It may be a bit early yet but it does seem pretty unlikely that NZ are going to win the tournament. Can anyone imagine how awesome they could have been if they had these players playing at the same time
Sonny bill Williams
Benji Marshall
Issac Luke
Manu Vatuvei
Roy Asotasi
Jason Cayless
Stacey Jones
Brent Webb
Krisnan Inu
I think they're all quality players and if they were in the team at the same time then New Zealand would be more than a match for Australia.
I haven't even mentioned guys like Webster, Toopi, Whatuira, Hape and Solomona because I don't know what their form is like at the moment but they have played well for New Zealand in the past.
You're 'not going to mention' Whatuira, Toopi et al because you don't know what their form is like at the moment, but you put up Jones, who hasn't played a serious game in a year, Inu, who's obviously been down on form, and Marshall, who's still struggling to reach his 2005 peak. When you get right down to it, Asotasi wasn't setting the world on fire in 2008 either.
Saying that they'd more than match Australia seems rather laughable as well. Looking through the list you provided, I can only find a handful of players you'd even consider taking over their Australian counterpart. Would you rather an out-of-practice Jones, who hasn't been at his peak for years, or Thurston/ Prince? Benji Marshall or Darren Lockyer? Brent Webb or Billy Slater? Isaac Luke or Cameron Smith? Krisnan Inu or Israel Folau? Some of the players you listed would struggle to make a Queensland or NSW side, let alone achieve parity with the Kangaroos.
SBW has left Rugby League, most likely forever - throwing him into the mix is as pointless as fantasising about how strong the Kangaroos could be if they had access to a primed Andrew Johns or Mal Meninga.
