Re: Team to face Australia : Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:54 pm  

the artist wrote:

whenever i've seen Graham in the nrl he sometimes operates as an extra half to move the ball about a bit, he has a great pair of hands. hope he can do this a bit more for england if needed

Yes, but Canterbury have done that ploy to death now, and opposing teams are wise to it.

Re: Team to face Australia : Wed Nov 09, 2016 9:35 pm  

the artist wrote:

whenever i've seen Graham in the nrl he sometimes operates as an extra half to move the ball about a bit, he has a great pair of hands. hope he can do this a bit more for england if needed

Hope he doesn't, its painfully slow and has resulted in the Bulldogs attack been awful this year.

Re: Team to face Australia : Thu Nov 10, 2016 4:49 am  

It worked really well for half a season, but as soon as clubs started to mark him like a halfback it went to dust, as he isn't quick enough to change the play once its in motion. The other downside for the Dogs is that it really hid how awful their halfbacks were (Hodkinson, Reynolds and now Mbye).

Having said that, if its not overused, it could work very well (e.g. one play every second or third set).

Re: Team to face Australia : Thu Nov 10, 2016 4:54 am  

As an aside, I don't think Bennett will see this competition as a failure even if we lose badly to Australia. His aim is to prepare us for the World Cup next year. This competition has introduced him to most of the available players, and given him the chance to see who thrives and who simply isn't good enough at this level. I expect we'll see a number of changes for next year, particularly if we don't do well against Australia (including a revival of Aussiegate).

On the interview side, Bennett is apparently a very good public speaker - he used to make a mint out of giving motivational talks to businesses when he was at the Broncos previously, mostly based off his books. Given that he doesn't want to do them for England, it might be better to just skip him entirely and let Betts do all the talking.

Re: Team to face Australia : Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:22 am  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

let Betts do all the talking.

You were going so well up to this point.

[Bullseye]

Re: Team to face Australia : Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:16 am  

Marge Simpson's sister?

No thanks.

Paul Anderson? Paul Sculthorpe? There's enough in the entourage to choose from.

Re: Team to face Australia : Thu Nov 10, 2016 1:15 pm  

A thick sounding Lancastrian or a thick sounding Yorkshireman talking in cliches. Give me Bennett any day. Ah, yeh, nah, yeh, mate.

Re: Team to face Australia : Sat Nov 12, 2016 6:52 pm  

England: J Lomax (St Helens); J McGillvary (Huddersfield), K Watkins (Leeds), M Percival (St Helens), R Hall (Leeds); G Widdop (St George Illawarra), K Brown (Widnes); C Hill (Warrington), J Hodgson (Canberra), J Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs), E Whitehead (Canberra), J Bateman (Wigan), S Burgess (South Sydney, capt). Subs: D Clark (Warrington), T Burgess (South Sydney), G Burgess (South Sydney), M Cooper (St George Illawarra).

Kevin Brown at scrum half. Thoughts??

Re: Team to face Australia : Sat Nov 12, 2016 7:04 pm  

buzz lightyear wrote:

England: J Lomax (St Helens); J McGillvary (Huddersfield), K Watkins (Leeds), M Percival (St Helens), R Hall (Leeds); G Widdop (St George Illawarra), K Brown (Widnes); C Hill (Warrington), J Hodgson (Canberra), J Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs), E Whitehead (Canberra), J Bateman (Wigan), S Burgess (South Sydney, capt). Subs: D Clark (Warrington), T Burgess (South Sydney), G Burgess (South Sydney), M Cooper (St George Illawarra).

Kevin Brown at scrum half. Thoughts??

Is this confirmed? On the photographs of today's captain's run, Gale and Widdop are both there.

If Brown does play, three different half back combinations in three games doesn't give anyone the chance to build the understanding half backs need to combine effectively.
I think Bennett needs to decide the best half back combination (whoever it may be) and play them consistently unless we suffer injuries.
However, I'm pleased for Brown who I have always liked watching as a player.
Overall, I'm not sold on Bennett and his boring style of rugby.

Re: Team to face Australia : Sat Nov 12, 2016 8:11 pm  

So Williams having had the best performance from an English half so far (albeit not brilliant) does him no favours at all?

Clearly WB is going to say, it's all about the World Cup.

And only one Wiganer in the side!