mer Arsenal striker Thierry Henry admits the fans are unh

England coach Wayne Bennett has vowed to lead Brisbane Broncos into the 2017 World Club Series. Plans for the annual clash between the leading clubs from Super League and the NRL were thrown into disarray earlier this week when Melbourne Storm officially withdrew.They were promptly followed by a host of other Australian outfits, who claimed it interfered with their preparations for the new domestic season. Wigan and Cronulla, the two 2016 Grand Final winners, will meet in the traditional World Club Challenge at the DW Stadium on the weekend of February 16-17. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. However, uncertainty surrounds the other two scheduled ties in the recently-expanded World Club Series following the snub from beaten NRL Grand Finalists Melbourne, who were due to play Super League runners-up Warrington.Brisbane had offered to host Wigan if they had lost the Super League Grand Final and Bennett, a long-time advocate of the international game, says he has already been in touch with Rugby Football League chief executive Nigel Wood to reassure him of his clubs commitment to the series.We would be keen to travel, Bennett said. I spoke to Nigel on Monday night and told him that the whole concept has got the clubs backing.We love coming over, weve enjoyed it in the last couple of years as a club and were also trying to host one here in the pre-season. But if that doesnt come to fruition and theres a vacancy to come over to England, we will certainly go.The other clubs have all got their reasons Im sure, but we dont find it interferes with our season really. Bennett also revealed he would have no problem selecting Australia-born players in his England squad Weve played in a Grand Final, gone over for the World Club Series and started the following year well, so I cant find a fault with it. Personally Id be extremely disappointed if we shared the same view.Meanwhile, Bennett said he would have had no qualms about picking Australia-born players in his 24-man squad for the Four Nations Series, even though he opted not to in the end.Twins Brett and Josh Morris, who have both represented the Kangaroos, and Newcastle Knights scrum-half Trent Hodkinson were among a raft of players linked with a switch of allegiance.I was considering any player that was eligible for England, whether they were Australia-born, Australia-based or simply English, Bennett said. It didnt faze me in any way.The speculation got out of control though. It was purely media-driven in this country, I dont know what it was like in England.At the time I said nothing about it but Ill pick the best 24 players to play for England in my opinion. If theyre Australia-based, I would have stood by that. Wigan Warriors will also compete in the World Club Series after winning the 2016 Super League Bennett has been able to call on the local knowledge of assistants Denis Betts, the Widnes head coach, and Paul Anderson, who was in charge of Huddersfield up to July, but insisted he had the last word on selection and defended his decision to ignore Hull hooker Danny Houghton, the 2017 Man of Steel.I wasnt told who to pick, he said. I consulted with people I trust who are well-connected in the game and I watch a lot of the games - it made it a lot easier for me.They were my decisions and my decisions only. I see a fair bit of Super League; I have my own job at the Broncos but the games are shown Friday morning and Saturday morning here - and occasionally Sunday too - so I know whats going on.My job is to pick what I think is the best players and what we need from them. If Houghton has missed out then thats the reason why hes missed out.It doesnt take away from his wonderful achievement in winning Man of Steel - I didnt know I was supposed to pick him because of that.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the British Masters on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Saints sign Smith from Wigan Wigan sign Escare and Forsyth Walker to leave Hull KR Rugby League Set of Six Reds Jerseys 2019 . DETROIT LIONS AT ATLANTA FALCONS, 9:30 AM (ET) Detroit - RB Reggie Bush, TE Eric Ebron, TE Joseph Fauria, WR Calvin Johnson, QB Kellen Moore, TE Brandon Pettigrew, OT LaAdrian Waddle Atlanta - CB Javier Arenas, DT Jonathan Babineaux, OT Cameron Bradfield, WR Freddie Martino, QB Sean Renfree, OT Jonathan Scott, LB Tyler Starr SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AT CAROLINA PANTHERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Seattle - DT Jordan Hill, CB Byron Maxwell, OT Andrew McDonald, TE Zach Miller, C Max Unger, LB Bobby Wagner, WR Bryan Walters Carolina - CB Bene Benwikere, LB Chase Blackburn, WR Philly Brown, G Amini Silatolu, G Trai Turner, RB Fozzy Whittaker, RB DeAngelo Williams HOUSTON TEXANS AT TENNESSEE TITANS, 1:00 PM (ET) Houston - OT Jeff Adams, DB Josh Aubrey, LB Brian Cushing, DB Darryl Morris, WR DeVier Posey, QB Tom Savage, LB Jeff Tarpinian Tennessee - RB Antonio Andrews, WR Kris Durham, TE Richard Gordon, DL DaQuan Jones, CB Coty Sensabaugh, OT Will Svitek, TE Taylor Thompson BALTIMORE RAVENS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS, 1:00 PM (ET) Baltimore - CB Chykie Brown, LB Arthur Brown, DL Chris Canty, TE Owen Daniels, G/C Gino Gradkowski, RB Bernard Pierce, OT Jah Reid Cincinnati - RB Rex Burkhead, DE Will Clarke, WR A. Custom Cincinnati Reds Jerseys . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/ . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. James was driving to the rim in the first quarter and McLemore decided to try to take the charge, which was quite admirable and predictably futile. Reds Jerseys China . After a 99-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, his Celtics coaches and teammates have only positive things to say about the Toronto-born rookie. Cheap Reds Jerseys . This time, Tebow was in a groove the entire second half -- not just in the waning minutes -- and his teammates on defence were getting gobbled up.Arsene Wenger has told Sky Sports Arsenal feel guilty over their failed Premier League title challenge. The Gunners head to relegation-threatened Sunderland on Super Sunday hoping to climb back above Manchester City into third place as the pressure to seal a top-four spot increases.Wenger admits his side have not been clinical enough to challenge for a first league crown since 2004, but reckons they have faced some unfair criticism during a season that has seen Leicester emerge as shock potential champions. From fan scrutiny and the games he feels were turning points in the season to how he thinks the Premier League is changing, Wenger lifts the lid to reporter Geoff Shreeves... Arsenal eased past West Brom last time out but are currently 10 points behind leaders Leicester SHREEVES: What do you make of the top-four race and where you sit in it?WENGER: Its very simple. We all feel guilty