To be announced a week tomorrow.

A Shortlist of six players apparently.

Priority given to international performances which is Brighouse shorthand for including the likes of Sinfield and Brough among the world's greatest ever



So who will be the six?

Given the illustrious worldwide makeup of the panel which decides upon these things, my guess is the Brighoùse mob will shortlist the following six players.

1. Danny Brough of Scotland (Sadler's wet dream)
2. James Graham of England.
3. Sam Burgess of England (despite the lack of international appearances).
4. Greg Inglis of Australia.
5. Another Australian to be decided after the 4N final.
6. Another Australian or Kiwi to be decided after the 4N final.

And in recognition of England's competitive efforts in the 4N despite finishing 3rd out of 4, I expect at least half a dozen of the English to be selected in the World XIII, half a dozen Aussies and a token Kiwi or possibly a token Samoan player.

World XIII something like this i reckon

Hayne
Radradra
Jennings
Inglis
Hall
Thurston
DCE
Graham
Smith
Hill
B Scott
Mannering
S Burgess

The son of Troy Evans and Kellie Cherry is over rated.

Martyn Sadler has already hinted that Shaun Johnson is in the running.

We had better wait to see if Shaun Johnson wins the match for New Zealand against Australia this time.

IMO James Graham has been the best player in this 4 nations,He has also been the stand out front rower in the NRL this season so would be worthy of inclusion
Sam Burgess is IMO the best player in the world without a doubt this season, but hasn't played any international games
Greg Inglis is a total freak of nature who has had a massive impact both in the NRL and this 4 nations too and will most likely win this years golden boot award

Putting your normal agenda's aside here for one moment and then with your sensible head on, who would you vote for William?

Ryan hall for me.

There won't be many English players in this year.
Graham and Hall only
Good as we played, we were beaten

The contest is clearly between James Graham, Gregory Inglis, and Shaun Johnson. The winner will be decided by Gregory Inglis's and Shaun Johnson's performances on 15 November 2014.

Sam Burgess will be in for sure despite not playing 4 nations and leaving for RU, and rightly so.He won countless awards in NRL and MOM in GF.

Despite anything Billy Eve says, Ryan Hall,James Graham,Sam Burgess and Chris Hill would all be worthy of selection in the World XIII

Samuel Burgess will not necessarily be in for sure precisely because he did not play in the current Four Nations. That should also disqualify Johnathan Thurston and Jarryd Hayne.

You also underestimate the extent to which some people dislike traitors.

Depends if they include players who've left the game like Sam Burgess and Hayne.

If they have Hayne's the top fullback IMO. Inglis second.
Wings I think Hall and Brett Morris are up there, Radradra had an amazing start to the season but faded a bit like the Eels
Think Jennings and Whare will be up there in the centres.
Thurston is the stand out stand off
Think Johnson will shade it at scrum half.
Props will be Graham and George Burgess or Matt Scott. Jessie Bromwich too.
Backrow is a bit of a difficult one. Think Taumalolo will figure strongly.

Samoan? Have Brough's exploits in leading Scotland to next years' 4N entirely passed you by?

Hayne/Inglis
Morris
Whare
Inglis/D Walker
Hall
Thurston
DCE/Soward(Penrith)/Reynolds(NSW)
Graham
Smith/Segeyaro
G.Burgess
Taumalolo
B.Scott/Mannering
S.Burgess

Dylan Walker? Are you serious?

Dylan Walker is not only not in the class off Gregory Inglis, he is not even in the class of Michael Jennings, whom you have not even considered.

Do you actually watch the regular NRL games? Dylan Walker has been outstanding for the champions South Sydney Rabbitohs. Not only has he been a standout at centre possessing great speed and aggression he has also killed it at FB when Inglis has gone off with injuries. Why did he make the Aus squad/team if he's so poor?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure GI played FB all year? Even at International level?

Jennings has been indifferent the majority of the year like his team, that's why despite possessing what many believed was the best playing roster in the NRL they didn't even make it to the final.

I do watch the NRL -- every week in fact. I didn't say Dylan Walker was poor, just not as good as Michael Jennings. But when he played full back in Four Nations game 1 against NZ, he dropped the high ball more than once. So he has tarnished his reputation. By contrast Jennings has played very well in the internationals, better than Walker. Jennings and Whare have been the stand out centres, followed by Sarginson.



