Re: English Fringe Players. : Mon May 02, 2016 6:11 pm  

vastman wrote:

You really are the dogs at times.

Personally I can't think of a more legitimate claim for producing a player but then seeing it from your side it would mean most of the recent Shudds teams were "produced" by Wakefield

Still following you're criteria then we produced Ryan Atkins, Henry Paul, Ryan Hudson, Amor, Brett Ferres and Jamie Rooney. I'll take that if you want?

let it go man! seek help.

Re: English Fringe Players. : Mon May 02, 2016 8:51 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

its our last chance before the world cup to look at those halves. Im not sure i would introduce anyone new at this point unless they were demanding a shirt. I dont think Gale is doing that right now.

(though saying that Widdop has had plenty of time to take ownership of his shirt and hasnt really done so)

If it isn't somebody new then it's Widdop and Smith and even as a Wigan fan I can't remotely see how Smith can warrent an England spot on this years form (and last years). The other option from last year then is George Williams but he's not played much this year due to injury and is still raw (although a fabulous talent). I'd have him in the squad if he finds last years form but him and Widdop are a bit similar for me.

We'll be looking at picking three halves in the squad I'd imagine and aside from Widdop it all feels pretty open. I'd say Williams, Smith, Gale, Brown, Mellor, Sneyd and even Richie Myler will all feel like they have a shot. I could see Betts having an influence in any decision so Brown must be a fair chance.

Re: English Fringe Players. : Mon May 02, 2016 11:37 pm  

I've never rated Myler much, but it would be churlish to deny he's going well at the Cats. So he is at least a half in form. Right now, anyway.

Re: English Fringe Players. : Tue May 03, 2016 4:33 pm  

meast wrote:

let it go man! seek help.

No, you can't have it both ways - if we didn't produce Brough then we did produce Atkins for example - I'm only following your logic.

Re: English Fringe Players. : Tue May 03, 2016 4:34 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

So many things can change between now and the Four nations which makes it hard to predict a line up. We'll have to see how Tomkins goes on his return before calling that one and I'm sure we'll see well established players like Hall and Watkins find some form before the seasons out. If all goes well and we had a good group of form players going in to the tournament I think our best team looks something like-

Tomkins
McGillvary
Watkins
Reed
Hall/Manfredi (that's a real tough one currently and could go either way)
Widdop
Gale (he needs to find his best form again though)
Graham
Hodgson
Hill
Currie
S Burgess
O'Loughlin (I can't believe I've seen people leave him out after last years performances)

Subs
G Burgess
T Burgess
Bateman
Clark

That's as strong an England side as I can remember for a long time. There are some very good players not in that 17 like Hardaker, Walmsley, Roby etc and that highlights the strength in depth which is building. A lot of people will call their 17's and won't agree with other people's choices but that just highlights the options that have built up.

I'd put Johnstone ahead of all three of those wingers - but hey.

Re: English Fringe Players. : Tue May 03, 2016 6:07 pm  

NSW wrote:

Hardacher
Manfredi
Watkins
Reed
Hall
Tomkins
Widdop
Graham
Hodgeson
SBurgess
Currie
Bateman
O'loughlin

GBurgess
TBurgess
Roby
Walemsly

Anyone who wouldn't put Chris Hill in England's 17 needs serious help

Re: English Fringe Players. : Tue May 03, 2016 6:35 pm  

NickyKiss wrote:

So many things can change between now and the Four nations which makes it hard to predict a line up. We'll have to see how Tomkins goes on his return before calling that one and I'm sure we'll see well established players like Hall and Watkins find some form before the seasons out. If all goes well and we had a good group of form players going in to the tournament I think our best team looks something like-

Tomkins
McGillvary
Watkins
Reed
Hall/Manfredi (that's a real tough one currently and could go either way)
Widdop
Gale (he needs to find his best form again though)
Graham
Hodgson
Hill
Currie
S Burgess
O'Loughlin (I can't believe I've seen people leave him out after last years performances)

Subs
G Burgess
T Burgess
Bateman
Clark

That's as strong an England side as I can remember for a long time. There are some very good players not in that 17 like Hardaker, Walmsley, Roby etc and that highlights the strength in depth which is building. A lot of people will call their 17's and won't agree with other people's choices but that just highlights the options that have built up.

I'd go with all of this except I'd have Roby in their over Clark. Whether he starts is another question, but there'll be no drop in quality when either hooker comes off, which is great to see.