 Bradford's poor season meant an early finish for Sykes and his team-mates |
England coach Steve McNamara has named four players from his old club Bradford in the initial train-on squad for the autumn's Four Nations Series. Jamie Langley, Andy Lynch, Paul Sykes, and Nick Scruton are among 10 players picked from teams failing to reach the play-offs, with three from Harlequins. Ben Jones-Bishop, Tony Clubb and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook are the Quins trio. Castleford's Joe Westerman and Michael Shenton and Jodie Broughton of Salford make up the 10. The only two teams whose season has already ended who fail to provide a representative are Wakefield and Catalans Dragons.  | 606: DEBATE |
The 10 players were all in McNamara's 37-strong squad for the mid-season get-together, from which the travelling party to Australia and New Zealand will be made up. Papua New Guinea are the fourth team in the tournament, which kicks off on Sunday 23 October when England take on New Zealand. Before flying out, England play a warm-up game against Cumbria in Whitehaven on 3 October, in aid of the family of Garry Purdham, who died in the Cumbria shootings. More players will be added to the squad as teams drop out of the play-offs, before the final 24-man squad is named on 4 October, two days after the Super League Grand Final. In addition to the Super League players, three Britons playing in Australia are likely to be involved. If picked, South Sydney's former Bradford forward Sam Burgess will join the rest of the squad in early October, while Melbourne full-back Gareth Widdop and Wests Tigers second rower Gareth Ellis could also link up once their club commitments are over.
2010 Four Nations schedule: Sat 23 October: NZ v England, Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Sun 24 October: Australia v Papua New Guinea, Parramatta Stadium
Sat 30 October: NZ v Papua New Guinea, International Stadium, Rotorua
Sun 31 October: Australia v England, Melbourne
Sat 6 November: England v Papua New Guinea, Eden Park, Auckland
Sat 6 November: NZ v Australia, Eden Park , Auckland
Sat 13 November: Final, Suncorp Stadium Brisbane
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