Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:10 pm  

In his post match interview he said very little but what he did say was that James Roby was left out to give George Williams a game. That sort of says he’s reluctant to leave out Hodgson or Gale , both of whom have brought very little to the team. Roby is miles better than Hodgson and can easily play 80 minutes. Hodgson distribution is too slow. Bennett is far too obsessed with NRL players

Team should be

Widdop
McGillvary
Percival
Currie
Hall
Williams
Gale
Taylor
Roby
Graham
Burgess S ( when fit )
Bateman
O’Loughlin

Burgess T
Walmsley
Ratchford
McMeekin

Heighington brings nothing, Whitehead is a penalty machine and Hodgson overrated as is Watkins, and Hill is not the player he was

Roby is the key for England , he plays we play better ! However , Bennett will stick to his NRL favourites

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:18 pm  

Watkins is a shoe in, showing good form so far

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:30 pm  

It's obvious what Roby brings. Gale and Widdop need as much time as possible.

Nothing wrong with Watkins and I haven't seen many complaints about Whitehead either.

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:56 pm  

Brick with eyes wrote:

In his post match interview he said very little but what he did say was that James Roby was left out to give George Williams a game. That sort of says he’s reluctant to leave out Hodgson or Gale , both of whom have brought very little to the team. Roby is miles better than Hodgson and can easily play 80 minutes. Hodgson distribution is too slow. Bennett is far too obsessed with NRL players


Heighington brings nothing, Whitehead is a penalty machine and Hodgson overrated as is Watkins, and Hill is not the player he was

Roby is the key for England , he plays we play better ! However , Bennett will stick to his NRL favourites

Its very much looking that way, Heighington, Whitehead and Hodgson very overrated in what we've seen so far.

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 6:45 pm  

His biggest failing so far is his NRL bias for me. I just can't have it that Hodgson is a better player than Roby, that Scott Taylor or Mike McMeekan wouldn't offer more than Heighington or even that Whitehead is bringing more in that backrow then Currie or Bateman could (and are doing but with one out of position).

I'd also love to see Widdop at fullback and give Taylor a crack over a struggling Chris Hill. I'd go with-

Widdop
McGillvary Watkins Percival Hall
Williams Gale
Taylor Roby Graham
Bateman Currie O'Loughlin

Subs
T Burgess Walmsley Whitehead Hodgson

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:03 pm  

Brick with eyes wrote:

In his post match interview he said very little but what he did say was that James Roby was left out to give George Williams a game. That sort of says he’s reluctant to leave out Hodgson or Gale , both of whom have brought very little to the team. Roby is miles better than Hodgson and can easily play 80 minutes. Hodgson distribution is too slow. Bennett is far too obsessed with NRL players

Team should be

Widdop
McGillvary
Percival
Currie
Hall
Williams
Gale
Taylor
Roby
Graham
Burgess S ( when fit )
Bateman
O’Loughlin

Burgess T
Walmsley
Ratchford
McMeekin

Heighington brings nothing, Whitehead is a penalty machine and Hodgson overrated as is Watkins, and Hill is not the player he was

Roby is the key for England , he plays we play better ! However , Bennett will stick to his NRL favourites

Percival would get absolutely Annihilated against Australia or New Zealand
Bateman simply isn't big enough to play international rugby in the back row,that is why he was picked to play as a centre
Ratchford would have to defend somewhere really safe on the field because he's a traffic warden defensiveley,where would you put him so that he was not exposed?

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:13 pm  

Bateman has proven size isn't an issue for him. He's making good ground with the ball and is tenacious in defence. He just isn't a centre. The much lauded Elliot Whitehead is bigger but is offering far less with ball in hand.

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:16 pm  

maurice wrote:

Watkins is a shoe in, showing good form so far

To be fair Watkins has done ok . He does have all the attributes to be world class but he doesn't show them anywhere near often enough.

Currie can play second row or centre , and Percival deserves a run out at some point. He may now get a place on the wing if McGillvary gets a ban

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:22 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

Bateman has proven size isn't an issue for him. He's making good ground with the ball and is tenacious in defence. He just isn't a centre. The much lauded Elliot Whitehead is bigger but is offering far less with ball in hand.

What damage would Bateman do whilst playing out wide in the back row against Australia or New Zealand?

Re: Wayne Bennett : Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:59 pm  

The OP's team looks a damn sight more effective than Bennett's selections so far.
Never rated Hodgson, can't remember when Whitehead last had a decent game for England, and as for Heighington.......the less said the better. As for Gale, I think we need to persevere - he clearly is a decent player but not sure if Bennett knows how to get the best out of him. Whilst Sneyd can be predictable, he has a proven big game temperament - which seems to be lacking in Gale's skillset right now.