Based on those stats I'd have McShane over houghton every single time

Regards

King James

Luckily nobody is interested in what you think.

Madness. I'm not a fan of Houghton but McShane is so overrated it's unreal.

Is he heck overrated

I agree.
McShane playes very well in a very good Cas team and has some excellent utility value for them (covering SH if needed) but, he's not as good as Houghton or Clarke.
Hodgson has looked nothing more than steady for England and seem to be one of those who gets the nod because he plays down under.
Clarke is a bit better than a "scoot merchant" and can score out of nothing if he gets quick ptb or tha defence is lazy. IMO he's better at this than Houghton.

Your judgement is gash. He's probably been our best player this season. His defence isn't brilliant but ball in hand he's a class player. Not starting England quality but squad material.

Eden back in about four weeks.
Surely a certainty for left wing?
A left edge of Gale, Hardaker, Shenton and Eden gives England the best chance of success. I'd also be tempted to run McMeekan in that side (he plays on the right edge for Cas).
They might not be the best individually (though they might be) but the advantage of playing together successfully all season surely counts for something?

I'm not convinced it works. I can't remember the Aussies ever picking a bunch of players because they play together? They just pick the best players in their relative position. In the opener of 2013 WC the 17 Aussie players came from 9 different clubs!

We also tried it in 2008 with Leeds players and failed massively.

4. Senior
5. Calderwood/Smith
6. McGuire
7. Burrow
12. Ellis

Anyone who thinks Eden should be picked over Ryan Hall is mental.

The australians have SOO though, giving many players the opportunity to develop combinations.
I suspect Australia's spine this year will be Slater, Cronk, Munster and Smith (all Melbourne).
Im not advocating picking players simply because they play together, but it has to be an advantage.

Over McGilvary though, any day of the week.

Also why should Ryan Hall be picked? Because he's experienced? You need to move on from players who are regular failures but get picked just because of their name and/or club affiliation.

Hall isn't beating anyone down the left edge and he isn't chasing anyone down if they get past him. He also only has 9 tries (according to the SL website) that hardly screams "pick me!" when it comes to international selection, does it?

England aren't winning the World Cup picking the tried & tested failures of the last decade, time to give some new blood a chance.

Tries: Eden 34; Hall 9.
Tackle Busts: Eden 56; Hall 34.
Average gain: Eden 8.41; Hall 7.99
Clean Breaks: Eden 40; Hall 11.

Picking players because they used to be good is mental. Hall has been an excellent winger over the years, but his form in 2016 and 2017 doesn't warrant international selection.
On the other hand, Eden's time in Australia has clearly improved him massively as a player. At the moment, he's the best English winger and far better than Ryan Hall.

I'd pick Hardaker at FB and McShane at 9. Wingers, I'm not too fussed who gets the nod.

Only concern with Eden is he still has that odd concentration lapse where he has his elbows far too wide apart when fielding a kick which leads to the knock on under no pressure.

I'll never be described as a Whino cheerleader but Ryan Hall is the one England player that has consistently performed to a high standard for the team in the last few years - no one else is even close. Until there is clear evidence that he has lost it at international level then its his spot to lose. Eden's "massive" improvement as a player wasn't good enough to secure him future employment in the NRL. Yes he's going well in a team on an impressive winning streak but all that means is there has so far been little opportunity for him to be tested and see if he really has improved his pathetic tackling and dodgy handling under pressure which used to be a stand out feature of his game. Apart from Hall, McGillvray and Burgess are much better qualified for internationals.

Eden has improved his defence, I wouldn't say his tackling is much of a problem. The technique lapses under the high ball when there's no pressure is what needs fully ironing out and it is becoming less frequent. This world cup might be a bit early for him but the next year or 2? He should be a first choice winger if he continues his upward trend.

eden has had problems scoring past fcs' big wingers in 3 games, no tries i believe!

he would face bigger and better wingers v aus and the kiwis, for that reason, ryan hall for me over eden by a mile

He's scored some great try's for Cas but so has every other player on Cas' left wing.
They (Cas) are very good at making space out there and I'm not certain that that necessarily makes Eden a top winger.
Time will tell.

There is evidence has declined at SL level though, given his stats compared to other wingers. Waiting until a player fails at international level is a recipe for defeat, when it is clear there are better options available.
As for his "pathetic tackling", Eden has missed 9 tackles this year. Hall has missed 20.
I agree that a winger's success is heavily influenced by the quality of the centre he plays alongside and many if Eden's tries are down the Shenton, who should be playing left centre at the World Cup.

The point is that, whoever Cas play on their left flank score try's for fun.
Solomona, Eden, it doesn't seem to matter. Even Hitchcox was in on the act yesterday with 2 top finishes.
When it comes to playing the Kiwis or Aussies, we just dont get that type of space and whoever plays on the flanks will get a fair bit more work to do in defence and I dont think Eden is the guy for that.
Hall may just be going past his peak and is not as quick as some of our other options but, defensively he's very good and can do some of the graft coming away from our line as well.

Pretty much any winger in SL would have score 30 tries on cas' left wing this season and had he been at any other club I doubt eden would have been in double figures for tries. Talk of him playing for England is laughable. We need 2 big wingers who can carry the ball well early in the sets out of our own 20. Get a poor start to our sets and we'll have our backs to the wall all game

Cronk and Smith certainties but I expect Tedesco to play 1, the 6 jersey up for grabs between three or four players.

I agree with you though it looked like an obvious advantage in the Origin decider to have all those Melbourne players in the spine of the team.

I still believe, though somewhat unfashionably, that we would benefit from an origin/counties representative competition in this country.

I have to admit I'm with you on this one Jake. We put Milner on the left wing for a game last season to cover for injuries and he scored 2!! I think Eden has the potential for the future, but there is a lot he needs to work on to make it on the international stage. If there is room then I wouldn't be against having him in the squad purely to get him used to what its all about, but shouldn't be anywhere near the matchday 17 just yet. Hall and McGilvary for me on the wings purely for how they can bring the ball out in yardage, and McGilvary's ability to bring the ball out strong and also gain a penalty trying to get up to play the ball quick is invaluable at international level to me. I would have Shenton playing inside Hall though. It's also a shame that young Johnstone from Wakey got injured as I think he would have benefitted by being around the squad too, he has the size and pace to make an International winger IMO, together with Manfredi from Wigan. I think we have good future choices for wingers, but for this year tried and tested has to be the way to go.

I'm not that overly impressed by Eden's SL form to think that he's ready for games against Australia and New Zealand

Hall and McGillvary will play in the big games if both are fit
I think that Zak should be Full Back, So much so that I wouldn't even take Sam Tomkins in the squad to the World Cup,But I'm sure that his Seat has already been booked

It's such a shame Dom Manfredi got that bad injury last season because he could've really pushed McGillvary and Hall last year and this year. He's a real handful and physically he'd be able to cope with the demands of international rugby league.

He's due back within the next couple of weeks but it would seem too late for him to get a run together. In truth he may not get his place straight back because Tom Davies is in fabulous form for us.