We are not alone in scratching our heads over the vagaries that the game of rugby presents, such as the recent news that NRL forwards Chris McQueen and Chris Heighington have been drafted by Wayne Bennet to play an international Test against Samoa on the English rugby squad in Sydney next month.
Who will fill in for the two forwards? McQueen will abandon West Tigers and Heighington will leave the Cronulla Sharks in the lurch. For that matter, who will take over for Wayne Bennet when he jettisons his coaching duties with the Cronulla Sharks?
McQueen qualifies for the 20-man Test Squad by way of his England-born father. He has been summoned before, for the World Cup back in 2013, but he rejected that overture in order to play representative rugby for the Maroon in Origin.
Heighington was last selected for the honour back in 2011 by Steve McNamara.
Other NRL players to make the squad are Dragons five-eighth Garreth Widdop, Canberra’s Josh Hodgson and Elliot Whitehead and Bulldogs prop James Graham.
Bennet would have liked to have the Rabbitohs’ George Burgess, but Burgess is serving a four-match suspension for playing rugby roughly.
Wigan forward Sean O’Loughlin made the squad as well, and will serve as the skipper.
