England v Tonga Test Series 2023

[Perth Red]

Anyone want to have a crack at the likely England lineup? I'll start

1. Welsby
2. Young
3. Watkins
4. Farnworth
5. Makinson / Charnley
6. Lomax
7. Williams (2nd & 3rd test) & ???
8. Walmsley
8. McIllorum
10. Burgess
11. Whitehead
12. Bateman
13. Radley

Anyone I missed?

Sounds about right, not sure if radley has gone over for it. Squad is due to be announced today, scrum half for games 1&2 likely to be Wigans very English named Harry Smith

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Sounds about right, not sure if radley has gone over for it. Squad is due to be announced today, scrum half for games 1&2 likely to be Wigans very English named Harry Smith

How do you think Harry will go? You would expect England to hold a slight edge in the spine positions

 

[wain]

i think that's a fantastic starting 13, capable of matching it with Aus/NZ/Tonga. Of course, similar to the other nations...don't have the depth to cover injuries/outs unlike Australia. I feel like NZ now has the depth to match Aus in that regard. At least, closing the gap.

 

[Brian potter]

Jack wardle should start in the centre alongside farnworth.

 

[Coastbloke]

Sounds about right, not sure if radley has gone over for it. Squad is due to be announced today, scrum half for games 1&2 likely to be Wigans very English named Harry Smith

Radley has been selected..

 

[Perth Red]

 

[Last Week]

No Herbie Farnworth?

 

[Perth Red]

No Herbie Farnworth?

Maybe didnt make himself available, you’d think he’d be in the squad otherwise.

 

[RedVee_8]

Didn’t he hurt a shoulder in the semis?

 

[taste2taste]

Tonga will be naming thier 17 on Friday.

Source = Tonga's official Insta account.

 

[wain]

No Herbie Farnworth?

Yeah, out injured.
source:some article I read yesterday but can’t remember which one.

 

[yakstorm]

This article on NRL.com confirms the injury: https://www.nrl.com/news/2023/10/17/five-nrl-stars-named-in-england-squad-as-farnworth-ruled-out/

 

[Last Week]

Shame. By my reading, he carried the injury into the grand final.

Surprised that he couldn't carry the injury into a test series..

 

[Coastbloke]

Shame. By my reading, he carried the injury into the grand final.

Surprised that he couldn't carry the injury into a test series..

The Club would have smacked down any attempt to select him. Clubs hate Tests but for some reason Jizz over SOO..

 

[taste2taste]

The Club would have smacked down any attempt to select him. Clubs hate Tests but for some reason Jizz over SOO..

And so do the fans unfortunately.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

View attachment 80838

First time in 170 years that Roby isn't in the squad.

Also, no Lomax???

 

[titoelcolombiano]

The Club would have smacked down any attempt to select him. Clubs hate Tests but for some reason Jizz over SOO..

Because as much as I love Internationals, Origin provides a huge amount of revenue for the game and the clubs know it

 

[taste2taste]

Yeah, out injured.
source:some article I read yesterday but can’t remember which one.

Will be a big out, he almost single handedly dragged them back into the game against Samoa.

In fairness, if I had to tackle those big humans for 3 games I'd be out 'injured' too

 

[wain]

Will be a big out, he almost single handedly dragged them back into the game against Samoa.

In fairness, if I had to tackle those big humans for 3 games I'd be out 'injured' too

yep, he's so underrated. as a broncos fan...he's my fave. im bummed he's leaving.
the amount of work he does for the team getting out of trouble is immense. He's deceptively strong too, as you mentioned against Samoa last year.
Honestly, Id rather have kept him and lost Staggs.
So yeah, huge out for England I think.

 

[yakstorm]

He's moving to a new club in the off season as well as being injured. I imagine it's a bit like changing jobs, you generally try to play it safe and not upset the new boss in the first few months at least.