19 man squad for Good Friday clash

[cpwigan]

I hope Spencer makes the 17, I want to see how he goes and if his D/C spell with Leigh has helped him. If Tom makes it he is a 'big unit' and alongside Taylor they would be a big front row.

[cpwigan]

Something being muted on Sains forums is they may play Flash Flannagan at 9. Their young hooker is not in the squad and Ashe the other alternative is IMO a FB/Wing first. Flash is an excellent defender but as a 9 I cannot see him taking the line on much.

Saints might go big and try to bully us down the middle ?

[Kittwazzer]

Something being muted on Sains forums is they may play Flash Flannagan at 9. Their young hooker is not in the squad and Ashe the other alternative is IMO a FB/Wing first. Flash is an excellent defender but as a 9 I cannot see him taking the line on much.

Saints might go big and try to bully us down the middle ?

They won't get away with it. We play the wide game side to side and if Wellens is full back, our kicking game should ensure they never get beyond their 40!

[the winky one]

What are everyones plans for the day?,I'll be working for the first time on Good Friday so will have to contend with listening on Wish.....hate it when I can't see what's goin on......aaarrgghhh!!! ...a regular customer in the shop has predicted 26-12 to Wigan ....will need 80 mins full concentration or else.....doesn't bear thinking about.

What are your thoughts?

[markill]

Something being muted on Sains forums is they may play Flash Flannagan at 9. Their young hooker is not in the squad and Ashe the other alternative is IMO a FB/Wing first. Flash is an excellent defender but as a 9 I cannot see him taking the line on much.

Saints might go big and try to bully us down the middle ?

Widnes went big on Saturday filling the bench with forwards and we got around them with expansive play. It won't be as easy to d that against a better team, but you'd hope we would out-speed them.

[josie andrews]

Super League Preview: Wigan v St Helens

Jonny Lomax has lost his race to be fit for St Helens' derby match against Wigan on Friday at the DW Stadium.

Lomax sat out the win over Salford last weekend, and hasn't recovered in time to line-up against the Warriors.

It's the latest injury blow for coach Nathan Brown, who has also lost Lance Hohaia to a groin injury, and remains without forwards Tony Puletua and James Roby.

Saints have used 28 players already this season, including five debutants.

Wigan cruised to a 62-4 win over Widnes last weekend, and have no new injury concerns, with Sean O'Loughlin and Michael McIlorum both expected to shrug off knocks sustained on Saturday.

Wigan 19-man squad: Burke, Charnley, Crosby, Lloyd, Farrell, Flower, Goulding, Green, Hughes, McIlorum, O'Loughlin, Richards, Spencer, Smith, Taylor, Thornley, L Tomkins, S Tomkins, Tuson.

St Helens 19-man squad: Wellens, Gardner, Turner, Soliola, Meli, Perry, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wilkin, Manu, Laffranchi, Flanagan, Clough, Jones, Makinson, Ashe, Walmsley, Walker, Percival, Charnock.

Prediction: Wigan will be too strong for a St Helens side, missing some key players through injury - home win.

Stats:

Wigan's Sam Tomkins scored tries in all four of the Warriors' 2012 meetings with St Helens as follows: 1-1-2-1.

Last 10 meetings:

Wigan 18, St Helens 26 (SLR27, 7/9/12)
St Helens 16, Wigan 42 (SLR15, 27/5/12) (at Etihad Stadium, Manchester)
Wigan 18, St Helens 4 (CCQF, 12/5/12)
St Helens 10, Wigan 28 (SLR10, 6/4/12)
St Helens 26, Wigan 18 (SLQSF, 1/10/11)
Wigan 18, St Helens 26 (SLQPO, 18/9/11)
St Helens 12, Wigan 18 (CCSF, 6/8/11) (at Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington)
St Helens 10, Wigan 32 (SLR18, 17/6/11)
Wigan 28, St Helens 24 (SLR11, 22/4/11)
St Helens 16, Wigan 16 (SLR1, 12/2/11) (at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)

Super League summary:

Wigan won 29 (includes win in 2010 Grand Final & wins in 2001, 2003 and 2004 play-offs)
St Helens won 27 (includes win in 2000 Grand Final & wins in 2000, 2002, 2009 and 2011 play-offs)
4 draws
Wigan highest score: 65-12 (A, 1997) (also widest margin)
St Helens highest score: 57-16 (MM, 2008) (also widest margin)

http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_114 ... lens.html?

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

I hope Spencer makes the 17, I want to see how he goes and if his D/C spell with Leigh has helped him. If Tom makes it he is a 'big unit' and alongside Taylor they would be a big front row.

I am with you on this one CP. What worries me though is that Spencer may have been added to the 19 because Lockers will not play, thus allowing Burke to play in the backrow.

If Lockers plays I fancy us big time.

It will be interesting to see what Saints do in terms of selection as Brown is unpredictable. I wouldn't be surprised if Makinson played fullback with Wellens taking on the No 9 role. Roby is a massive miss, one because he is such a good player and the other because they have no alternative option available at present. The other factor is they have no halves available. Will this be offset by the fact that we have most of our seasoned pack unavailable? Not if the Wire game is anything to go by. Having said all of that it is a derby and I still expect a close game.

Finally, has anyone watched Saints lately? They have a weakness when defending on their try line - Manu!

[markill]

Reading between the lines I think lockers is struggling so I would expect burke in faz at loose and Spencer a sub,some debut.

Spencer made his debut last year at home against Leeds. He also played at Langtree on Good Friday amongst his 4 appearances.

[markill]

I was at both games don,t remember him.

Don't think he did many minutes against Leeds, or indeed in his other appearances. I remember he dropped the ball on his 1st carry at Langtree but was then pretty solid for the rest of his stint.

[shaunedwardsfanclub]

Interestingly, the alternative site are saying that Howarth (one of our old boys) has signed from Salford and is likely to play tomorrow (at hooker I presume).