posted Nov 4, 2008

Nathaniel thats not too far off the same team, be honest all those wanting Pryce , Senior, Wellens etc out are missing the point, our half backs have not sparked anything yet because our forwards have been second best, unless we dominate up front the 6 & 7 have no decent ball or field position to use Pryce, Senior Gleeson to their best, we also need a bit of luck with decisions, its easy to control a game with a mountain of possesion and some of the calls were puzzling to say the least, the lads will be smarting but dont write them off just yet.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

Why don't they call up Fieleden? I'll readily admit he hasn't been himself for the last two seasons, but at the end of this season he was on fire and back to his old self.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

The squad is fixed.
There are no additions allowed.
What each team has in Australia in their squad is all you can select from.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

I'm afraid to say that you can pick different players, shuffle them about but, in all honesty, it's academic. Let's be honest with ourselves. The England team look like rugby players while the Aussies look like powerful athletes. We desperately want them to win but 9 times out of 10, they are going to lose becausem quite simply, they are not good enough. Sad but true. Still, cheer 'em on eh!

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posted Nov 4, 2008

I agree acer, Just heard that well known englishman Mr Fa'asavalu will not be available for the NZ game ( along with Wilkin ) so will that other well known englishman Mr Smith now admit his gross error in leaving the in form forwards Fielden and Wild at home. Rugby League games, as they say, are won by the forwards with the backs deciding by how many. England's forwards lacked fire and leadership. When we start to blame our best two centres or even the full back for a defeat of that magnitude we are surely deluding ourselves. Smith has messed it up so far. We need more power and aggression. It is the forward platform at Leeds and St.Helens which allows Pryce and others to play. At least 2 of the aussie backs Inglis and Lockyer are all time greats but Gleeson and Senior would look all timers rather than old timers with that amount of possession against a defence going backwards.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

we all winge at defeats by aus I think smith more or less has it right.its only right that leeds and saints provide the most players as they are the top two in s/l the problem is selection the pack should revolve around roby graham and wilkin and the link sinfield burrow and maguire put pryce in the centre he is a big enough unit and his step will cause problems.peacock to prop,ellis in second row with wilkin gleeson in centre smith and gardner wings and please leave wellens at full back he is the best we have.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

No disrespect but a) I'm not sure that any of these posts identify a major reason why we got stuffed and b) there's a lot of over-reaction.

Firstly, the ref wasn't wildly one-sided. I think the penalty count shows this, especially considering the number of sets. Our decision making was bad. In some cases atrocious. We have to sort out 6 and 7, and right now a Leeds trio (adding 13) in these vital positions looks the best bet. But for the rest of the team, lets not miss the chance to let the players redeem themselves, get past NZ and then work out the next step. The injuries will bring changes enough for me.

We all had niggles with the team before the match; but only niggles. let's keep our heads and not slate the guys any more than we have.

Come on England

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posted Nov 4, 2008

When the squad was announced the forwards didn't look to have enough size to them (Noble did the exact same thing). This was pretty much proved when we started with 3 props on the field on Sunday yet were still out muscled. Roby and possibly Ellis aside the front five just didn't perform. We're now down two forwards for the weekend so we need a different game plan.

The backs were poor (I'll get to that in a minute) but they had no platform to work from and the fact that the Aussies were off-side at nearly every play didn't help matters.

Performance-wise in the wide backs, I thought both wingers did well, Gleeson obviously played 3/4 of the game with an injury and in that starting XIII is our most potent attacking threat, Senior was improved from the first game but his best years are behind him, Wellens doesn't have much pace but this is hardly a surprise - you know what you're getting with him and he won't let you down so has to stay in the side.

On the half-backs and Sinfield - dunno if it's because of pressure or because the gameplan was poor but the fact is that they didn't control the game at all - the kicking out of hand was poor and their attacking play (bar a couple of half breaks by Burrow) was minimal. McGuire has to be given a starting spot if for no other reason than to shake Pryce from whatever spell he's currently under - he looks complacent and although I doubt he is, something is needed to get him playing with the guile and ferocity he is capable of.

Wholesale changes are very unlikely for obvious reasons but if it were me I'd change Senior for Pryce, bring in JJB and Langley, start McGuire at 6 and put Higham on the bench. No doubt Smith with return and that's fine although a little tough on Calderwood.

It's not an ideal solution but from where we are right now, imho these are the best options we have.

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posted Nov 4, 2008

Our props looked like they were too nervous to play against these big boys, and our second rowers weren't much better. Difficult to be hard on the backs because they got nothing by way of a platform.

Personally I get fed up watching my team 'play for pride' - where's the professionalism that led up to that?? We have no great scrum halves in this country any more. But the lack of leadership was above all the key for me. If someone had gone in with a big hit you'd have seen the tails go up straight away. I'd sooner Morley beats his 12 second record than play again like he did on Saturday.

Pryce is out so play McGuire at standoff, and bring Jones-Buchanan on after 20 minutes. And someone please tell Morley to lead the way by getting in their Aussie faces!

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posted Nov 4, 2008

I feel that our kicking game is what is really letting us down, along witha lack of pace in Paul Wellens.

I like Wellens but for me Lee Smith has to come in and play full back

Smith
Gardner
Gleeson
Ellis
Calderwood
McGuire
Burrow
Peacock
Roby
Graham
Hock
Langley
Sinfield

Changes
Morley
Senior
Pryce
Fa'savalu (if fit)/ Wilkin (if fit) / PWellens

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