can England do it

[tigerfeat]

Is bennett going to stay on as coach i wonder ? I have mixed feelings with him no doubt in my mind hes one of the best coaches theres been hes sorted out the defence and if he had more attacking weapons we would have won yesterday , but he made some crazy desicions in his selection of the squad that in the end may have cost us

[alftupper]

2018 Kiwi tour to U.K.
2019 Lions Tour to Aus

I was taking my information from the BBC they got that wrong, but 2019 is far too long to wait, the home nations RU have annual autumn internationals against the best in the world why can’t we?

Also I say again this tournament was a failure, only 40,033 for a RL World Cup Final in the Mecca of RL?

and a like for like comparison of the 2017 and 2013 World Cups show that overall attendance was down by 85,000. You may have had a nice time over there but the hard facts are it’s gone backwards a long way in only 4 years

[WF10]

For me, Englands big chance was at the end of the first half. Penalty 20 yards out, early in the tackle count they came left -
Gale to Widdop/Bateman who then knocked on.

As I was watching it I said 'if Widdop was half yard further forward to take the pass, shovel it to Bateman and create an overlap for Hall.'

Hardaker would have done from playing with Luke all season.

Fine margins.

[alftupper]

We’ve basically lost a 2 match series against the Aussies 2-0
Lots of talk of gaps closing and fine margins but in my opinion we are no closer

[duke street 10]

I haven't looked on other forums but suspect Gale is getting stick. Is it the system Bennett imposes on the side but it stifles Gale's play and i hardly saw Brown in attacking moves.

Then as soon as Bateman got the ball any momentum was killed stone dead. I agree with previous posters we missed Hardacker when we got close to the Aussie line. What must he have been thinking watching yesterday.

[fords]

I haven't looked on other forums but suspect Gale is getting stick. Is it the system Bennett imposes on the side but it stifles Gale's play and i hardly saw Brown in attacking moves.

Then as soon as Bateman got the ball any momentum was killed stone dead. I agree with previous posters we missed Hardacker when we got close to the Aussie line. What must he have been thinking watching yesterday.

Defo missed Hardaker. Think Percival would have been much better than bateman, thats a bizarre decision not to play him

[Tamworth Tiger]

2018 Kiwi tour to U.K.
2019 Lions Tour to Aus

I was taking my information from the BBC they got that wrong, but 2019 is far too long to wait, the home nations RU have annual autumn internationals against the best in the world why can’t we?

Also I say again this tournament was a failure, only 40,033 for a RL World Cup Final in the Mecca of RL?

and a like for like comparison of the 2017 and 2013 World Cups show that overall attendance was down by 85,000. You may have had a nice time over there but the hard facts are it’s gone backwards a long way in only 4 years

We clearly need to differ. The Tonga match wasn't about a 'nice time' it was about a shift in power in International RL
It's clear from today's Aussie press that International RL is now back at a similar level to Origin and if we can push on with a comprehensive win over the Kiwis it's game on in 2019.
To say 2 years is too long isn't right IMO

[Tamworth Tiger]

The other point is that Stadium capacity has an impact on crowds
Our Semi v Tonga was played in a 30k stadium
If the Stadium had been treble the size it would have been full. There are 80k Tongans in Tonga and more in NZ
They all wanted to be at the match

[alftupper]

The other point is that Stadium capacity has an impact on crowds
Our Semi v Tonga was played in a 30k stadium
If the Stadium had been treble the size it would have been full. There are 80k Tongans in Tonga and more in NZ
They all wanted to be at the match

How come there were only 8k in a 18k stadium for their match in Christchurch then?

[Tamworth Tiger]

No idea, I didn't think to ask them , but it doesn't affect the point I made about the demand for semi tickets. I suppose you could ask Bradford Bulls fans a similar question about why a lot of them don't turn out any more and they don't have to travel anything like the distance a lot of Tongans did.

[mart0042]

I haven't looked on other forums but suspect Gale is getting stick. Is it the system Bennett imposes on the side but it stifles Gale's play and i hardly saw Brown in attacking moves.

Then as soon as Bateman got the ball any momentum was killed stone dead. I agree with previous posters we missed Hardacker when we got close to the Aussie line. What must he have been thinking watching yesterday.

Defo missed Hardaker. Think Percival would have been much better than bateman, thats a bizarre decision not to play him

Thought the same myself, widdop and missed the play. Hardaker would have made it. It was the a lack of faith.

[orrsome]

I haven't looked on other forums but suspect Gale is getting stick. Is it the system Bennett imposes on the side but it stifles Gale's play and i hardly saw Brown in attacking moves.

Then as soon as Bateman got the ball any momentum was killed stone dead. I agree with previous posters we missed Hardacker when we got close to the Aussie line. What must he have been thinking watching yesterday.

Defo missed Hardaker. Think Percival would have been much better than bateman, thats a bizarre decision not to play him

Thought the same myself, widdop and missed the play. Hardaker would have made it. It was the a lack of faith.

Having had a quick glance at what the Pie Eaters are saying on RL Forum, they seem to think that Bennett has no faith in Prrcival’s Defence, hence Bateman’s selection.

They also think that Gale was out of his depth and that Williams and Widdop should have been the halves.

[TT Tiger]

My World Cup final team would have been
Widdop
Mcgilvery
Watkins
Percival
Hall(wish we had taken a winger with pace)
Williams
Gale
Hill
Roby
Graham
Currie
Whitehead
S. burgess

T. Burgess
Mcmeekan
Walmsley
Rachford

With the squad we took I think we may have edged it but with a lack of pace and flair we were always going to sturggle.

[Tamworth Tiger]

I haven't looked on other forums but suspect Gale is getting stick. Is it the system Bennett imposes on the side but it stifles Gale's play and i hardly saw Brown in attacking moves.

Then as soon as Bateman got the ball any momentum was killed stone dead. I agree with previous posters we missed Hardacker when we got close to the Aussie line. What must he have been thinking watching yesterday.

Defo missed Hardaker. Think Percival would have been much better than bateman, thats a bizarre decision not to play him

Thought the same myself, widdop and missed the play. Hardaker would have made it. It was the a lack of faith.

Having had a quick glance at what the Pie Eaters are saying on RL Forum, they seem to think that Bennett has no faith in Prrcival’s Defence, hence Bateman’s selection.

They also think that Gale was out of his depth and that Williams and Widdop should have been the halves.

Well there's a surprise

[mdean]

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, taking out my personal affiliation, it is a cas forum:
SOL being injured was a problem, I think he would have started SOL at 6 personally. Played to be hard to beat and much as I don't like Wigin, he can play short at the line.
Man for man, we were pretty even in the big units, but player for player in the backs, none of the English players would have been picked ahead of the Aussie players, including those not selected. Cam Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater you can't compare, not just individually, but having three players who play club and country together, they always et in the right place for each other, you can't coach that in a camp easily.

Percival is a better centre, Bateman is a better defender. I don't care for Kevin Brown to be honest, but don't think Williams would have changed much, I think he plays more individually, might have made a half break here or there, but alone not as part of a planned play.

Do I think a winger with out and out pace would have helped - yes, Valentine Holmes for example scored for fun- but on the other side of things the wingers made tons of metres and did really well, so the big lumps probably added more value than they cost us.

Summary of it all - Aus are a better team, I agree with Tony Smith I think who said 0-6 flattered England a bit, if England had taken their 2 chances for example, I am not naïve enough to think that Aus couldn't have responded. As they did in the first game against England.