I take it you have excluded the CC from those stats?

A touchy Wigan fan, never! Good job I didn't post this on your forum, you'd have banned me by now, and your continued exclusion of the CC speaks volumes





Could care less about Leeds/Wigan win/loss ratio, well I could but it's not relevant here and I haven't mentioned it once.



All I've said is ST has dropped some real clangers (on the rare occasion he actually attempts to go for the ball) but he goes plenty of good, sometimes amazing things which is why i've said repeatedly i'd have him in the first 13 every time.



But not at full back, he's a disaster waiting to happen.

This is probably England's best chance to get something off Australia for the first time in my 25years of watching the game.



Most of that time, the England team has been psychologically beaten before they have even got onto the pitch. That aura of invincibility is not there with this Aussie team. Without the golden stars that have defined the past 20 years, England should be full of confidence before they go onto the pitch.

Don't talk to Wigan fans until after Xmas at least mate, they're still very bitter and rightly disappointed in ending the season with zero trophies out of a possible 4. Must be hard for them.



Back on topic. That wasnt a great display from England by any means, and although Australia got well beaten by NZ, they would have hammered us on Saturday. It would be very naive to play the same squad and bank on improving, it wouldnt be enough. And all this talk of this is our best chance....didnt we say that last year? Yes Australia are weaker but so are England.



Prior to this tournament kicking off I was all for Hardaker to FB and Tomkins to 6. After the first game I thought Widdop and Smith made some very very clever plays, both very composed and effective in stages. It would be very hard on Smith or Widdop to be dropped to make way for Hardaker. However I still cannot see how Zak cannot be in that side. It wasn't a great display, Zak needs to be in there, maybe off the bench as utility with a view to shuffling the halves/fb as and when needed.

Bottom line, Make Hardaker a spot in that side.



Also the back rowers - very poor. Whitehead and SOL in, Westerman and J Tomkins out.

Previous Stats suggest nothing in the international game. How much can you tell about a group of players who don't play with each other regularly. Any one if them players could win the game on the day... Or mess up.

Hardaker at full back.. Why? He's one of the best we have to offer. However Tomkins is the one of the best too. Given how important this game is Tomkins England experience at full back is more important than ever.

Hardaker misses out and it's just bad luck we can't squeeze him in because he's a class act.

McNamara needs very little change to the side of last week. We need to grow as a team in such a small tournament to be ready should we get to the final. Changing key positions around would be silly in my opinion.

This match is destined to be one of the most exciting contests in years. Better than any Super League game, with obviously so much hanging in the balance for the nation of England.



The Australian centres would not have been first choice had all Australian players been available, but they were still very good, which shows Australia's depth of talent. However a fit Jack Reed would have been more useful counter in defence for England than Shenton.



However the big irreplaceable loss for Australia, apart from the specialist props, is Johnathan Thurston, whose brilliance has been one of the cornerstones of Australian success for the past decade. Thurston's absence has hurt Australia in attack and defence more than England's loss of Sam Burgess has hurt England.

There are lots of Australian props running around in the NRL, just because Tim Sheens doesn't want to pick them is the reason they don't have specialist props available in the 4N squad, you pick what's available to you irrespective of their ability or you choose to play players out of position. Sheens has made his choice!



I'd love to have Keith Senior in the left centre but age and injury forced him to retire, Thurston is missing for similar reasons, tough!



Lastly, Leeds fans bagging and bigging to shoehorn Hardaker into the team is funny!

I’d make as few changes as possible to the side given that they need to get more familiar with each other as a team.



If O’Loughlin is fit he comes in for Westerman who I would drop to the bench replacing Ferres.



I’d be tempted to bring in Whitehead but only for an injured player. He misses too many tackles for my liking despite being a great attacking player.



I’d only bring Hardaker in if Tomkins gets injured.

No. The stats include CC games.

The stats include CC games. HTH.



Nothing to be touchy about.



You made a ridiculous comment that was clearly wrong to try and prove your view about where Tomkins should play. The stats prove it. You should have picked something else.

Why ?



He's a better, all-round full-back than Tomkins currently. Far better defensively and not much to choose on attack.

Its not about them head to head. Its what they can bring to the side together.



Tomkins stays in the squad without doubt, as he is better in the attacking line than what Hardaker is. Defence and kick returns Id have Hardaker every day of the week as he doesn't pussy out like we have seen Tomkins do on many occasions. But Tomkins in the line finding the killer pass to breach the Aussie defence is something that is vital at the top level, and he does this better than Hardaker. McNamara needs to find a way of using them both and we will be solid.