24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:14 am  

Backs
Ryan Atkins (Warrington Wolves, Stanningley)
Tom Briscoe (Hull FC, Featherstone Lions)
Kevin Brown (Huddersfield Giants, Thatto Heath)
Tony Clubb (Harlequins RL, Greenwich Admirals)
Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants, Newsome)
Darrell Goulding (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
Luke Robinson (Huddersfield Giants, Siddal)
Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Michael Shenton (Castleford Tigers, Upton)
Gareth Widdop (Melbourne Storm, King Cross)

Forwards
Sam Burgess (South Sydney, Dewsbury Moor)
Eorl Crabtree (Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfield YMCA)
Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers, Castleford Lock Lane)
Stuart Fielden (Wigan Warriors, Illingworth)
James Graham (St Helens, Blackbrook)
Darrell Griffin (Huddersfield Giants, Oxford Cavaliers)
Ben Harrison (Warrington Wolves, Barrow Island)
Shaun Lunt (Huddersfield Giants, Ellenborough)
Adrian Morley (Warrington Wolves, Eccles)
Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
James Roby (St Helens, Blackbrook)
Joel Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
Ben Westwood (Warrington Wolves, Normanton)

From that I'd have to go with

Widdop
Briscoe / Goulding
Atkins
Shenton
Hall
S.Tomkins
Robinson
Graham
Lunt
Morley
Burgess
Ellis
O'Loughlin

Roby
Crabtree
Westwood
J.Tomkins / Fielden

Nowhere near strong enough IMO... Gleeson may have been worth a call in the Centres and Sinfield just for his versitility

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:19 am  

Leroy Cudjoe (Huddersfield Giants, Newsome)
Ryan Hall (Leeds Rhinos, Oulton Raiders)
Michael Shenton (Castleford Tigers, Upton)
Ryan Atkins (Warrington Wolves, Stanningley)
Tom Briscoe (Hull FC, Featherstone Lions)
Kevin Brown (Huddersfield Giants, Thatto Heath)
Sam Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)
James Graham (St Helens, Blackbrook)
James Roby (St Helens, Blackbrook)
Adrian Morley (Warrington Wolves, Eccles)
Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers, Castleford Lock Lane)
Sam Burgess (South Sydney, Dewsbury Moor)
Sean O’Loughlin (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)

Shaun Lunt (Huddersfield Giants, Ellenborough)
Darrell Griffin (Huddersfield Giants, Oxford Cavaliers)
Stuart Fielden (Wigan Warriors, Illingworth)
Joel Tomkins (Wigan Warriors, Wigan St Patricks)

The pack is pretty good but the halve backs are a big worry. I would be tempted to put Gareth Ellis in the back line.

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:26 am  

Widdop is only there because he's played something like 3 times in the NRL, he doesn't deserve to be there.

Luke Robinson and Tony Clubb? Is someone having a laugh?

The forwards more or less pick themselves, but the backs are pretty dire, apart from a few.

[Sadfish]

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:46 am  

Widdop was stand out player in the mid season iirc, despite flying half way around the world.

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 11:49 am  

Sadfish wrote:

Widdop was stand out player in the mid season iirc, despite flying half way around the world.

He had a good game against France, but France were also very poor. Does 3 first team appearences really warrant international selection for one of the top 3 countries in the world? I don't think so, but i suppose it shows just how much were struggling in the backs.

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:06 pm  

saint billy wrote:

He had a good game against France, but France were also very poor. Does 3 first team appearences really warrant international selection for one of the top 3 countries in the world? I don't think so, but i suppose it shows just how much were struggling in the backs.

Exactly, people will criticise the selection of Widdop but who would you have in the squad instead? The fact that players such as Robinson, Tony Clubb and even Kevin Brown highlights the serious lack of talent (+ physicallity) we have in the backs.

I'd rather take a risk with Widdop than play someone who you are almost certain is not good enough for England. At least he has more of a physical presence and some pace, and tbh for an English back to get anywhere near an NRL backline is an achievement in itself (Mathers and Tansey do not count as they went and failed).

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:16 pm  

Ben Westwood or Luke Robinson to kick goals? Help!

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:22 pm  

They'll get hammered by both the Kiwis and the Aussies.

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:37 pm  

Good strength up front, but the backs as usual are a big concern. Apart from Tomkins, I'm not sure any of them can really cause the Aussies problems and Tomkins is probably best at full back. The lack of a goalkicker is also a concern.

Re: 24 Man England Squad : Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:52 pm  

Looks like its going to be another bloody good hammering for England!