Great performance. I thought they were gone early second half but regrouped and looked the stronger team. All players stepped up although Brown was very poor and in effect threw the game away with a lose pass. When he went off we looked better, but sadly Widdop not a stand off - we always moves right, is indecisive and then steps back inside or throws a wild right pass. We need a stand off. Gale finally stepped up (one daft pass apart) and played well. Tom Burgess was Himslef - ran hard but dropped it too often. Hill outstanding as was Bateman. Special world for Watkins too - looked the business tonight.

Big Fat Nige doing a good advert for British sail makers.

superb performance, just a few errors away now, we need to keep building on this, getting more players in the NRL makes a big difference!

Who got MoM?

Thoroughly enjoyed that.

Superb effort from both sides, a proper contest.

On the plus side "Big Nige" looks to have lost a bit of weight.

Hold your heads up lads, proud of the effort and a great game. I’m going for a beer!

Egg, bacon and sausage butty plus a strong ground coffee, we dont do 'pubs' in the Garden City

Good game to watch but ultimately frustrating again.Bateman at left centre just killed any attacking play that side but he tried hard and Bennett picked him out of position so I don't blame the player. We came so close with inferior half backs and only the one back who had real pace. That game was there to be won but again the Aussies win.

had my bacon sausage and egg at halftime so I’m good to go

on a brighter note watkins has come of age internationally in this tournament. a constant threat to Australia on their left hand side. if we can only find a centre for the other side

The Aussie lad who scored.



Wow if Jerry passes to Gale at the end there he goes untouched under the sticks! !!

cordner i think

Absolutely, or even just kicks it a metre further to the left.

Forward pass already been called 2 passes earlier so wouldn’t have made any difference

Every player probably played to the best of their ability in that game. All of them gave everything. Bottom line, as Millward noted, is that in the halves, Brown and Gale’s best just isn’t as good as Cronk’s.

The decision-making in the Aussie twenty - which in the absence of SOL fell solely on the halves - was the difference.

Absolutely gutted. Great match, but it’ll take a while to recover. Losing by 20 would have been easier.

Danny McGuire may have produced the difference given his past performances in recent GF's.

Oh, missed that, I clearly got over excited.

Thought it looked a clear forward pass at the time but didn't realise it had been called. Would've been worst then had we managed to go over and then got called back.

I was thinking the exact same. Also crying out for a kicking game like Sneyds. Can't knock the effort though, probably only brown who wasn't up to scratch.

Before I sign out, just wanted to say something I forgot earlier. We looked a far better side without Hodgson! Roby was brilliant again

Why are we so obsessed with kicking on the third tackle when we finally get on their line to build pressure

In every decisive moment we came up with an error or bad decision.
Tom Burgess’ knock-ons.
Brown’s pass to Hall when he was marked up and had no chance of even staying in the field of play.
Gale’s decision to kick on the second tackle - you just don’t gamble possession in the second tackle in those circumstances.
Watkins not passing to McGilvary to put him one on one with Slater on the line.
Widdop passing to the touch-judge.

We could ave so easily won that with one or two smarter decisions at crucial moments.

We lack the Aussies dogged composure and aren't patient enough.BUT, what an effort, talk about leaving everything on the pitch.
In previous games, I dont recall seeing the Aussies out on their feet against England, they were gassed and credit to them for sticking with England.
Composure, composure, composure.

I think the coach got it wrong with Heighington, when did he come on, pretty late, Taylor would have been a better option

Well done by your blokes. You're a good halfback away from being the best in the world.