To take my mind off this week's events I speculated about the England line-up in the upcoming world cup & came up with this team:
1 Hardaker
2 Hall
3 Watkins
4 Shenton
5 Eden/McGillvary
6 Widdop
7 Gale
8 Graham
9 Hodgson
10 Hill
11 Burgess
12 Whitehead
13 O'Loughlin

Subs
14 Watts
15 Walmsley
16 McMeeken
17 Roby

I've put Hall with Watkins & Eden outside Shenton to keep club pairings together.
I've not included the other Burgess boys since I've no idea of their NRL form. Others up for consideration or to be in the overall squad are:
S Tomkins, Ratchford, Williams & Bateman.

Hardaker should be starting FB but the way he played him at centre in the mid season game makes me worry he'll end up having Tomkins at FB.

I dont think either Burgess twin deserves selection, we have props in far better form over here and they need a firm kick up the booty, but i fully expect them to be there.Bennett will also pick Cooper because he knows him from NRL although he has been quiet since his return to SL.

The team OP put up is by and large the way i would go but Bennett will also have Heighington and McQueen involved for sure. Much as i hate to say it this is likely to be a damp squib of a WC again for us and will leave us wondering why we ever bothered with Bennett who has no interest in English RL.

As you know to your cost Cas do a lot of damage down the left with Gale, Hardaker, Shenton, and Eden.
For that reason alone I'd have Shenton and Eden together on the left.

That's pretty close to the team I'd pick. Bateman should probably be in there, with Sam Burgess up to prop and Hill dropping to bench instead of Watts. Also McGillvary over Eden. On this year's form Eden would be ahead of Hall, but Hall's a proven international force and wouldn't trust Eden against top-class opponents (he was awful in the NRL.)

I wouldn’t pick Greg Eden. I know he’s scored a ton of trys, but put him on the wing for a team other than Castleford and I don’t think he’d be top try scorer.

My centres would be Watkins and Moon. Moon qualifys for England on residency and we should pick our strongest possible squad.

He might not have had the best season but Daryl Clarke can be a game changer off the bench.

One or both Burgess twins will be ahead of Watts.

McQueen is ruled out through injury.

Hardaker
Hall
Watkins
Shenton
Eden
Widdop
Gale
Watts
Roby
Graham
Whitehead
Bateman
Burgess (c)
Subs-Walmsley Hodgson Ward/Milner Hill/T.Burgess

'Don't play Eden cos he has scored loads of tries'

Jeeeesus. Do people really think before posting these days?

What an absolute load of crap that is.

Put moon at centre and it doesnt really matter who you play on the wing from a position in good ball, they wont be seeing much action. As many successful combinations as possible should be used in my opinion, Gale, Hardaker, Shenton and Roby, Walmsley being 2. Id also like to see S Burgess given a bit of space wider in the back row as we always seem to lack any threat there and ive always wanted to see more than just a biff and barge front rower from him, conversley i believe thats where Australia and NZ are always most potent.

All 3 Burgess boys will be there. They were playing poorly along with the rest of the team for most of the season, but in their last few games both twins played pretty well.

Eden can play full back so Bennett might want him in the squad for utility value, but he was clearly unimpressed by Eden at the Broncos so I wouldn't be surprised if he's not in the squad.

In the mid season test Bennett picked Hardaker in the centres. It may have been a one-off because of the opposition (Leilua is a beast) and he felt Percival would get monstered, but it could be that he wants a genuine ball-player at full back and sees Hardaker as just a strong centre. That's the way the Broncos are set up, and I reckon he'll go for something similar.

McQueen is out, Heighington looks shot, but I wonder if we will see any bolters from the NRL. Looks like Tonga has picked up some very good players in Taumalolo and Fifita who were picked for NZ and Aus.

We need wingers who can return the ball. Hall and McGillvary are the best in that regard, and both deserve to keep the shirt on previous performances for England.
I'd go with:

Hardaker
Hall
Watkins
Shenton
McGilvery
Widdop
Gale
Graham
Hodgson
Hill
McMeekan
Whitehead
Sam Burgess

Roby
Walmsley
Watts/Hill/Burgess
Currie/Bateman/Ward

Fatigue shouldn't really be an issue in the pack given none of NRL players made the playoffs.

Hardaker in the centres and Tomkins at FB is what the Aussies would do, i dont think they have picked a single out and out centre in their squad.

Will we see Hardaker in any position now?
Tomkins to full back