Jonny called into England squad

St Helens' rising star Jonny Lomax is in contention to make his England debut in the Four Nations Series after being called into coach Steve McNamara's elite training squad.
McNamara resisted the clamour to call up the 20-year-old half-back for the mid-season international game against the Exiles but has now recognised his continuing impressive form for his club.
'Jonny joins the ETS from the Knights squad and has impressed me with the progress he has made this year,' said McNamara. 'At the start of the season he wasn't sure what his best position would be but he knows now and it shows. He's a smashing young man and I'm looking forward to working with him in the ETS.'
Lomax is one of five newcomers to the 32-man squad as part of a re-shuffle made by McNamara to reflect current form ahead of the autumn clashes with Australia, New Zealand and Wales.
The squad, which will go into camp at Loughborough University on August 14, also includes Hull centre Kirk Yeaman, Leeds second rower Jamie Jones Buchanan and Warrington duo Garreth Carvell and Ryan Atkins. They replace the Hull KR pairing of Liam Watts and Peter Fox, Harlequins centre Tony Clubb, St Helens prop Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Leeds scrum-half Rob Burrow.
Watts was recently suspended and dropped by his club for a breach of club discipline while Fox has struggled for form all year.
'The five players who have come in are all worthy of their inclusion because of their form so far in 2011,' added McNamara. 'Ryan Atkins, Garreth Carvell and Jamie Jones Buchanan were all in the squad for the International Origin match whilst the other two have been impressive for some time.
'Kirk Yeaman has been consistently good for most of this year and his challenge now is to improve his form to put himself in contention for selection in the 24-man squad that will be involved in the Four Nations.'
McNamara also has his Australia-based internationals Sam Burgess, Gareth Widdop and Gareth Ellis to come in and has not ruled out making further changes to his squad.
'All the players who have dropped out of the ETS should now focus on playing as well as they can between now and the end of the season with the aim of forcing their way back in,' he said England's next fixture is an international against France in Avignon on Friday, October 21, eight days before they kick off their Gillette Four Nations campaign against Wales at Leigh Sports Village.


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KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:Good move by McNamara , Lomax has really stepped up this year and deserves a chance , as do Yeaman and Carvell .

George Hotel1895 wrote:

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:Good move by McNamara , Lomax has really stepped up this year and deserves a chance , as do Yeaman and Carvell .

I was disappointed when he didn't get called for the exiles game..

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:

George Hotel1895 wrote:

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:Good move by McNamara , Lomax has really stepped up this year and deserves a chance , as do Yeaman and Carvell .

I was disappointed when he didn't get called for the exiles game..

I thought there were a few players who should of got a call for the exiles game and a few who did that shouldnt have played .

George Hotel1895 wrote:

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:

George Hotel1895 wrote:

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:Good move by McNamara , Lomax has really stepped up this year and deserves a chance , as do Yeaman and Carvell .

I was disappointed when he didn't get called for the exiles game..

I thought there were a few players who should of got a call for the exiles game and a few who did that shouldnt have played .

I can't disagree with that.

KINGKENNY7HEAVEN wrote:Unfortunatley or as it turned out fortunatley i couldn't go do to work commitments tonight . Lomax did play and by the sound of it had a good game scoring 1 and setting up 2 tries , Rovers were well and truly beaten by a far better team .

BicesterWarrior wrote:Don't understand why Stains signed Lafranchi and Hohaia, don't think they need them personally.