If I were Tony Smith I would be feeling quite depressed now, as all his England hopefuls seem to be dropping like flies. He has spent the past year going to lots of matches and watching all the possible England team candidates play. No doubt he has his list of core players, and lists of maybes, some of whom have been named in his train-on squad made up of players no longer taking part in the playoffs. But when it comes to the crunch, I think he will be lucky to be able to take 24 fit players of his choice on the plane to Australia. He must be praying that the likes of Leon Pryce, Rob Burrow, Keith Senior and Jamie Peacock can stay injury-free. Inevitably the backbone of his squad will come from the teams who progress furthest in the playoffs. I wonder if he is secretly hoping for a Leeds defeat on Friday night, then at least he will know that Burrow, Senior, Peacock, Maguire, Ellis and a few others will be safe bets for the squad (unless any get injured in the match against Wigan). Kevin Sinfield must also be a definite, and he might also be looking at Jamie Jones Buchanan, and Matt Diskin as cover for James Roby in the hooking role. Wigan can only provide Gareth Hock, Stuart Fielden and possibly Andy Coley and Mickey Higham.
The latest news is that Gareth Raynor is out with a toe problem. This follows the withdrawal of Terry Newton, Andy Lynch and Paul Deacon through injury. Sam Burgess, Sean O’Loughlin and Jon Clarke are also out, and Kirk Yeaman ruled himself out as his wife is expecting a baby. The choices are becoming very limited, particularly on the wing, in the centre and scrum half.
There is a danger that the team will be almost entirely Leeds and St Helens. But Stuart Fielden should definitely make it back onto the international scene, and Gareth Hock is looking very strong again. Quite a few players from the bottom six clubs were named in the train-on squad, but I would be surprised if many of them made the final cut. Sean Briscoe might get the nod as back up to Paul Wellens. Gareth Carvell looks to be in-form. Then from Warrington Adrian Morley is obviously a definite, and Ben Westwood might be picked too. Jamie Langley might get to represent Bradford, and Paul Sykes could make the team as a reserve centre. Sykes is quite versatile too, and could play at full back, on the wing or at stand-off I believe. Could Peter Fox get the second wing spot with Ade Gardner? Rob Purdham plays at loose forward, and is very well thought of. I think the others named by Tony Smith in that batch are just there to make up the numbers, and maybe to encourage them that they may be considered in the future.
My 24 would be: St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Wilkin, Roby, Pryce, Graham, Fa’asavalu, and possibly Gilmour; Leeds: Burrow, Maguire, Senior, Sinfield, Ellis, and possibly Diskin and Jamie Jones-Buchanan; Bradford: Sykes, Langley; Wigan: Fielden, Hock, possibly Andy Cole; Warrington: Morley, Gleeson, Westwood; Hull KR: Briscoe; Hull FC: Carvell; Harlequins: Purdham. That actually comes to 26 – not much leeway for the inevitable last-minute injuries and need for post-season surgery. But if all are fit I would leave Purdham and Carvell off the plane. I think I would have picked Jamie Thackray as a prop as he has been playing very well, but that’s another matter. Let’s hope Tony Smith can find enough fit and healthy players to give us a chance of World Cup success!
