--------------------------------------------
ENGLAND 4 NATIONS
SQUAD
Last Sunday England Head Coach Steve McNamara selected his
24 man squad that he hopes can take England to Four Nations glory in Australia
and New Zealand this autumn.
The squad is a mix of the old and the new with the odd
little surprise thrown in as well. |
| Steve McNamara |
Harry Sunderland Trophy winner James Roby and his Wigan and
Grand Final counterpart Michael McIllorum are absent due to impending close
season surgery as are Warrington back rower Ben Westwood and former Wigan prop
Lee Mossop, whose debut NRL season with the Parramatta Eels was ruined by
injury.
Carl Ablett, Tom Briscoe, Rob Burrow, Rangi Chase and Leroy
Cudjoe are high quality players that have been dispensed with from last year’s
squad and Salford back rower Gareth Hock will not have been considered
following his high profile disciplinary problems and fall out with McNamara
prior to the start of the World Cup.
The biggest loss, obviously, is Sam Burgess. He will move to
rugby union, with Bath and England RU, once the damage he received to his cheekbone
and eye socket in the first tackle of the NRL Grand Final in a head clash with
James Graham has been repaired. Burgess is one of the greatest players in the
world and he cannot be replaced, by South Sydney or England. It is up to the
rest of the squad, particularly his younger twin brothers Tom and George, to
step up and fill the huge gap left.
There is always very public conjecture about who should and
should not be included in National squads – particularly in this day of Social
Media – and there are 2 surprise exclusions in my opinion.Widnes half back Kevin Brown and St. Helen’s winger Tommy Makinson will probably be asking themselves what more they can do to earn international recognition.
Makinson was included in the mid-season 34 man elite
training squad and there was major consternation when Brown was not.
 |
| Makinson in try scoring form. |
Brown has really kicked on in 2014 and proved himself a top
quality half back – bringing interest from Cronulla Sharks in the NRL – and was
pivotal in Widnes Vikings qualifying for the play offs contributing 24 assists
and 12 tries – only Danny Brough (31), Marc Sneyd (30) and World Cup 2013 stand
off Rangi Chase (25) contributed more try assists.
In the NRL the man who will be first choice stand off in the
4 Nations, Gareth Widdop, contributed 16 try assists and 3 tries as St George
Illawarra failed to make the play offs. His form was outstanding though as
shown by his high placing of fourth in the prestigious Dally M player of the
Year awards. Only such great players as joint Dally M medallists Jonathan Thurston and Jarryd Hayne and 3rd placed Sam Burgess finished in front of him.
There is still a huge amount of talent in the squad and some
of the new faces brought in to replace the players mentioned above have very
high skill levels and are very exciting to watch.
Man of Steel winner Daryl Clark, moving from Castleford to
Warrington from next season, has had a stellar year and is one of those players
who is constantly thinking ahead and looking for an edge in attack. He plays
the game at a furious pace and is a mean competitor – he may not get through
the defensive work that James Roby does but he was the forward that made the
most tackle busts (96) in 2014 and averaged 10.86m per carry compared to Roby’s
5.85m per carry and scored 13 tries to Roby’s 7.
 |
| Daryl Clark with the Steve Prescott Man of Steel Trophy |
In form Castleford captain Michael Shenton has earned his re-call in to the England squad after an absence of 4 years thanks to an outstanding season for the resurgent Tigers – his 17 tries and 17 assists testimony to a superb year.
A surprise first timer to the England squad is former
Warrington forward Mike Cooper who has certainly proved that his decision to
leave his comfort zone and try to carve out a career in Australia was the right
one. The back row forward played in all but one of St. George Illawarra’s
fixtures in his debut season and is a surprise call up to the squad.
 |
| Sarginson - surprise selection? |
Another surprise to me is the selection of Wigan’s former
London Broncos centre Dan Sarginson – I believe he has been solid at best and I
would not trust his defensive ability against the Australians or Kiwi’s – I
would have preferred to have seen in form Warrington centre Chris Bridge
selected as he is much stronger defensively or Carl Ablett retained as I
believe he is an all round better player and can cover centre and the back row
positions.
Likewise, Joel Tomkins – I can only assume that he has been
picked on reputation and what he did in his previous time in League – I have
not seen any performances to suggest that he has been picked on form. I believe
McNamara will have him earmarked for a back row spot but he would not make my
squad let alone my 17.
Warrington utility Stefan Ratchford has had an outstanding
season and can cover numerous positions which is always a positive for a coach
at big tournaments and would earn him a place on the bench in my 17.
Matty Smith of Wigan has been the most consistent scrum half
in Super League for the last 2 seasons and his kicking game and organisational
ability will be important – but he will have to impose himself immediately and strike
up an understanding quickly with Widdop to enable them to release the outside
backs and running forwards.
