This is a joke, a total shambles. I hope they get stuffed.

I feel gutted about us wanting to lose but I simply cannot accept the current set up.

Sadly though we will be stuck with McNamara till after the World Cup at the very least, which will be another massive opportunity lost for the game in the UK.

How happy am I that I didn't bother buying tickets



Mcbanana is making a total mockery of the RFL's ethos of bringing through the youngsters. Peacock & Sinfield should be nowhere near this squad. Peacock for no other reason than old father time has caught up with him. He has been a formidable player for Eng/GB but his time is up. Sinfield is just purely gash. It's a bit like the Lampard & Gerrard situation where the coach seems to always want Lockers and that gash Sinfield in the same squad. Chase or Lomax at 6 & Brough at 7 for me. I won't even get going about Goulding & Cudjoe missing out to Ablett!

It hurts to say this but I hope we get spanked.

i agree, not exactly a team that inspires confidence is it

Wanting an England team to lose is not in my nature in any sport but that's what this doughnut of a coach is driving me towards, just so we'll see the back of him sooner and our better players are allowed to flourish on the biggest stage instead of being held back by has-beens and never-weres that have tried and failed many times before

Could be worse I suppose.....................McBannana could have picked Phil Clarke's Boots n All Opta team

1 Stains player, oh how the serial losers have fallen.

Crabtrees an impact player from the bench; Ablett has been struggling even as second row; and Tickle, well that is desperate.

What next Banana, you'll have Charnley taking the kicks!!!!!!

Does anybody actually give a toss about the exiles game? We'll never beat the aussies so why bother having a crap england coach picking a crap england team? Money Money Money yet again

In all fairness he's picked loads of leeds players who are obviously down in 9th so i don't think the squad reflects saints current slump. They do have some good guys for example lomax should be playing (if he's fit??) but hes not as should a few more wiganers like Goulding and even more so McIlorrum.

Chase is better than Lomax as a half.

Looking at that squad how have Meli and Hohaia got into this side?

they are in because Finch and Pat are injured......

Meli is very, very ordinary but Hohaia is a shocker of a selection. The Saints fans who liked to laugh at Vaealiki (except when he was exposing Wellens' lack of pace) aren't laughing now.



Has there been a worse big name Kiwi signing? Ever? How long is his contract? His signing has been a masterstroke... for Wigan!

That's a very good side apart from the Kiwi at 6,i would have picked Kevin Brown there when fit

How the hell can SM justify having 6 Leeds players in the 17 is beyond me. This guy is a F*****G ID!OT!!!

Not 1 of those players (except maybe Hall) deserves to be in the England side on performance or even previous history with England.

Anyone who knows anything about British RL would have had Chase, Brough or Lomax playing together in the halves this year in this match. Sinfield has a decent kicking game but Brough has a better one & KS doesn't run the ball at the defensive line. Shocking decision. I'd even consider playing Scott Grix, Matty Smith or even Kevin Brown at 6 ahead of Sinfield!

Then we get on to having Carl Ablett playing at CENTRE... This guy isn't even a centre!!! How can you pick Ablett when you have Goulding, Welham, Bridge, & even Hardaker waiting is completely beyond me. He shouldn't even be in the 17.

Then we have Peacock, who has done nothing for over 3 years for the England side. Even as Captain he offers no impact on the field. He's too slow and should have retired a year ago.

Tickle... seriously? The man wasn't good enough for England in his better days never mind now! How can you pick a has-been like Danny Tickle when you have hot prospects like Elliott Whitehead or John Bateman biting at the cherry?

Carvell as we all saw last year is completely incompetent at international level.
Jones-Buchanan has done nothing good this year except shave half of his beard off.
Roby has played 3 times against Wigan, Burrow once & both players have been played of the park by Macca - who is not even in the 17!


Overall, a ridiculous side picked by a complete fool who should be sacked when the Exiles obliterate us. I was really looking forward to an England side with potential to challenge at the end of the year but unfortunately we're going backwards.

