Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:53 pm  

Odem wrote:

International players need to fit a certain mould. They need to be tough, hard hitting, aggressive. Scoring a lot of points is not enough to get into the the England team IMO. Wilkin is a very good player in super league at times, but would he match the aussies up front? Not a chance. Tickle lacks the xfactor an international needs.

He is not even close to the other second rowers anyway.

Nothing to do with his points scoring. He hits and runs as hard as anyone, has a great engine and knows how to run a line. His goal kicking is just a bonus. Not as good as Westwood and Ellis maybe, but certainly good enough for the bench.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:57 pm  

21-12 wrote:

I cannot believe the amount of people that arent including O Loughlin, if you had the pleasure to watch him week in, week out he'd be the first name on your teamsheet.

+1

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:07 pm  

Tomkins
Charnley
Watkins
Atkins
Hall
??? Sinfield, Lomax, Chase, Widdop ....
Brough
Graham
Roby
Burgess
Westwood
Ellis
O'Loughlin

Burrow
Mossop
Morley
Hock

Thats what i'd go with at the moment. Really struggling to pick a 6, we still lack and depth in the halfs. The depth in the backs is getting much better could quite easily throw in McGillvary, Cudjoe, Lawrence, Reed, Briscoe.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:38 pm  

Sinfield has been shown to lack it at international level. Lomax can't do it at club level.
Chase, maybe. Widdop, needs to be on for more than 5 minutes.

As for O'Loughlin...well I can say the same thing about Kev Brown, I watch him week in and week out and he is class.

Regarding the bench, I can't believe I've missed off Larne Patrick. Scores tries for fun. Power of a prop, speed of a halfback.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:44 pm  

Exeter Rhino wrote:

Tickle may be in the running, but is his new form good enough to elevate him above the likes of Ablett, JJB, Wilkin etc and compete with Ellis, Westwood and Burgess who will be the obvious candidates? I like Tickle but always thought he was a bit small for England. At least Hock has the size, although not seen enough of him this year to comment - in past seasons he was something of a liability at times.

Tickle is a big lad mate, I saw hull play in the flesh on Sunday for the first time in a couple of years and was surprised how big he is. I think only Andy Lynch and Sam Moa looked bigger than him in Hulls team. He's definitely bigger than JJB and I don't think I'd be surprised if he was bigger than Ablett and Hock too. I'd be the first to admit I haven't seen much of JJB or Ablett for a while but I don't think tickle would look out of place at international level. I hope he gets a chance.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:49 pm  

21-12 wrote:

I cannot believe the amount of people that arent including O Loughlin, if you had the pleasure to watch him week in, week out he'd be the first name on your teamsheet.

That's the problem with these sort of threads picking a team, some have club bias, some it's purely you don't see enough of a player to really appreciate them. Don't mind o loughlin but don't see him as much as a Wigan fan and probably don't appreciate what he offers as much. All teams have them. As the poster above illustrates the "w@nkfest Leeds fans have over ablett. If he watched him week in week out he would appreciate the work he does more.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:33 pm  

Ferdy wrote:

That's the problem with these sort of threads picking a team, some have club bias, some it's purely you don't see enough of a player to really appreciate them. Don't mind o loughlin but don't see him as much as a Wigan fan and probably don't appreciate what he offers as much. All teams have them. As the poster above illustrates the "w@nkfest Leeds fans have over ablett. If he watched him week in week out he would appreciate the work he does more.

This is exactly it. I dislike how some fans get outraged when one of their players who is in good form doesn't get selected in a potential team. Luckily the England selectors have a much more balanced view and get to see nearly all the players week in week out. You can't select everyone so you're obviously going to pick the players in your team who have been standouts as you don't have the luxury of seeing everyone.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:40 pm  

Code13 wrote:

Sinfield has been shown to lack it at international level. Lomax can't do it at club level.
Chase, maybe. Widdop, needs to be on for more than 5 minutes.

As for O'Loughlin...well I can say the same thing about Kev Brown, I watch him week in and week out and he is class.

Regarding the bench, I can't believe I've missed off Larne Patrick. Scores tries for fun. Power of a prop, speed of a halfback.

Lomax can certainly do it. Don't forget he won YPOTY last year from half back. Don't mistake his team's loss of direction for a lacking in individual ability. He was injured for the internationals last year but I think he'd have made as good as if not better fist of it than Chase did.

I like Brown and I think he got some undue criticism last time he had a run at international honours.

Patrick looks mustard this year. He's caught my eye in the past but seems to be hitting some great form. What are your thoughts on Crabtree? You've got some injuries in the forwards but are still top, is Eorl's form as a starting prop impressing you? I like him at international level, the Aussies seem a little wary of what to do with him.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:45 pm  

I base my thoughts on Lomax down to the fact he was uttery outplayed by Grix at standoff, that and his teams kak attack this season.

Patrick gets better and better, simple as that.

Crabtree lost some form last season, along with all the Giants players really, but this season he has come into his own, leading from the front, playing for 70+ minutes and loving it. He is also blessed with good pace, good hands and a smart brain, knowing when to be the decoy and knowing when to hit it up. He should be one of the first names on the sheet IMO.

The present England selection is worse than using a poll from this forum.

Re: Your England team on current form : Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:50 pm  

Tomkins
Hall
Reed
Watkins
Charnley
Chase
Brough
Mossop
Roby
Graham
Ellis
Burgess
O'Loughlin

Burrow
Patrick
Westwood
Morley