In a struggling Hull FC side, loose forward Joe Westerman
has been their best player this year and rediscovered the form that made Hull
pay out big money to sign him from Castleford Tigers in 2010 – 81 tackle busts and
41 off loads are strong figures and he will provide good cover for all back row
positions.
The final newcomer is Elliot Whitehead. The former Bradford
Bulls back rower has been brilliant for Catalans Dragons this season and was
comfortably Super League’s leading try scoring forward with 18.
I believe he would form a potent back row trio with Brett
Ferres or Liam Farrell and captain Sean O’Loughlin.
This leads us to the players almost everyone would have been
expecting to be named in the squad.Led by captain Sean O’Loughlin, who we have already discussed, we have a pack of forwards that will be more than a match for the packs from Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.
James Graham has had another great year with Canterbury
Bankstown, although it culminated in the 7th consecutive Grand Final
loss of an otherwise brilliant career, and he will be the forward McNamara
expects the most from in this tournament – and there is no doubting Graham will
deliver.
 |
| James Graham |
He was named prop of the year at the recent Dally M awards,
was second only to Sam Burgess in the number of hit ups and was one of the top
5 tacklers in the NRL this season – he will lead from the front and will be
desperate to win.
I think he will be joined in the front row by Daryl Clark and Warrington prop Chris Hill who has had another great year with Warrington. His powerful bursts and strong defence will be needed most in the heat of battle at the start of the matches with Australia and New Zealand and will see him helping to pave the way for the Burgess twins, George and Tom, to come on and wreak havoc.
I think he will be joined in the front row by Daryl Clark and Warrington prop Chris Hill who has had another great year with Warrington. His powerful bursts and strong defence will be needed most in the heat of battle at the start of the matches with Australia and New Zealand and will see him helping to pave the way for the Burgess twins, George and Tom, to come on and wreak havoc.
The Burgess twins are unstoppable at times and the
confidence they will have gained from another successful season with South Sydney
must be used to great effect in the 4 Nations.
If you have seen George’s blockbusting try in the Grand
Final you will know what he is capable of – I think both of these great young
players should start on the bench and provide a major boost of energy when they
hit the field.
Liam Farrell and Brett Ferres complete the forwards. These
two are capable of forming a very effective second row partnership themselves
but I would like to see Elliot Whitehead partner Ferres.
As mentioned earlier, Whitehead knows how to score tries and
I believe he will prove a bigger threat than Farrell and will complement Ferres
nicely.Wingers Josh Charnley and Ryan Hall will be strong favourites to cement their first choice status as I do not see the inexperienced Joe Burgess being risked.
Even though Charnley had an injury hit season he still bagged 19 tries and is a proven threat to all defences.
Hall is a must start and his record speaks for itself at
international level where he has scored 21 tries in 20 games and is England’s
joint record try scorer along with Sam Tomkins. He knows how to score tries
against Australia and scored 8 tries in last year’s World Cup tournament.
Tomkins has had a good year in his debut season with the New
Zealand Warriors scoring 13 tries in 24 appearances from full back and also
providing 12 assists. He really needs to impose himself on this tournament to
cement his position as one of the best full back’s in the world – something
that he failed to do at the World Cup where he was the only England back who
failed to score a try.The Leeds pairing of Kallum Watkins and Zak Hardaker, I think, should take the 2 centre berths in this tournament.
Watkins will start inside Josh Charnley and rightly so – he is a top quality centre and has the size, pace and strength to trouble the best of defences.
The second centre position is not so clear – I am sure
McNamara is looking at Shenton but I have major concerns about his ability to
compete at this level and the same goes for the uncapped Sarginson as discussed
earlier.
Another option is Joel Tomkins but I would plump for
Hardaker – he is outstanding defensively and has pace to burn and an attitude
to match, he would not be intimidated and would be paired with his team mate
Ryan Hall and is used to playing centre even though he is the first choice full
back for the Rhinos.
My 17 for the matches against Australia and New Zealand
would be:
FULL BACK: SAM
TOMKINS
RIGHT WING: JOSH
CHARNLEY
RIGHT CENTRE: KALLUM
WATKINS
LEFT CENTRE: ZAK
HARDAKER
LEFT WING: RYAN
HALL
OFF HALF: GARETH
WIDDOP
SCRUM HALF: MATTY
SMITH
PROP: JAMES
GRAHAM
HOOKER: DARYL
CLARK
PROP: CHRIS
HILL
SECOND ROW: ELLIOT
WHITEHEAD
SECOND ROW: BRETT
FERRES
LOOSE FORWARD: SEAN
O’LOUGHLIN (CAPTAIN)
BENCH: STEFAN
RATCHFORD
BENCH: JOSH
HODGSON
BENCH: GEORGE
BURGESS
BENCH: TOM
BURGESS
No comments:
Post a Comment