Can't wait for Saturday...

For crying out loud, you might not have the players selected that you wanted to be selected, i know i dont, but to want your own country to get ''spanked'' in a international game is just silly.

Thanks for that

It's the only way changes will be made.

Normally I would agree, I'm English through and through and would support them to the end. If it was a case that the players just weren't available and he was picking the best of a bad bunch and THAT'S why we couldnt compete with the best in the world then that would be fine. The fact of the matter is we have a guy in charge who is obviously out of his depth. If England losing 2 games to the Exiles is what it takes to get him out then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to see.

Yes. Why do people continually go out of their way to post about their apathy towered international rugby league? One of life's great mysteries.

I think Sinfield is actually the slowest half-back I've ever seen. He makes Deacon (in his final season) look like Usain Bolt.

Simply nowhere near International standard for that position, and that goes for at least 5 more players in the team.

Englishmen and women wanting England to lose. Words desert me. McNamara is clueless, we all know that, but I'd support England even if Ian Millward was the coach and he picked the cheerleaders to make up the pack.
The England job should not be full-time. There's just no need for it with the number of games played during the season, but the powers that be seem intent on it.

As for the team, a second row at centre, a loose forward at stand-off and a stand-off at scrum half. McNamara is stealing a living.

Chase isn't English and Sinfield isn't good enough as a stand-off or loose forward so halves would be Brough and Brown/Lomax for me. JJB has never been good enough. Tickle has looked good this year on the few times I've seen him but I would have picked Westwood instead of him had he been fit. Micky Mac should start at hooker on current form with Roby coming off the bench. Finally to Ablett, who is never an international in a million years in any position, let alone centre. Goulding is the centre to the league's leading try scorer and is in excellent form himself. Surely any decent coach would, given the choice, pair Josh and Daz up at international level.

We need him to not get sacked the same time as McDermott gets sacked otherwise we'll get that clown running the show then, then forget Ablett at centre the whole team will be made up of 2nd rows bar Tomkins at 1, even he's not that stupid.

They're the same people who will be outraged and heart-broken should Sam Tomkins follow his brother to Rugby Union with the chance to play in a far more thriving international scene.

My outrage towards the appointment of McNamara & now his team selections is because I care about international RL, as I suspect many others who are vexed with him do, because we realise that a thriving International scene with a successful England RL is what this sport needs. I genuinely believe we have a plethora of English talent that is capable of winning the World Cup next year and that tantalizing image is being shattered by this clueless incompetent Yarrrkshire buffoon who is in the highest coaching position in English RL at a time when we finally have some genuine world-class players who can compete with the best players in the world.

You just look at RL forums across the UK, the media & all over social networking sites like twitter - the entire RL community is perplexed wtih McNamara's team selections. It's simply ridiculous. Even if one was to overlook the fact Cudjoe was picked over Goulding (and Atkins was ignored earlier in the year) to now pick an average-joe second row convert who is playing in an out of form team to partner a kid whose centre is in red hot form sending him in for tries for fun in the side that is top of the league... words fail me. To then say that Huddersfield played on monday which explains Brough and Cudjoe's absence is then further baffling and contradictory with him then handing a starting spot for Eorl Crabtree. He then argues that he's looking for continuity (in that ridiculously thick Yorkshire accent that is inherently annoying) in the halves with Chase & Sinfield. Chase/Sinfield were not a successful partnership. We did not win the Four Nations last year. Danny Brough was cut and above Kevin Sinfield but was injured. Surely now is the time to try him out? Kevin Sinfield is primarily a 13 & has been in awful form so far this season. To pick him over Brough is just tiresomely stupid.

I'll not start on naming 34 year old grey haired Jamie Peacock as captain... ironic how he can argue about 'continuity' & yet name him as captain/starting spot in the front row. Can we really see Jamie Peacock playing in the World Cup in 2013?

Sadly under McBanana the answer has to be yes.