Correct



Indifferent is a bit harsh. Jennings has played OK all year, otherwise he would not have made the Kangaroo team.

Moreover Jennings' form is not the reason that his club team, the Roosters, did not make the Grand Final. There were a number of factors. I would rate Anthony Minichiello's mistakes in the game against Penrith, in week 1 of the playoffs, which led to Penrith narrowly beating the Roosters, as a much more important factor. Had the Roosters beaten Penrith in that first playoff game they would then have had a week off, and played Canterbury in the preliminary final (while Souths would have played Nth Queensland). That would probably have led to a Sydney Roosters vs Souths Grand Final.

Cherry Evans over Cronk? Laughable.
Origin and these Tests have shown DCE's not in the same class at rep level as JT, Cronk or Johnson.

I completely forgot about Shaun Johnson! He is possibly making a genuine bid for the Golden Boot award with his performance in the Final today.

At this rate, he may overtake Danny Brough in the heart(s) and mind(s) of the Brighouse-based adjudicator(s).

Matty Smith over Johnson.

Nah.

Matty Smith is way too vegetarian.

If Smith is vegetarian I will start eating meat again, if that's what it does to your body.

Shaun Johnson just overtook Gregory Inglis and James Graham.

Once again, how right you are!

Johnson was definately player of the tournament, he is one fantastic half back.

Golden Boot shortlist just announced:

Samuel Burgess

Unavailable for the Four Nations following his switch to rugby union, he is included because of his huge impact on the NRL season in 2014 as South Sydney ended their long title drought. His performance in the Grand Final, after fracturing his eye socket and cheekbone in the first tackle, will live long in the memory.


James Graham

The workaholic, flamed-haired front rower led the Canterbury Bulldogs pack all the way to the 2014 NRL Grand Final. Then stepped up as England captain for the opening Four Nations game in the absence of Sean O’Loughlin, and was his side’s best forward for the whole tournament, getting through a mountain of work, most notably against Australia.


Johnathan Thurston

Missed the Four Nations through injury, but had already left his mark on the international scene by winning the man of the match in the ANZAC Test win over New Zealand. Domestically he was again outstanding, jointly winning the prestigious Dally M award with Jarryd Hayne after another terrific campaign with North Queensland Cowboys.


Jesse Bromwich

Statistically the prop was the best forward in the Four Nations, not least in the final where his 23 carries yielded an outstanding 150 metres. His form both for club Melbourne Storm and New Zealand recently led ex-Australian test front rower Robbie Kearns to publicly state Bromwich could become a better player than respected former Kangaroo Glenn Lazarus.


Shaun Johnson

Was instrumental in New Zealand Warriors’ midseason recovery in the NRL, but it was during the Four Nations that he really burst into life. Has matured into a halfback that can control a game as well as provide the spectacular plays, but showed his breathtaking pace in a man of the match performance in the final, including a brilliant try.


Gregory Inglis

Another key figure in Souths’ NRL title win, providing a huge presence from fullback and scoring some of the most spectacular tries of recent years, most noticeably at Brisbane. With several other established players missing for Australia in the Four Nations he stepped up and scored in all three group games.



Burgess and eventual winner Thurston were also among the six nominees last year.

The same 13-man panel that chose Thurston will again vote for the winner and the World XIII, which will both be revealed in next month’s Rugby League World, out on Friday, December 19.

The panel is assembled from both sides of the world, and includes representatives from Australia, England, France and New Zealand. Among them is former Golden Boot winner Garry Schofield, ex-Great Britain coach Brian Noble and past Kiwi internationals Robert Hunter-Paul and Daryl Halligan.

They are joined by leading journalists David Hadfield, Martyn Sadler, David Woods, Bradley Walter, Louis Bonnery, Malcolm Andrews, Mitchell Dale, Andrew Voss and Steven Mascord. The votes will be submitted during the first week in December.

Out of that lot expect Hadfield,Schofield,Woods,Noble,Sadler and possibly Hunter-Paul to go with Burgess or Graham.

TBH i would say either would be a worthy winner along with Shaun Johnson on the back of his excellent 4 nations.Those 3 are a shade ahead of the others IMO.