Team v Hull KR

[Karl Carpenter]

Harry Smith is available for selection again but I would go with the same 17. I think the French / Keighran pairing could really develop and Eckersley fits in nicely at centre; thoughts and opinions please.

[morley pie eater]

Harry Smith is available for selection again but I would go with the same 17. I think the French / Keighran pairing could really develop and Eckersley fits in nicely at centre; thoughts and opinions please.

A bold suggestion, KC.

I think the evidence suggests that Peet will pick what he sees as his best team, and that he doesn't change his view based on one or two performances. (I'm not criticising this btw.)

If this is the case, and we return to French and Smith in the halves, I'd hope that Keighran can be used to do some field kicking on the right. This would make us less predictable than with Smithy doing 99% of the kicks, and some of Keighran's kicks have asked serious questions of the opposition.

I guess a squad spot is the best Eckersley can hope for over the rest of the season, barring an injury. Pity, the lad seems to improve every game.

[KieronC]

I've had similar thoughts! I guess you get more in terms of organising from Smith but I'd be happy enough if they stuck with French and Keighran at least based on last night, although maybe one game isn't enough to get a feel for how that pairing might look over a few games. I suppose my biggest concern is how things will look defensively. Assuming that Smith is slotted back into the team, I imagine it'll mean Keighran goes back to centre beside Miski. I personally think Keighran looks better on the left than the right and after a few games at half, Hull KR seems a big game to readjust to defending as a right centre. Granted he's been there pretty much all season and has the ability so maybe it won't be a big deal!

I think they said last night that Farrell is back too so it'll be interesting to see how the back row looks in terms of who plays on what side.

Karl, on your point about Keighran / French, with three games left before the playoffs do you think it could develop into a championship winning combination or is it more about the long game and seeing how that might look into next season as well?

[endoman]

Peet says this. I agree with playing Smith.

"We'll be back to our first-choice spine against Hull KR but I cannot fault the effort of the young players who have stepped up for us.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-leagu ... 4lggpgz9no

[Wigan_ITK]

Harry will go straight back into the team there is no debating that one. Peet said that at the end of the game.

We'll be back to our first-choice spine against Hull KR but I cannot fault the effort of the young players who have stepped up for us

I believe his partner is pregnant though and is due to give birth in the next few weeks so if baby decides to arrive early then we may see French and Keighran continue.

[pearsy]

Sought our discipline and stop the new golden child and we won't be far off

[EagleEyePie]

I've said before that I thought Keighran was more of a half than a centre. I thought he looked good again last night and he's definitely much more comfortable on the left than the right. I did wonder at the start of the year whether they'd move Wardle to the right (he's played there before) but it seemed crazy (and still does) given how well he was playing on the left.

It would be really harsh on Eckersley for him to miss out, but I think we're finally getting to a point where we can return to what has been our preferred starting 13. That would mean Keighran back at right centre.

Smith's form had certainly taken a bit of a dive before his suspension but the same could be said for the whole team. We've now seen that Keighran is a very useful plan B on that left side, so I think common sense says you go back to Smith, who for the majority of the season has been essential to the way we play. Hopefully his suspension has given him some time to freshen up and also get himself in the right place mentally. I think his loss of form began building up the frustration game after game and he's got to be squeaky clean from now on.

One question is whether Farrell returns on the right or goes back to the left. We've spent most of the year with the right edge combination of Nsemba, French, Keighran and Miski and it seemed to work okay, but most teams attack better on their left edge so perhaps keeping Farrell on the right makes sense as he makes better decisions defensively. My only concern with that is the one area where Farrell has been caught out defending on the right is when he's come up against a quick half who will beat him on the outside and Mikey Lewis will be on that edge.

[nathan_rugby]

Harry Smith is available for selection again but I would go with the same 17. I think the French / Keighran pairing could really develop and Eckersley fits in nicely at centre; thoughts and opinions please.

I don’t like the idea of “could” going into one of the most important games of the season.

I’m personally not Smiths biggest fan, but our game plan suites him and we have won every trophy with him at 7 and he should be straight back into the team to start building momentum.

If Smith misses out, his next biggest game is at the end of September in the semi…

[Caboosegg]

I may he in the minority but I haven't seen Keighran do anything Smith can't outside of kick goals consistently.

Smith form granted had dropped before his ban but he also hasn't had a break (Keighran has had a few spells on the side to rest)

Smith is also better in defence and I think this is very important vs KR as if we defend anything like the first half at Catalan then Hull KR will put a large number on us.

[Southern Softy]

I'm a bit puzzled about how not playing Harry Smith would give us a better team. His tactical kicking (although Keighran's improved as the match went on, as did his defence) was missed and if fit, should be one of the first names on the sheet.
Given their respective lack of match fitness, I'd be expecting Eckersley to be a permanent feature in the 17 to spell either French or Field. As a direct replacement for Field and to move into the centre to let Keighran play in the halves for French.
The one real change I'd make would be to start with Forber, who changed the whole outlook of the team when he was on the field and use Leeming as an impact sub. It might leave us light on props with only two places to fill on the bench but Ellis, Nsemba and Walters (maybe) are good enough to function as props in the later stages of a match.