I agree Farrell has been better this year, but lets look at his international performances where he has consistently been bullied out the game compared to Ferres who has had big impact on games. If Farrell comes up against Martin Tapau or Sam Thainday he will get totally dominated and we will consistently loose the PTB on his side.

It is a matter of tactics, nothing to do with his performances this year.



Ward constantly made over 40 tackles last year and usually dominates the tackle when he does. He may not be much heavier than Farrell but neither is Bateman, yet I would argue both are clearly stronger than Farrell from the way they take the ball into contact and are both more aggressive in the tackle



The one negative against Ward is the amount of games he has played (as you mentioned) but this is why I would have him coming off the bench, possibly coming on at 13 and moving Sam Burgess to Prop when Graham or Hill go off. We will learn more about his fitness today as he will likely play 80 mins as Bennet has said he want to give the Wigan and Wire players a rest.

Oh and when Ward played next to Watkins last year Leeds were the top try scorers.

Farrell came up against Thaiday in the 2015 WCS and came up with about 150m, 40 tackles and a try.



He's played a few games for England but he's not had too many opportunities to test himself against Australia or New Zealand at international level. He's a better player then Ferres or Ward although I do agree Ferres has had a superb time in an England shirt.

If LandS is picking on last year and International performances then Watkins should be nowhere near International selection. His wingers got four passes in total in three games.

That isn't an international match so the game wasn't that intense and Farell may have been able to get outside and attack the centre or halfback, he won't be allowed to do that against Australia.When he played against NZ last year he was totally bullied out of the game.

I actually don't think he is better than Ward and definitely wouldn't swap them but I understand that Ward hasn't fully proved that yet for more than one season.

I think that is a bit harsh given the lack of ball and space the outside backs were given, if he just passed his winger the ball in a narrow channel against an international team they would have got bundled into touch.

However I agree that in game 3 last year he left his hands at home (although he did beat Whare 1 on 1 a couple of times)



Also if we were picking people based on last year then Williams and Widdop would be left at home

Faz is 100 per cent a better player at this stage, it's not even arguable. I see your point though, Ward clearly has talent and hopefully he can stay fit next year and we'll see if he's close led the gap on Farrell.



As for the main point, he should be nowhere near the England squad at the moment imo.

Pretty pointless arguing any point really when you'll have an answer for everything. Farrell is a fine player, a better player then Ward without question and has his Harry Sunderkand trophy sat on his mantle piece to back that up as well as inclusions in previous dream teams (when he played more then half a season).



If you go over to the England thread on the VT you'll see that I've praised Ward, Ferres and Hall and defended their inclusions in the squad so it's certainly be not being biased to suggest Faz is a better player then Ward. It isn't even close at the moment (but it probably will be one day).

I wouldn't lose a second's sleep if no Wigan players were picked.

No Farell, Feres or Ward. Navarette starts for France.

Good to see Navarette hammer James Graham in the first half and for scouse Jimmy to spit his dummy out pointing at him.



Mixed bag from Navarette overall. He looks very raw and he's been targeted in attack but he's shown some impressive aggression in defence.

Look I can see why you think farrell is better as he has been consistently good for a few seasons now, but I genuinely believe that a fully fit Ward (and he isn't fully fit atm) has more strings to his bow and I wouldn't swap them. Im not being blindly bias and would happily swap Ablett or Ferres for Bateman. Many Leeds fans believe that Ward should be made captain soon, although I appreciate you haven't seen as much of him as we have.



Btw, I actually didnt want Ward to be picked in the squad as I would rather he had a full preseason under his belt to get his body right and maybe even bulk up a bit more.



This is all irrelevant to the point I was making anyway, regardless of how good Farrell is in SL, he is too skinny to play second row internationally

Aside from the fact that Wards tiny for an international back rower I don't disagree with much of that.



I'm a fan. I actually backed him on your own board about 18 months back when he was taking a panning for being a lad who just defends. He reminds me a little of Sean O'Loughlin in the way he's come in to the first team with a big rep but it'll take time to find his feet. When he does though both Leeds and England will have a fine player on their hands (but for some he won't be flashy enough).