and we are all looked at like its a shame we are not winning the league because Leicester are at the top.But on the other hand, you have to say Leicester have not stolen the points. They have earned them, they have quality. If you look at the PFA Team of the Year, they have many players in there, so they are good players. Leicester have surprised Wenger - but he admits they have been absolutely efficient I am convinced that all the teams today look at themselves and think how could that happen?, but when you win so many times 1-0 like Leicester have done, you see they have been absolutely efficient.It is true that technically many teams in the league are better, but many teams have had more problems. Leicester have had no injuries, many teams have had more competitions. Leicester went out of the FA Cup quite early, but you have to give them credit when everybody expected them to drop they didnt and when they had to turn up they did. It will be interesting psychologically to study Leicester because its a very interesting case. There is a theory that says to go to the absolute utmost of your talent you need to suffer in life. When you look at the Leicester team, not one career of all these players was obvious, like starting on the red carpet at 18 years of age in the Champions League. Wenger says NGolo Kante and his Leicester team-mates have shown top mental qualities Many of the players have been rejected before… it is an interesting case. NGolo Kante, nobody wanted him in France for a while. That is a good explanation for his character.These players had a dream that was not easy to obtain, but when they are in a position to reach it, they are ready for the fight. The lesson of the season is Leicester. Maybe they are not the most prestigious in quality of the passing, but they found a way to be efficient and have shown mental qualities that are absolutely top.SHREEVES: Are you saying Leicester were hungrier than anyone else, a criticism of your team and everybody elses teams?WENGER: That is the difficulty of being honest in the media today. As soon as you come up with a quality it shows that you dont have that quality. They were hungry and efficient. My team is hungry also, but we have to deal with many problems and many competitions as well.When you play on Wednesday in Barcelona and then Saturday morning, you go to Crystal Palace or Everton, it changes things. Next year, I predict that Leicester will have more problems. Wenger has urged the clubs fans to come and support the team They have found a good balance, hungry players who have not had obvious careers. We are accused the most, but we beat them twice. So we should be less accused than others for not having beaten them.They go to Man City, Tottenham, Man United, Liverpool and have only lost three games. At the end of the day, you have to say well done. Sport is about performance and when the team performs, you have to be big enough and say well done and respect it andd respect Claudio Ranieri for what he has done.dddddddddddd.On Leicesters style of play, having the least possession and passing accuracy…WENGER: You cannot last like that. If they win a title like that, you have to say well done and respect. But in the Champions League, if they dont touch the ball, it will be difficult on Saturday. When you run after the ball on Wednesday against Barcelona and then turn up on Saturday away from home, it becomes more difficult.They will have to adapt, but I am not intelligent enough to see what will happen to them. I am just big enough to say well done to them. Wenger believes injuries hampered Arsenal this term SHREEVES: What did for you and your team was the run of results in March?WENGER: There were two turning games - Man United and Swansea. At the end of the day, we had many injuries and it was the first time where we could not do a lot about it.We didnt have Welbeck, Wilshere, Cazorla, all traumatic injuries, not muscular. The positive thing is we discovered players like Elneny and Iwobi. But we were not clinical enough. The quality of our game collectively for most of the season was good and in March and April, but we didnt get the points we needed and we were in a position where we had to win every game so it makes it more difficult.Then the coincidence of fixtures. Now we play Sunderland, and we could have played a Sunderland on holiday with nothing to go for, in March and April that has a big influence. I have seen games recently where teams didnt turn up. That has changed a bit in the Premier League as well. Arsenal suffered a shock home defeat to Swansea in March SHREEVES: In the Premier League, is the game in terms of effective football, changing?WENGER: Yes. The physical levels of teams has gone up and tactical knowledge of defending has gone up. Players who do not contribute to team work are kicked out everywhere.Then you go two ways: you say look that doesnt work any more so we have to change our style, and I wish you good luck when you kick the ball anywhere after people have seen good football for 10-15 years, or you say we have analysed well where we are not efficient enough and we do better with the style we play.We have to go that way. Our passing has to be quicker, our movement has to be sharper and our efficiency in the final third has to be better. We dont have anybody with 20 goals in the league, so that is a handicap.SHREEVES: Have you ever known a more downbeat atmosphere at the Emirates than against West Brom?WENGER: You want your fans to be enthusiastic, and we are not playing to avoid relegation. Ideally, you want fans to be happy and I think they can be very proud of a lot at this club. We want them to be behind the team, to be proud of the club and the values and consistent achievement of the club. It is not enough and we can understand that, but that doesnt stop us from performing. The top level of sport is to master all situations. Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry admits the fans are unhappy with the club but its vital they keep coming to the matches and supporting the team SHREEVES: What about the challenge of facing Sunderland?WENGER: I think Sam Allardyce has found a settled team that he plays in every game and he has made a decision that its them or nothing. He knows his team, they know how to behave. The psychological impact of going down or not motivates the players and puts more pressure on this game - on us and them. Both teams are under pressure so the intensity is huge and the psychological impact of the result is huge. Both teams have to deal with that. We expect a very intense game, fighting for survival, players are more ready to give everything.I watched them recently, they played good football, they have a good midfield and good variety and Jermain Defoe can score goals form nothing. Also See: Sky Live: Sunderland v Arsenal Wenger: Arsenal must get third Henrys Arsenal assessment Mersons predictions ' ' '