Even though i'm speaking as a rovers fan i'm surprised he's not in the England squad his stats for the Leeds game were outstanding making 50 tackles

Great player but if im been honest I dont think he is as good as Roby or Mcillorum(sp) in attack hes not far off tbf and he is improving every season . when it comes to defence hes no 1.

I know he's not as good as roby but he's only just come back from injury I think he deserves a shot we all know what roby can do you would think he would use the exiles games to try a few players out before the world cup

Burrow and Lunt would be the two directly behind Roby & McIllorum in the pecking order I imagine.

Everyone knows what Roby can do, his selection for Exiles will tell us nothing we don't know and he's not even match fit, poor selection from Mcnamara IMO

Houghton has had slow start but has hit form, Lunt is in outstanding form, one of these two should have been selected, especially as Mcnamara said he would select on form. Burrow still good on his day but not for me now.

Also think on principle Brough (despite scottish links) should be in the squad ahead of Chase, again a player in outstanding form has been overlooked by Macca

Brough for Sinfield. Leave Chase in there for the extra spark.

I'd have Brough and Chase playing together myself.

I'm not a fan of the 'we know what he can do' stance. The national team barely have any games together as it is so I personally would prefer to put the strongest side out whenever possible to at least promote some sort of familiarity.

But how can it be the stongest side with Roby playing who currently only has 65 mins under his belt, (in which he did nothing special) after 10 weeks out

Strongest side is potentially the players who are currently on form, that can't be said yet of Roby, I'm not suggesting wholesale changes but a few players are unlucky for whatever reason not to be selected

What you'd imagine to be the strongest side come the World Cup. Roby is one of the automatic starters hence why I'd give him and the rest of the side every chance possible to play together before the tournament.

Even if next week was the World Cup final, Roby would have to play even if he is only 75% fit, he's that good.

looks like both Brough and Lunt could be playing for scotland in the world cup as mentioned on Super League Back Chat

But how do we know what our strongest team is if the in form players aren't being selected?

amazes me that houghton isnt in the england team, mcillorum does nothing for me... put him in at salford and he wouldnt be nowhere near the national set-up...

Whilst I'm genuinely disappointed for Danny that he wasn't chosen, from a purely selfish viewpoint I'm delighted. The last thing we need as a club just now is for one of our star players to be injured in a game that means absolutely nothing. Likewise I'm pleased that Tom and Ben weren't picked.

mcillorum is a good player but a liability. Wind him up and his head'll go. Houghton should be in there but I'm glad we don't have any players in the squad. Massive second half of the season this little rest will do us good as we push for a top 4.

You could say that about many players. Playing alongside quality players can bring the best out of an individual.

As has been pointed out, from a selfish point of view its one less gain for which he could cop an injury. ATEOTD, the exiles game is a glorified trail game, like the old Yorks / Lancs games were. One of those finished Prescots career.