We're going to need enough go forward so we're not consistently kicking from inside our 40m area like in all previous tests versus Australia.

Newman may be 25 but he's had a lot of injuries so missed a lot of rugby. He's also had the disadvantage of playing for Leeds

and so hasn't played in play offs versus the best in high pressure games. Given those factors I believe he can improve a fair bit. Versus Australia would be a tough place to learn so I'd have Wardle in front of him any day.

After those 3 you're probably looking at Toby King, who I thought went well against Tonga last year and does help you get away from your end and Mark Percival. I'd say the latter is extremely unlikely to be available though and I can't really blame him. It looks a challenge for him to get through a Superleague match, let alone a test series against Australia. It's a shame because Percival is without doubt our best centre after Farnworth and Wardle and would allow you the chance to use Farnworth as back up fullback and have confidence you won't fall apart in the centres.

FB
Welsby
Evalds
Connor
Brierley

Centre
Farnworth
Wardle
Newman
King
Percival
Cross?

Very bleak. We really need the likes of Lindop, Taylor-Wray, Eckersley and Robertson to get more first-ream games next year.

Umyla Hanley went very well at Leigh this year. If he shows the same improvement from this season to next as he did from last season to this then I think he becomes another option at centre. I would also include Sam Wood at Cas, who Wane has already given a debut to. So, there is some potential depth out there. Don't get me wrong, though, I am not suggesting either of them is at the level Newman or King is right now, never mind Wardle and Farnworth. But I could see one or both getting there. Hopefully we won't be forced into shoehorning back rowers like Currie and Bateman in there any time soon. It's true our defence has to be on point for 80 minutes against Australia, but we also need to be able to score tries, which is what cost us in the 2017 World Cup. I agree we are worryingly short on full-back options after Welsby. Niall Evalds would probably be my next pick, but he is already 31. Hopefully Eckersley might be able to step into that role, or maybe Harry Robertson.

i think part of the problem re FB is that Wigan, Wire, KR, Leigh, Leeds, Cas all have overseas FB and thats with me discounting Hull (cos i've no idea who their full back is anymore

, and Connor has moved on from Hudds, so really only left with Saints, Salford and London from SL last year. So that leaves Welsby with very little competition at the minute, certainly not for the no1 international jersey

an outside shout could be Sam Tomkins but given he's retired from the game twice, that would really be an outside chance but if he goes well this year, at least it would be some competition for Welsby to push him on

The starting options are as good as we've had for a while but the drop off is pretty frightening. Those young lads are very promising and maybe one or two really smash a door down a bit like Nsemba but we'll see. What worries me is the talk of teams getting more players off the quota and then that'll allow them to fill squads with more overseas players (and not very good ones half the time).

Game over if Welsby gets injured. Had hoped that Will Pryce could provide back up at fullback but he's on the outer at Newcastle.

Is it a bad thing he’s on an outer?

May well kick on elsewhere. He’s clearly a talented player.