Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:30 am  

I doubt any team put out against Scotland will worry the Aussies,neither will the England team that is put out against them..

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:10 am  

No wholesale changes for me. We presumably employed Bennett to improve our mentality, approach and execution. He's clearly not had sufficient time to do this but with an easier fixture against the Scots and the best part of a fortnight before we face Australia I'd be very interested to see what is delivered by us in the second of those games. The picture will be a lot clearer if the waters aren't muddied by swapping players for others who, on paper, would not appear to offer a huge amount more. You'd have to hope that Bennett doesn't at this stage feel a whole new radical approach is called for.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:41 pm  

Sarginson is over rated in my opinion and should be nowhere near the England squad as a centre.

Widdop flatters to deceive as far as I can see. A good goal kicker but doesn't offer much else as a 6.

Gale was unfortunate on Saturday insofar as Hodgson did a lot of the kicking from dummy half and widdop was first receiver.

I would drop Widdop which then allows Gale to be the game manager, a role he undertakes for Cas to a very high level. You can then bring Williams in who offers more of a threat as a running 6 and you then imo have the right combination of skills in the halves

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:09 pm  

Unchanged bar Sarginson out, Percival in.

You can switch Williams and Widdop but I think the only advantage is that Williams is quicker. Other than that, I think they both have a pretty similar game. However, I would swap Gale to the left (where we attack the most) and also which is his most dangerous position.

I think he's been made the fall guy for some bad tactical decisions by the team on Saturday, along with some individuals taking it all upon themselves to go for glory. The ball went down the left far more than the right and it's clear we've been told to stick to some kind of rigid structure. When Gale did move across to be involved on the left we either scored, or we had great chances to score. Equally, the time we did go right it ended up with McGillvary going in at the corner.

If we don't put Gale on the left, I'd question what Denis Betts brings to the assistant coach role given the fact that he supposedly sees SL week in, week out and saw Gale rip him a new backside when Solomona scored 3 on last game of the season and the Gale/Solomona combination has yielded 42 tries in SL alone this season.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:22 pm  

Fully wrote:

Unchanged bar Sarginson out, Percival in.

You can switch Williams and Widdop but I think the only advantage is that Williams is quicker. Other than that, I think they both have a pretty similar game. However, I would swap Gale to the left (where we attack the most) and also which is his most dangerous position.

I think he's been made the fall guy for some bad tactical decisions by the team on Saturday, along with some individuals taking it all upon themselves to go for glory. The ball went down the left far more than the right and it's clear we've been told to stick to some kind of rigid structure. When Gale did move across to be involved on the left we either scored, or we had great chances to score. Equally, the time we did go right it ended up with McGillvary going in at the corner.

If we don't put Gale on the left, I'd question what Denis Betts brings to the assistant coach role given the fact that he supposedly sees SL week in, week out and saw Gale rip him a new backside when Solomona scored 3 on last game of the season and the Gale/Solomona combination has yielded 42 tries in SL alone this season.

Cant argue with that.
Bennett must have a plan but, I dont see Widdop getting the axe. Unfortunately it could be Gale, which isn't exactly fair.
Ratchford may get in at FB, which should give us more attacking options. However, scoring against Scotland, although important, will be no indicator as to whether we will score against Australia and let's face it, that is the only game that matters.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:58 pm  

I would keep the 17 the same or possibly just make one change with Farrell coming in for Bateman.

Sarginson didn't have the best game but I don't think Percival would have done any better or offers us anything else.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:22 pm  

Sir Kevin Sinfield wrote:

I would keep the 17 the same or possibly just make one change with Farrell coming in for Bateman.

Sarginson didn't have the best game but I don't think Percival would have done any better or offers us anything else.

Well, considering even Wigan fans are saying Percival is a far superior centre...

Re: Team to face Scotland : Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:47 pm  

I actually think this is exactly the time to make changes. In previous 4Ns we've seen the problems caused by having to pick players in the last game who haven't played previously - if anything it makes the incumbents even harder to shift regardless of how they play. Also, Bennett's main aim is the WC next year, and this tournament is really his only opportunity to see how well his players perform. Restricting that to 18 or 19 players in his squad won't help him in that regard.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Tue Nov 01, 2016 1:37 pm  

moto748 wrote:

Well, considering even Wigan fans are saying Percival is a far superior centre...

That we are. I like Sarg, he a 110% player, tries too hard sometimes and ends up forcing it. He doesn't have the rugby brain and natural flair of Percival who I think is a quality centre. Sarg will give you the work rate, he'all take it in all day but we need more than that at international level. If Sarg does play it has to be at FB IMO, though that would be harsh on Lomax who wasn't great either but it was his first proper game at this level.

Re: Team to face Scotland : Tue Nov 01, 2016 4:38 pm  

BrisbaneRhino wrote:

Restricting that to 18 or 19 players in his squad won't help him in that regard.

Especially if a certain number of those aren't performing.