Australian Squad named for England Clash

Tim Sheens has named an unchanged line-up to face England this weekend:

1. Billy Slater
2. Brett Morris
3. Brent Tate
4. Willie Tonga
5. Lote Tuqiri
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Nate Myles
9. Cameron Smith
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. Luke Lewis
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Paul Gallen

Queensland have an incredible 10 of the starting 13 players which is a testament to their domination of the State of Origin series for the last half-decade. A seven man interchange has been named with Kurt Gidley, Anthony Watmough, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, David Shillington, Dean Young, Darius Boyd warming the bench. Sheens is likely to drop Dean Young and I hope Gidley and Watmough. Watmough because Learoyd-Lahrs is forward-utility and Shillington is a beast of a man. Boyd has had Gidley's number for 2 seasons now which should cement his space as to go-to utility back.

It's a fairly widely known fact that England have been without a trophy from a tournament featuring Australia since 1972. Sam Burgess summed it up when he said that England need to perform on the international stage consistently. Sam Tompkins (who is apparently a superstar over there..?) has said that the supposed superiority that the NRL has over the English Super League is a myth.

Sorry to break it to you Sam but there is a distinct difference between the two. It says a great deal that the only poms succeeding are Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess. Gareth Widdop is registered with the Storm but can't get a run due to Billy Slater. If English players were good enough, they would have been offered contracts long ago. The fact is the Australian youth system is very strong, the NRL is lightyears ahead of any other competition in the world and this leaves England for dead. A comparison is the English Premier League vs. the A-League in soccer - hardly in the same ballpark.

Australia will destroy England this weekend and all this talk of being wary is just media hype and the usual media rigmarole that is required from players in this day and age. Predictions? Australia 30, England 12.