luke gale is a waste of a shirt at this level.

Could have used a couple of scarecrows instead of Ratchford and Gale

gale was MOS so you can see why they took him but ratchford wasn't even a stand out player in a club that finished in the bottom 4 and stuttered through the middle 8's. If we keep playing the same players we'll carry on seeing the same types of performances

English ones you mean?

We can debate all day about optimal selection, but fundamentally the reason England struggle to match the performance levels of Australia is very similar to the reason France struggle to match the performance levels of England.

Does anybody know GB/England's record against the Aussies this century, off the top of their heads?

Still, hopefully they can put in a special performance on a big occasion, and that can keep us believing for another decade or two.

We were playing the lebanon though and they held us to a try apiece in that 2nd half.

And heightington isn't English

Wigan played in the reserves league last season!!

It's like watching Wigan. O'Loughlin goes off and the attack falls to pieces.
Two games, O'Loughlin on five tries scored, O'Loughlin off one try scored.

Pity both games against us were postponed then.

IIRC Wigan called one off and Hull the other. Rumours are Hull will not field a reserve team next season. Some of the t.v. money should be withheld for teams not fielding academy and reserve sides. That may stop teams fielding six or seven overseas players.

Would that make a difference, Wigan have both andcare successful with their academy, but it doesn't stop them having 6/7 overseas and signing reserve NRL players like the recent one.

Agree the RFL should create a proper reserve league, the fist year it worked ok, last year it was pointless for us and we had any games, so can hardly blame the club for not wasting money and running a reserve team next season

Tbf they turned over France, and England won today reasonably comfortably. I won't pretend that England were anything more than okay more most of the game though.

I quickly checked GB/England fixtures vs Australia in the 21st century on Wikipedia - won 3 (most recently in 2006), lost 22, was my count. Realistically, Australia are a fair way ahead. England and New Zealand have an outside chance of beating them on any given day, but equally they can be caught out themselves by the supposed minnows - England's defeat to Italy before the last World Cup and the Kiwi's draw with Scotland in the 4 nations, for example.

There's nobody left at home or in the stands who would make a very meaningful difference, IMO. The issue isn't one of selection, so much as expectation relative to available quality.

I wasn't paying close attention, but if Heightington did anything of note it must have been when I was in the kitchen making my breakfast.

Completely agree. We can argue about Bateman in the centres, or whether Watts might shade Hill, or Shaul v Ratchford, but it's in the roundings IMO. Across any 17 we can put together we haven't the collective physicality, skill and/or resilience to match the best.

A few genuine questions.

Why? What is the current unmet need, what would be its objectives, and who would benefit?

How? Given the lack of enthusiasm from member clubs. With no new money, this is an additional cost to clubs without particularly significant benefits. Increasing the chance of benefits would mean increasing the costs - certainly relative to the recently abandoned model. It's a tough sell to owners and the RFL doesn't have the power to impose it.

What, ideally, would it look like? Full-time or part-time players or a mix? How many fixtures over the season? Punishments for not fulfilling fixtures?

I don't want Wigan or any other team to have six or seven overseas players, I'd like it reduced to three (max) and force teams to invest in their youth and academy systems and also run a reserve team. If they are not willing, cut their funding.
I'm not suggesting it be done in one foul swoop as contracts must be adhered to, but it could be phased in over around a three year period.

Then the issue is one of selection where this player is concerned