I hate the thought of Mcnamara coaching anyone at this level.

Madge should be the next England manager on a part time basis imo with someone like Brian Mcdermott as his number 2.

Hardworking guys like Roby, Graham, Sinfield, Ellis, Burgess & Morley would thrive under the way he approaches the game and we would at least be competitive against Aus,

You want England to get stuffed because they made Graham third choice captain?

Deary, deary me.

*4th, I bet Sinfield would have got in there

I want them to get stuffed so at least the people who keep making these stupid decisions get sacked.

Seriously appointing Macnamara to the supposedly top coaching job in English RL after his failure with Bradford and now appointing a player who isn’t even the vice captain of his club side as the England captain is a complete joke.

We let guys like Mick Hogan leave RL but yet the top dogs at the RFL are half as talented as he is?

Will McBanana ever get owt right?

Crazy decision.

I dont want England to lose, but ill struggle to care either way.

i dont see it as a poor choice if he shows as much passion and will to win for england as he does for saints il be happy its what england and GB have lacked for years no passion or pride in playing for your country

you look at the aussies, kiwi's and kumuls they all want to wear that shirt and are proud to do so i dont think the english are lets judge him after saturday as morley isnt no angel his send off and sin bin rate in the past was shocking but he made an excellent captain

Only in a friendly BUT he has succsessfully captained ENGLAND on tour in Aus. at a lower level.

Has Lockers not done this as well?

Either way it's just another stupid decision by an incompetent manager who needs to be sacked.

No.

whether he does or he doesn't, 99% of the RL community certainly have it in for him.

Er, no. We're basing it on his entire career, which has been one long hissy fit.

Right, nice perspective.

Graham's a great player but even the most biased of Saints fans must admit his behaviour at times has not been what you would expect from an international player, let alone a captain. Aussie refs simply will not put up with whingeing (to be honest there have been other Saints and Leeds players who have made a habit of this behaviour in 2010, this isn't just a "Jammer" issue).

Let's hope he rises to his new responsibilities. Trying to look at the positives here, he is a world class player and clearly cares about team performance and gives 100%, so if he can control himself then he could make a great leader... this could be an inspired decision.... or a complete train wreck.... fingers crossed, another humiliation at the hands of the Aussies or Kiwis would not be good...

That is just like saying that Sam Tomkins career has been based on trapping players arms with the ball and cheating.

I would agree with that. Getting to the point were Jammer is captain is anything but ideal. To be honest there are not really any good alternatives.

I'm fully backing England although I have low expectations of the tournement but the appointment of an untempermental Graham for captain seems to go against the norm, I hope he learns to shut his gob.

I think he stands a chance of succeeding as capt, I can't see the above being an issue. He won't dare whinge at an aussie ref! I think familiarity breeds contempt in regards to SL refs, realistically how many different refs do our lads, Saints, Leeds and Warrington have each season - it seems that between Ganson, Bentham and Silverwood they get the big teams week in, week out.

I have done a similar thing at my school for the past three seasons, choosing kids who may struggle to keep control of their tempers to captain the team has paid off well in focussing them on the task and performing week in, week out for the cause of the team as a whole!

Personally i'd have picked Lockers or Ellis but if this pays off it is a very astute selection by someone who seems to struggle with the basics of coaching at times!

I don't know about Graham spitting his dummy out. Looking on this board I think it is most of you lot who are spitting their dummies out. I don't know whether it is sour grapes because it is not Lockers or what. Get behind your England team and cheer them on. Club bias does not come into it now. We are all part of one team - Team England.

Well said. But this is the Wigan board, so what would you expect!

And to Wigan fans: James Graham doesn't whine and whinge. He shouts and yells.

However, he also motivates. It was he who motivated Saints to beat you lot at the DW. He did the same thing a number of times during 2010. He loves his rugby, loves playing for his team and loves playing for his country ... and he can [imotivate[/i. With the mandate to motivate given to him, he could turn out to be a very, very good captain. Just so long as he remembers his ps and qs when around the ref.

well said lets give the lad a chance he is a great player what any body would welcome into there team and he will give 110% and lead by example

He was one of my three picks, O'Loughlin and Ellis being the others and in truth wouldn't have complained if any of those were chosen.

As I said on the other thread, it may help him discipline wise, and good luck to him. We won't win the game because Graham is the captain, but we won't lose it either because of his captaincy.

Jammer is the perfect choice, 110 percent effort every game.

As for any discipline issues, I am sure that the extra responsibility will be noted by Jammer and he will act appropriately. Now lets get behind the whole team. Come on England.

Just going to post the same thing myself. Don't know why so many wigan fans are spitting there dummy out, having a fit , want England to lose etc. etc.
Graham will give his all and as captain he will expect the rest of the team to do likewise and show some passion.

Don't have a problem with him being captain, great player who gives his all in any match. Don't think he will repeat his grand final rants when he is captain of his country and in fairness was probably only his frustration and desire to beat us that brought it out, he will have the same desire to beat the Aussies and Kiwi's but think any objections he may have will be more controlled. I wish him the best of luck and hope it brings out the best in him and in the team.