Benjamin Marshall

Star five-eighth Widdop has hardly had a good game since he came back from that lengthy injury lay-off.

Yep, It's a pity Bennett didn't see that either. I still think he will pick him though against the Kiwis.I would actually like to see Williams given a chance, but i don't think that will happen. Connor and Hardaker in the centres with either Tomkins or Lomax at FB. D Clark must feature for me and interchange with Josh,and with no other wingers to replace any of the 2 we had today, I'm scratching mi head on that one.

Get Tomkins at full back, Connor in the centres, Watts into the back. And Liam Farrell over Josh Jones. Start Lomax with Hastings, Widdop bench.


And get Shaun Wane in as coach. The pride will come back to the shirt under him.

Thought Jones went ok, and he was the best 2nd row in SL last year so no way does Farrell come in for him.

Plus, do people not realise that Tomkins and Watts are not in the squad??

I think folk are saying who should be in that team, who are in the tour squad or not, but those 2 players you mention there who are not in the squad is baffling as to why not.

Agree with that.

The first problem that has to be resolved is the full back position. The best solution would be to call in Samuel Tomkins. If that is not possible then John Lomax must be the full back. Or you could even have John Lomax in the halves and Gareth Widdop moved to full back.

Either way the Scottish descended Australian Lachlan Coote must be dropped from the team if Great Britain is to stand a chance against New Zealand.

I thought Coote was poor and don't think he's upto it at this level. Had a good season with saints but failed to impress me in the big games. I'm baffled with Ryan Hall's inclusion. To be fair he didn't have a poor game but others have impressed more this season.
Our props were poor. Thompson going off was a blow but the rest looked average. Liam Watts definitely would have added something.
I like Josh Jones but he's almost like an extra prop, not a criticism but we lacked some creativity and maybe a smarter second rower would have added something.
I thought Hodgson was awful, his distribution was bad and poor decision making.
Tomkins has been great in a poor catalans side this year he'd definitely be in my starting lineup.
I'm not against Zak at centre but need to see a bit more from him.
Kicking game was shocking, not sure how we sort this out.
I think putting Makinson in makes us quicker out of the blocks but the forwards need a massive improvement.
I'm not sure what Daryl Clarke has to do to get a game. I think he's been the British hooker for the last couple of years now.
Even on the rare occasion we got near the Tonga line we never actually looked like scoring.

New Zealand will wipe the floor with us.

Tonga would have posed NZ equal problems yesterday they are a good team. We are capable of beating NZ but will have to become a bit less predictable on attack and the Bennett has to earn his coin now and pick the right team.

I said he is poor at international level, how have I not have seen any NRL? Ive seen him plenty this year and agree he's good for Raiders, but I stand by the fact that he makes bad decisions at the top level and overplays. In my opinion when we is on we are effectively playing with 4 halves incl Coote, something we don't need, too many chiefs and not enough Indians

1 - Tomkins
2 - McGilvary (Makinson)
3 - Gildart
4 - Percival
5 - Handley (Manfredi)
6 - Lomax
7 - Hastings
8 - Walmsley
9 - Clarke
10 - Graham
11 - Whitehead
12 - Hughes (Sam Burgess)
13 - Thompson (O’Loughlin)

14 - Connor
15 - Watts
16 - Sutton
17 - Bateman

A bit of impact from the bench, plenty offloads there and if either of the centres or halves aren’t cutting the mustard then Connor can slot in there, otherwise he comes in as a centre.

Post, just to update you,Thomson & Gildart got injured against Tonga ,and are very unlikely to feature again on this tour. Are you sure you want to put Bateman on the subs bench too

? What i've seen of (and enjoyed watching is) Liam Watts this season, It beggars belief why he was never selected on the tour. For me, I would be looking to give the managerial post to Shaun Wane next year as Bennett just doesn't do it for me. I've also been a bit of a fan of Liam Farrell,but Bennett has is Aussie luvvies. Also, If Bennett insist on playing Josh H,then Clark MUST be on the bench to interchange.I also think that Sam Tomkins could play a part at full back. I'm not sure about the wings atm, but after the Kiwis game,my mind will be a lot clearer.

So what happened with the national anthem. Considering officially it is GB & Irish Lions. Surely they couldn't be so insensitive and out of touch to play God Save The Queen.

Let’s be honest. We were beaten easily by players not good enough for Aus or NZ.

The difference in backs between this team and the English rugby union team is absolutely embarrassing.

I watched the second half of the Eng v NZ game and the players for England make ours look like amateurs

If you believe Taumalolo and Fafita aren’t good enough for NZ/Australia you know less about Rugby League than I originally thought.

When can anyone remember the last time Hodgson played well for England? He has been average/poor every time he plays. Bennett needs to stop looking @ his NRL form as it is not transfering to the international game. He has had plenty of chances and has disappointed on a constant basis.

And Regan Grace should have made the tour.

Simple answer is that Hodgson is playing in a gash International team. After Cam Smith, Hodgson is a close second for best hooker in the world club level. consistently performs, and is part of the lynch pin that put Raiders into the GF. He's not superman, it's a team game. Put him in a team full of individuals, which GB/England are, you can't expect miracles.

As for disappointing on a constant basis, our International team has done just that for decades now, so don't really see your point.

Just watched the game on iplayer. Totally outplayed. No creativity. As I have said many times before - a team that has to play Widdop and stand off must be a poor team.

I sort of get what he's saying, we've played well plenty of times but usually balls it up against the Aussies, sometimes NZ. Among all those games where we've won and played well, I can remember the likes of Big Sam, Graham, Makinson, Peacock, McGillvery, Hall, Roby, Bateman etc etc have had proper stand out games for us, numerous times.

Even as a Hodgson fan, who's loved how he's taken to the NRL the past few years & seen how he bosses that Raiders team around the park week in and week out, hardly having a off game. trouble is imo I just don't remember him having those kind of games for GB/England, where you think to yourself, man he killed it out there tonight. I don't know whether it's the different styles of the two teams, or Hodgson tries to take too much on himself for GB, who knows.

I cannot understand how so many posters on this thread want to drop Gareth Widdop. He is a top class player, considered as such by every NRL commentator/pundit, and was captain and crucial for St. George-Illawarra before he got injured. He was even close to winning the Dally M medal last year. You just cannot dismiss him. He has to be either full back or five eighth for Great Britain.

Really? Early on he had a 3 to 2 overlap on the outside and kicked. Any decent half back would have created a walk in try. Then he gave away the first try.

Widdop is a myth. Either he’s not very good, or he is good but bottles it internationally. Either way, he’s no use.

Widdop's best is behind him. A few seasons ago he was great.

If he was still great, he wouldn't be in SL, he'd be plying his trade in the NRL. Can still be good on his day, but his day has long since passed.

...yet he plies his trade in SL and not the NRL, so patently he's not as good as you and the NRL press would like to believe.