Thanks Mark.

There are two issues.

Firstly, too many clubs play non qualified players in the centres, not to mention other positions.

Secondly, the alternatives being suggested simply didn't play as good as Smith during the course of the season and if they're really the big secret to out playing Inglis then they need to up their game.

What I am trying to do is get some recognition that, in all probability, Tony Smith picked and played the best team he could and whilst you can slate player X or Player Z until the teams you support follow the lead set by Leeds and St Helens and start playing and producing young English players then nothing is going to change.

Unless of course people seriously think that if Darryl Goulding had played right centre we'd have beaten Australia.

We were done on the fringes because they shipped the ball quickly and our middle didn't push hard enough so players like Smith, Mcguire, Briscoe were left against 5 men consistently. Any team would struggle man on man (5 on 5) against Lockyer, Watmough, Inglis, Slater and Hayne, never mind 3 on 5.

Peacock in the right centre was a major error, slow and flat footed. For all his plus points, he is not a second rower anymore.

Well i will raise you LEE GILMOUR and look forward to you trumping that

Smith didn't pick the best team he could. The likes of Pryce, Burrow, Gilmour and Senior are all better players than those who have replaced them.

He would justify his decision to leave them out on form, yet picked Myler who didn't play much at all past May and Morley whose side limped out of SL without even reaching the playoffs.

I think the points and issues you raise G1 are spot on, my only other point on the matter is that i really don`t think Lee Smith should of been in there in the first place, having signed for union, once the Grand Final was over it should of been thanks very much Mr Smith go and collect your 30 pieces. I just can`t get my head round why he was selected.

IMO it's a very very poor backline. It's worst I've ever seen for a GB or England side.

The centre postion is going to be big problem for England over the next few years.

Lee smith has had good season and should be centre IMO if the team is being picked on form which I believe tony smith has said. Lee smith was poor on Saturday which could happen to any player as even the best players have shockers.

If I was in smith shoes I would have picked senior and gleeson as my centres because I think they are best all round English centres.

I would have also played pryce on the wing.

We can't really. Smith would have been the first choice if he wasn't going to union. Could Gleeson have done a job? I've seen nothing from him to suggest he can and also Smith shipped him out of Warrington which also suggests he doesn't rate him or regards his inclusion as being detrimental to the squad. Not an unreasonable assumption given he was shipped out of Saints too.

Didn't gleeson captain England while tony smith was in charge?

Its already been mentioned, I would have had Leon Pyrce at centre and Ellis the other one, two big centres.

Can,t understand Tony Smiths selection policy, particularly Lee Smith one more game and ceases to be a rugby league player, what long term objective is that.

Smith has selcted Chris Bridge into the squad so why doesn't he use him at centre?
Smith and McGuire got found out defensivly but not as much as Peacock who was too far inside, then too slow to cover where he should have been.
Smith and McGuire were left stranded by Peacock's absence.
Next week we need two backrowers who are big enough and fast enough to do the job. Ellis was great, so who should the other backrower be who can provide that defensive cover that's needed?
Find a good one and put Bridge at centre with Fox on the wing.
Bridge can beat a man and Fox is a mile faster than anything the Kiwis have.

Bridge is Lee Smith but bigger and probably quicker.
I'd have started him there tbh

Im sure if Ryan Atkins was fit he would have been in squad and would have played ahead of Shenton.

dont quite understand why shenton is coming in for some flak,tbh he`s done little wrong, defencively he`s been solid whilst in attack he has had no service whatsoever from the halves.

the problem is england dont have a newlove or a senior which we have had for the past 15 years who can bust a tackle and im not sure where we are going to get one from in the near future and ryan atkins isnt the answer.

Only if tony smith was a fool, shenton and hall combined to keep the aussies scoreless down that side, not that many english centre-wing combinations can say that agains the aussies in recent times. Not that atkins is a bad centre, i would have put him there ahead of smith (who as the leeds fans will tell you has never been a centre and has only been filling in for leeds).

Im a Cas fan, i think Shenton is a very good player with many years ahead of him, i love to see Cas players involved in international rugby, but i do believe that Atkins would have been in ahead of him, this judgement not being based on Shentons 4 nations form. And i think that Shenton and Atkins are the England centres for years to come taking over from Gleeson and Senior, especially with Smith departing to union.

thats a pretty depressing thought to be honest

The only other worth a shout would be Bridge, and also Welham and Lawrence could be future candidates.

How does this square with you being unconcerned at Leeds' importing of overseas trained players increasing to seven for the 2010 season set against the RFL's limit of six?

Bridge could turn out to be a class centre at domestic level. You'll see next year, although he doesn't really have an outstanding quality such as electric pace or sheer brute size though, the best aspect of his game is his ability to step and get his winger away, certainly never going to be an inglis

Depends on your point of view, both those players had the talent but i think both lacked commitment to england/gb (simply my opinion of course) when it came to england/gb, and never put as much heart and soul as say mcdermott, radlinski, peacock, anderson etc.

I'm happy to see two players who seem more commited to representing their country, and will cheer them on whenever they represent my country.

Prior to the match I advocated Smith's inclusion at centre. He's quick, adaptable and has the knack of playing well in big matches. I can't think of too many SL players who tick the same boxes.

That said, his performance was uninspiring. In defence he was at best a speed bump and he won't have caused Australian nightmares with ball in hand, either.

Needs to lift his game. Fast.

The ONLY reason Shenton gets stick on here is because he plays for Cas and it's pathetic, this is a player who was the top scoring centre in the league last year and made 27 tackles against the Aussies last week, yet some people are still saying he isn't good enough to play for England when over the last 2 years he's outplayed every centre he's played with the exception of probably 2 games (Saints & Leeds away this year). If he played for Leeds or Saints people would be praising him as the best centre in the league etc etc.

Shenton did nothing wrong. But he was hardly a danger to the Australians in attack. The fact that they favour the left hand side going forward was his good fortune. The jury's out on whether he'd cope under the same pressure that Smith faced.

He's worth a punt for a few games – but let's not go bananas over him yet.