Ask someone who went down under last year

Should we give Smith the benefit of the doubt and say that he has two young inexperienced halfbacks who he doesn't want to overplay?

No.

I don't understand it either.

Could be a massacre on Saturday.

I don't think it will be as bad as the result that took place exactly one year ago to the day this Saturday.

the world cup is years away. there are plenty of games for him to experiment with before then. i fully agree with gareth, he should be going all out to win this one to give us some credability. even to be really competative is a step forward.
sadly this is another odd decison by tony smith.

The 'master tactician' has once again made some strange decisions. Wonder if once again he will have no game plan to go with it!

Perhaps Smith didn't want the Aussies to know too much about Tomkins. He's still relatively unheard of on the world stage, that could work to his and England's favour.

Or maybe his misguided club loyalties last week really didn't pay off.

i honestly don't think it is that emma. why he seems to do what he does regarding selections i don't know but since 05 he has done it on a regular basis.

with regards to game plans/tactics we rarely had them at leeds in attack. he got the defence brilliantly organised but we seemed to rely on individual skills rather then set moves(04 GF apart).
sadly for GB/england we look like a team of strangers

Then he should'nt be the coach imo he's had 2 games to experiment with selections and positions we are now in the middle of a tournament.
As for the myler comment why would you play him against france "for experience" when you should be giving a new HB pairing as much game time as possible together to read each others games!!
He's sending Mcguire and Tompkins in cold against one of the best teams in the world but as long as mylers got some gametime experience that's ok!!

can't knock what smith did at leeds, but with the squad at his disposal trophies were always on the horizon as his replacement has found.
The blokes a big head who thrives on contraversial selections.
I know of several Leeds players who did not enjoy their rugby under him, he is lucky to have stepped in at wire when they are throwing money about.
give him the bradford job now they are on the decline see if he can turn them around, I think not.

Maybe he's got his Warrington head on and wants to protect his 'star' signings feelings from all the abuse/negative comments Myler might get if/when the Aussies stuff us.

He can then bring Myler back for the NZ game as the 'saviour'

Maybe he is just a diddlydonk.

He's saving his best combinatins and personnel for the final...

No really

Lee Smith is still the only player in the squad that makes no sense at all - either for today (Senior being a far better centre right now) or the 'future' since he'll likely be in Union.

As for Tomkins, I did predict that Smith may do this. Another way to look at this is that Tomkins was always first choice, but Myler hadn't played a real game for months. The game against France was therefore the logical chance to get Myler a game in case McGuire/Tomkins get injured. He couldn't risk playing both together against France in case things went pear-shaped. If that's the case it suggests Smith must see Tomkins/Myler as the future, as there'd be other choices like Rob Burrow for second string halfback.

It's interesting that so much focus has been put on Tomkins, because for England to stand any chance at all I think it's actually McGuire that has to play a blinder.

I like the pack and I think the bench has the right balance. I am just worried about the threequarters.

I think the only people worried by our threequarters are England fans. I suspect Australia and NZ don't know anything about them and really don't care. In a way that's a good thing - it's up to our lads to show the world they can play a bit.

Really - you think the Aussies will be quaking in their boots at the thought of Tomkins ball in hand?

The Aussies will concentrating on their own game because they know if they play to anything like their collective ability this game will be a massacre.

Presumably you'd be getting some sort of holiday in Australia for your money as well, not just nipping over for the games? No disrespect to Wigan and Doncaster, but they don't have the same appeal as holiday destinations.

On an unrelated note, my grammar detectors are unhappy about the use of the phrase "He's got some offload" attributed to Tony Smith.

I am reminded very much of the build up to the 1990 tour.

All the pre match build up was about the size and power of the Aussie centres, Menninga and McGaw. They were bigger and better than Hodges and Inglis. Mal Reilly selected two midgets in comparison to deal with them, Darryl Powell and Carl Gibson. The rest is history.

Maybe, just maybe, we could see another David and Goliath on Saturday?

Or am I just desperately trying to find some optimism.

Nice to see the usual suspects letting the bile they reserve for Smith rise to the surface.

I don't think the problems lay at the feet of Smith, he has made a few questionable decisions, but none that will determine the outcome of the tournament.

The omissions of Senior, Pryce and Burrow seem a bit controversial. But if he wins on Saturday, or next week then the tournament is a sucess

But the pack is not a lot different to this team and we know what happened then.

Paul Wellens
Ade Gardner
Mark Calderwood
Keith Senior
Martin Gleeson
Leon Pryce
Rob Burrow
Kevin Sinfield
Gareth Ellis
James Roby
Jamie Peacock
Adrian Morley
James Graham
Substitues
Danny McGuire
Jon Wilkin
Gareth Hock
Maurie Fa'asavalu

Quote ="G1"I am reminded very much of the build up to the 1990 tour. All the pre match build up was about the size and power of the Aussie centres, Menninga and McGaw. They were bigger and better than Hodges and Inglis. Mal Reilly selected two midgets in comparison to deal with them, Darryl Powell and Carl Gibson. The rest is history. Maybe, just maybe, we could see another David and Goliath on Saturday? Or am I just desperately trying to find some optimism. Nice to see the usual suspects letting the bile they reserve for Smith rise to the surface.'" I'm desperately trying to find some optimism too, and found a little bit here www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjZ7HsspI3o . Stephenson and Loughlin in the centres. David Hulme vs. Wally Lewis at stand-off. Mr.Reliable at full-back. Not a chance. Rewatching the highlights, Andy Gregory absolutely *ran* that game though. Also considerable Headingley connections in that match: 12 of the starting 26 played at some point for Leeds (easy quiz if anyone wants to play). And none of them won anything beyond a Yorkshire Cup

Quote ="G1"I am reminded very much of the build up to the 1990 tour. All the pre match build up was about the size and power of the Aussie centres, Menninga and McGaw. They were bigger and better than Hodges and Inglis. Mal Reilly selected two midgets in comparison to deal with them, Darryl Powell and Carl Gibson. The rest is history. Maybe, just maybe, we could see another David and Goliath on Saturday? Or am I just desperately trying to find some optimism. Nice to see the usual suspects letting the bile they reserve for Smith rise to the surface.'" I'm desperately trying to find some optimism too, and found a little bit here www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjZ7HsspI3o . Stephenson and Loughlin in the centres. David Hulme vs. Wally Lewis at stand-off. Mr.Reliable at full-back. Not a chance. Rewatching the highlights, Andy Gregory absolutely *ran* that game though. Also considerable Headingley connections in that match: 12 of the starting 26 played at some point for Leeds (easy quiz if anyone wants to play). And none of them won anything beyond a Yorkshire Cup

Who else could England have as coach who is more qualified than Smith? the thought that the likes of Harrison might have got the job is too frightening to contemplate.

McRae will be the next England coach IMO which is a massive step backwards compared to the current encumbent

Yes but none of those backs are playing so just wait until Hodges and Inglis get a load of Smith and Shenton............

Oh goodness me, come on people. This is a test against the Aussies. Its' on BBC on a Saturday afternoon. lets' get all nostalgic and pretend we have a chance.