England has named a weakened, second string 20 man squad ahead of their exhibition match against the “Exiles” side in the International Origin match set for the 12th of June at Warrington.
The side will not include England best players including Sam Burges, Luke Burgess, George Burgess, James Graham, Gareth Widdop, Jack Reed and Chris Heighington, all of whom play in the National Rugby League.
England have included 36 year old front rower Adrian Morley in a team, which suggests to me that Morley is being seriously considered for the end of season Rugby League World Cup.
Official England Squad:
R Burrow (Leeds), J Charnley (Wigan), R Chase (Castleford), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), L Cudjoe (Huddersfield), G Ellis (Hull), L Farrell (Wigan), B Ferres (Huddersfield), R Hall (Leeds), Z Hardaker (Leeds), C Hill (Warrington), J Jones-Buchanan (Leeds), A Morley (Warrington), L Mossop (Wigan), R Myler (Warrington), S O’Loughlin (Wigan), J Roby (St Helens), K Sinfield (Leeds, capt), S Tomkins (Wigan), B Westwood (Warrington)
This squad doesn’t really make any sense to me.
Considering that England will be lining up against a team of old imports, I would have thought this was the perfect opportunity for them to look at some of the younger players available and see how they go in a representative fixture like this.
Instead we see the same old mistakes of the past getting a run. What will the England coaching staff possibly learn about Rob Burrow that we don’t already know…that he is not anywhere near close to the level of player needed at text level.
Without form players in the side, and without the bulk of their best players being selected from the NRL, there is no way on earth you could convince me to pay money to attend a match like this. I can’t think of a single reason why anyone would want to go and attend a game like this.
I would urge Rugby League fans to save their money and not attend this farce of a fixture.
