England squad: Matty Ashton (Warrington Wolves), AJ Brimson (Gold Coast Titans), Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves), Zach Eckersley (Wigan Warriors), Herbie Farnworth (Dolphins), Ethan Havard (Wigan Warriors), Max King (Bulldogs), Morgan Knowles (Dolphins), Mikey Lewis (Hull KR), Jez Litten (Hull KR), Junior Nsemba (Wigan Warriors), Brad O'Neill (Wigan Warriors), Kai Pearce-Paul (Wests Tigers), Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters), Hugo Savala (Sydney Roosters), Harry Smith (Wigan Warriors), Morgan Smithies (Canberra Raiders), Luke Thompson (Wigan Warriors), Sam Walters (Wigan Warriors), Ben Talty (Brisbane Broncos), Jack Welsby (St Helens), George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Dom Young (Newcastle Knights).
No Jake Connor. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Poor decision for me that.
I'll be honest, there's a couple of players there I've never heard of.
I am surprised that Williams made the squad, he was very quiet in the final and I don't think he bothered the Australians at all in the tests. Likewise Lewis, who has had a poor season. Savala can play halfback and I would have thought that he, Smith and Connor would have given us more options.
Brad O'Neil deserves his place. King and Talty are good inclusions, both props. It will be interesting to see who lines up at centre alongside Farnworth.
It does seem odd that Connor has not been included in the squad. Not sure that he has done much wrong over the season, but clearly his face does not fit.
Good to see Sam Walters getting his chance.
It does have the look of a GB Exiles squad with the number of Australian based players. Not a great advert of the home game.
Will the World Cup get any coverage on BBC or is it all on Premier Sports? If so, not a great way to promote the home game.
@frankg it's all on Premier, there are no free-to-air games.
As with every international squad, there's shouts of "Why has ** been picked?" and "Why
has ** been left out?"
In my opinion, Jake Connor should be in there, as he should've been in the Ashes last term.
Can we win it? I fear not, despite there being a goodly number of NRL players selected.
The semi at best for me.
Spelly.
Australia squad: Isaah Yeo (captain), Bradman Best, Jack Bostock, Blake Brailey, Pat Carrigan, Lindsay Collins, Reuben Cotter, Tom Dearden, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, David Fifita, Harry Grant, Keaon Koloamatangi, Liam Martin, Latrell Mitchell, Mitchell Moses, Cameron Munster, Cameron Murray, Jacob Preston, Kotoni Staggs, James Tedesco, Tom Trbojevic, Sam Walker, Reece Walsh.
That's two coaches that agreed with me about the snake 🤣As with every international squad, there's shouts of "Why has ** been picked?" and "Why
has ** been left out?"
In my opinion, Jake Connor should be in there, as he should've been in the Ashes last term.
Can we win it? I fear not, despite there being a goodly number of NRL players selected.
The semi at best for me.
Spelly.
That's two coaches that agreed with me about the snake 🤣As with every international squad, there's shouts of "Why has ** been picked?" and "Why
has ** been left out?"
In my opinion, Jake Connor should be in there, as he should've been in the Ashes last term.
Can we win it? I fear not, despite there being a goodly number of NRL players selected.
The semi at best for me.
Spelly.
So coz two coaches, and a message-board member who hides behind a non-de-plume agree, that makes the decision correct eh?
I stand 101% with my opinion that his omission is wrong, and I'm far from alone in holding that view.
Not the first time you and I have disagreed, but it won't keep me awake!
Spelly.
That's two coaches that agreed with me about the snake 🤣As with every international squad, there's shouts of "Why has ** been picked?" and "Why
has ** been left out?"
In my opinion, Jake Connor should be in there, as he should've been in the Ashes last term.
Can we win it? I fear not, despite there being a goodly number of NRL players selected.
The semi at best for me.
Spelly.
One of whom failed miserably, the other remains to be seen 😀
Interesting reading an Australian take on the squads:
England: AJ Brimson, Dom Young, Hugo Savala, Herbie Farnworth, Zach Eckersley, George Williams, Harry Smith, Max King, Brad O'Neill, Morgan Knowles, Junior Nsemba, Kai Pearce-Paul, Victor Radley.
Interchange: Jez Litten, Luke Thompson, Ethan Havard, Sam Walters, Jack Welsby, Matty Ashton.
4 Aussies in the starting line-up 😶
Well, in a couple of days, it all kicks off. Premier Sport purchased for the duration, so....
The majority of us on here will naturally be hoping England can pull it off, but..........
If we don't lift the trophy, who would you like / prefer to do so instead?
Head - I fancy that with the squad the Kiwis have named, they're in with a huge chance, but........
Heart - If PNG (who have the smartest shirt on the planet my opinion) could win the comp, I'd be turning cartwheels!
As I've said many times, a country that has RL as its national sport, must be doing summat right!
Spelly.
It's usually folly to back against the Aussies but, even though they beat us 3-0 last time out, I don't think this is a classic Aussie team. Therefore I agree, I'll have a pound on NZ. Maybe not in the initial meeting but in the Final.
It's a poor show that this tournament isn't on free-to-air telly over here.
Also, the format is mental. Two uneven groups, teams in group B don't even play each other. There are only 18 games in the whole tournament.
RL needs to admit to itself it can't pull a WC off. They should do what the football and RU do and have a set of Internationals throughout the year that form a table (Euro Nations League, can't remember what it's called in Union) then have a set of finals at the end of the year. Then the burden of hosting a WC is removed (remember this one was supposed to be in France and it fell through).
That said, of course I'll be watching.
To be honest, I have little interest in supporting an English Exiles team in this so called World Cup and won't be subscribing to Premier Sports to watch any games, other than perhaps the final.
I guess that the Aussies will win it, but would like to see Tonga or Samao for a change.
I agree a poorly organised tournament aimed solely at the Australasian market, which just about sums up the way the game is run these days.
If the RFL had any idea about promoting the game, surely the "World Cup" should have been shown on the BBC, to bring the game to a wider audience in the UK.