I agree with (shockingly) alot of what you say, but to even consider Luke Burgess at the moment seems a bit strange. I know he had a good season last year but with that injury, by the time he comes back we might see that form again. There is absolutely no guarantee he will just walk back into the team, especially the way Souths are going right now. I think with him, its just a matter of wait and see what happens. Certainly can't be considered yet though.



I think Reed also needs to gain some consistency, as he mixed in some very poor performances with some decent ones.

Have to agree on Luke Burgess, on last years form he shouldn't have made the team, and there's no guarantee he'll be any better after an injury (he may, but I doubt it).



Pack selection from:



Tight Forwards: S.Burgess, Graham, G.Burgess, Crabtree, Hill, Mossop maybe someone like Walmsley could break through. NOT Heighington

Edge Forwards: Ellis, Westwood, Hock, Farrell, then add in Feres/Ablett NOT Wilkin/JJB

Loose Forward: O'Loughlin NOT Sinfield (halves or nowhere)

1 Tomkins

2 Charnley

3 Reed

4 Watkins

5 Hall

6 Sinfield

7 Widdop

8 Graham

9 Roby

10 S.Burgess

11 Ellis

12 Farrell

13 O'Loughlin

R Burrow

R Heighington

R G.Burgess

R Mossop

On form (bar a couple of players who have missed through injury) for me would have to be:



Tomkins

Lineham/Briscoe

Reed

Watkins

Hall

Widdop

Brough

Graham

Roby

L. Burgess

Farrell

Ellis

O'Loughlin



G. Burgess

S. Burgess

Crabtree

Hock

Most of the posts on this thread have Sinfield in the halves and although he is an outstanding player, especially for Leeds, he shouldn't be playing 6 or 7.

The guy just hasn't got enough pace or guile for either of these positions.



We have enough in our three quarters and pack to trouble NZ and Aus. but the selection of our 6 and 7 will be key to doing well in the comp.

if, and we all know it wont happen, the England team is picked on form then cudjoe,ferres,brough and lunt should all be in there.

however that's my club bias because these guys have been immense this season and have shown their rivals up in a lot of games.

but they wont be picked and we know why.

Cudjoe will be in and Ferres should be in but won't start due to our strength there. Lunt is a fantastic player and I wish we still had him at Leeds this year but again, he's no Roby and as an impact hooker, won't have the same influence as Burrow against tiring defences at the end of each half.



Brough I don't think could even bribe his was into a McNamara team. I just don't think he wants to be proven wrong, or at least that's what it seems.

We've got more options then I can remember for a very long time. There's a couple of players I really think could break in to the World Cup team who 6 months back I'd have thought had no chance like George Burgess and Liam Farrell.



If we were playing Australia tomorrow and everyone was fit I'd go-



Lomax

Charnley

Watkins

Reed

Hall

Sinfield

Tomkins

Graham

McIlorum

Crabtree

S Burgess

Westwood

O'Loughlin



Subs

G Burgess

Hill

Hock

Roby



I'd put Tomkins at halfback as I'm not convinced Widdop, Brough, Chase etc are up to the job. I really like Lomax at fullback also and McIlorum is an ideal test match player.



I look at that side and to think players like Briscoe, Ellis, Farrell, Mossop, Hardaker etc aren't in it shows what depth we have developed. In truth though I still expect players lile Wilkin to be picked which will be a scandal.

Brough has to be in the halves. It concerns me that the best halfback in our competition won't get picked because Golden Boy has been made captain. Got a lot of respect for Kev, but no player's selection should ever be guaranteed (especially if he's not the best at the time) and it kind of puts the thought in the back of your mind that he picks up a bit of a knock before the WC to force McNamara to make the selection (which is a horrible thing to think).

I don't understand this obsession that some have with playing Roby off the bench? I think we need an extra forward on the bench. Roby is an 80min hooker, he hasn't played off the bench for a number of years so why do that now? IMO McIlorum isn't good enough for England; Lunt and Houghton are better players because they offer far more.



I think these are possible selections:



FB: Tomkins/Hardaker/Lomax



Wings: Hall/Charnley/Briscoe



Centres: Watkins/Reed/Cudjoe



HB: Widdop/Myler/Sinfield/Brough/Chase/Smith/McGuire



Prop: Graham/S Burgess/G Burgess/Hill/Crabtree/L Burgess/Walmsley (outside chance possibly)



Hooker: Roby/Houghton/Lunt



SR: Farrell/Hock/Westwood/Ferres



LF: O'Loughlin



I'd go:



1. Tomkins

2. Hall

3. Reed

4. Watkins

5. Charnley

6. Widdop

7. Brough

8. Graham

9. Roby

10. S Burgess

11. Farrell

12. Westwood (although I think he hasn't been great this season, so far)

13. O'Loughlin



14. G Burgess

15. Hill

16. Crabtree/Ellis

17. Hock

If they're fit, S+B Burgess, Graham and Ellis can be as good as any Australians. Hock is - literally - a wildcard, who if he could play to his best would be a revelation as well. The only issue I have with some selections is Sam at prop - an absolute waste of a world class second row.



The other wildcard is somehow Tom Burgess coming in and being as good as George - unlikely but still possible. I'd also add that Luke went from being barely in Souths' first team to first choice starting prop last year - he's a handy player, although if someone else was picked ahead of him I wouldn't be too worried.



In the backs our best hope is that our outside backs can hold their own - anyone dreaming that they're likely to dominate Australia is crazy - but hopefully with the likes of Watkins, Hall, Reed, Briscoe we can find a combination that works and at least not get physically flattened..



...which brings us to 1, 6, 7 and 9.



...the only certainty would be Tomkins, and whilst I can understand the idea of the more robust Hardaker, his almost complete lack of a passing game would rule him out of fullback for me, so I'd keep Tomkins there whilst trying to make sure as many players as possible run interference on high kicks.



We have nobody close to Cameron Smith at hooker. Roby at his best is very good, but after him I'd be tempted to go for Lunt - a more traditional hooker with a rugby brain. Not looking for dominance, but someone who can keep their head and make the right choices from dummy half.



6/7 is a nightmare. Has been for years. We can all make claims and counter-claims for Widdopp, Sinfield, Chase, Brough etc, but what England needs is for two or more of these guys to absolutely demand selection in the same way George Burgess is at prop. If not, I can't blame McNamara for going with Sinfield as for all his faults (lack of running game, not the most devastating passer etc) he at least can act as the focal point of a side under pressure, and is a genuinely good captain.



What we can't do is go to extremes of trying to play some offload based game with no structure (which just leads to stupid turnovers), or a hyper-defensive game. We'll need to play to a good structure and move the ball around - something I haven't seen England/GB do very well against Australia since Sean Long got knocked in the head.



In the end I just want England to give Australia a tough game for 80 minutes. I've watched far too many thrashings to expect even that, but I still hope to one day see us beat them when it counts.

It's a shame Sinfield is captain, that way he has to be in the team. We surely have better scrum-halfs than him.

Fantastic post. I've never been a big fan of Cudjoe, but he was superb yesterday.



Lunt should be in the starting 17, I should edit my team. He's superb. I'd love to know Huddersfield & Leeds win record with/without him.

As someone who watches them both every week if I was picking a team tomorrow I would favour Lineham over Briscoe. I just think physically he is better suited to what the Aussies are going to throw at us. He is certainly the biggest winger we have available, he is good under the high ball and very strong in the tackle. It would be a gamble picking a guy with 1 season under his belt but I would like to see him get an opportunity, at least in the train on squad.