Team for Saints

[Charriots Offiah]

If we are short of a winger then let Eckersley have a go.

[fozzieskem]

Why are we all assuming Wardle will be suspended?

I’d be amazed if he’s not banned,anything higher than a shin seems to not go down well with the board.

[Wigan_forever1985]

Thing is with throwing young lads in big games against the best superleague team for the last 3-4 years - it’s not going to do them good getting absolutely humiliated and battered

I know you can argue they could do something and while you can quote the kids win you can easily look at when we got battered 70+ points against saints and Leeds in 2005 was it?

I agree with blooding the young lads in but give them half a chance to perform don’t throw them into a completely buggered back line against the biggest rival

Nothing is won or lost in April that’s for sure so yes it won’t hurt our gf chances but I think I’d rather try and pick a team to win the game

For me our best chance is Powell at 7 whatever you think of him and I’m not exactly a fan - he’s steady - he will give us structure - Harry was the dominant half against leigh so I would see that being the same

Our best threat is French but he won’t be scoring 3-4 tries against saints we need to stay in the game as long as possible and let french tip it we need to be solid

I think if we take something from saints you can throw more caution at the wire game maybe

That’s my opinion anyway

[Charriots Offiah]

Thing is with throwing young lads in big games against the best superleague team for the last 3-4 years - it’s not going to do them good getting absolutely humiliated and battered

I know you can argue they could do something and while you can quote the kids win you can easily look at when we got battered 70+ points against saints and Leeds in 2005 was it?

I agree with blooding the young lads in but give them half a chance to perform don’t throw them into a completely buggered back line against the biggest rival

Nothing is won or lost in April that’s for sure so yes it won’t hurt our gf chances but I think I’d rather try and pick a team to win the game

For me our best chance is Powell at 7 whatever you think of him and I’m not exactly a fan - he’s steady - he will give us structure - Harry was the dominant half against leigh so I would see that being the same

Our best threat is French but he won’t be scoring 3-4 tries against saints we need to stay in the game as long as possible and let french tip it we need to be solid

I think if we take something from saints you can throw more caution at the wire game maybe

That’s my opinion anyway

We’ve done it many times before and come away with the win. Anyway, he won’t play Peet will select from the lads who have appeared this season, therefore I expect to see Powell in the halves.

[Barney841]

Just wondering what people’s thoughts were regarding the big one next week? Been looking at full squad to get an imagine of how we can start…

French
Miski
King
Wardle
Thornley?

Powell
Smith

Harvard
ONeill
Cooper
KPP
Farrell
Smithies

Mago (Just for impact)
Shorrocks (Switch with O’Neill)
Byrne
Isa

Bit random having Thornley in but atm I’d rather have players familiar with positions than switching it all up and giving young lads a taste this early in a big game.

Cheers
Bill

I don’t mind Shorrocks and he’s got good hands but he’s not a hooker.
I’d be rotating him with Smithies

[josie andrews]

If we are short of a winger then let Eckersley have a go.

Eckersley is a centre! If we are stuck for a winger there is Jacob Douglas in the first team squad

[moto748]

That's how I feel. Shorrocks can fill in at dummy-half for 15 mins or so if needed, but he should be playing at 13. As for Powell in the halves, he can kick a bit, hasn't he got a 40/20 this season?

[EagleEyePie]

I think it makes sense to stick with the experienced players and not throw in a youngster unless we're in a position where we're putting too many square pegs in round holes.

If Wardle is banned and Marshall is out then we've got a backline reshuffle but nothing we haven't had to deal with before. Miski deserves to keep his place anyway. King did well on the wing against Leigh. KPP had a good game at centre so we need 1 more centre and both Isa and Farrell have played in that position several times. We're not talking about moving someone into a role they've never played before.

We could have a team of:
French; King, KPP, Farrell, Miski; Powell, Smith; Cooper, O'Neill, Byrne; Isa, Smithies, Ellis
Shorrocks, Havard, Singleton, Mago.

For me that's the safe option. The least experienced player is O'Neill and he's more than deserving of the role he has in that side.

I think if you treat that as the default side because they have all been involved so far this year you can then look at whether there is anything to be gained by dropping one of those senior players and bringing in a younger player.

Perhaps Forber on the bench (as he'll already have a couple of SL games under his belt) with Mago not included would make sense, as even last year when Mago was capable of a good game or two he really seemed to struggle against Saints. Perhaps Astley could be on the bench as a plan B without necessarily having to be called upon - I don't think starting him is worth the risk. Mago is definitely the biggest question mark when it comes to only picking those who have already played this season.

I'd love to see Eckersley given a go on the wing, but given we've got 5 back row forwards and 3 of them have started multiple games at centre (and Shorrocks has played there too) it doesn't seem like a risk worth taking or one that makes much sense if you're thinking of a safety first approach.

As WF said, we can make changes against Wire and I think we'll probably have to because we've had some really tough games when backing up after a Saints derby. That might be the game where player management takes precedence over getting a result. You don't want to be flogging players at this time of the year and while 3 games in 3 weeks is nothing significant, 3 derby games which should be high intensity and require much higher work rates isn't the norm and there's nothing to prove at this stage of the season.

If we are short of a winger then let Eckersley have a go.

Eckersley is a centre! If we are stuck for a winger there is Jacob Douglas in the first team squad

That's nitpicking. He's a centre or winger and equally comfortable in both roles. Players don't just have one position.

[josie andrews]

I’m not nitpicking, I’m just saying he is a centre in his bio. He is fairly fast too. He is also a good goal kicker

[morley pie eater]

I think it makes sense to stick with the experienced players and not throw in a youngster unless we're in a position where we're putting too many square pegs in round holes.

If Wardle is banned and Marshall is out then we've got a backline reshuffle but nothing we haven't had to deal with before. Miski deserves to keep his place anyway. King did well on the wing against Leigh. KPP had a good game at centre so we need 1 more centre and both Isa and Farrell have played in that position several times. We're not talking about moving someone into a role they've never played before.

We could have a team of:
French; King, KPP, Farrell, Miski; Powell, Smith; Cooper, O'Neill, Byrne; Isa, Smithies, Ellis
Shorrocks, Havard, Singleton, Mago.

For me that's the safe option. The least experienced player is O'Neill and he's more than deserving of the role he has in that side.

I think if you treat that as the default side because they have all been involved so far this year you can then look at whether there is anything to be gained by dropping one of those senior players and bringing in a younger player.

Perhaps Forber on the bench (as he'll already have a couple of SL games under his belt) with Mago not included would make sense, as even last year when Mago was capable of a good game or two he really seemed to struggle against Saints. Perhaps Astley could be on the bench as a plan B without necessarily having to be called upon - I don't think starting him is worth the risk. Mago is definitely the biggest question mark when it comes to only picking those who have already played this season.

I'd love to see Eckersley given a go on the wing, but given we've got 5 back row forwards and 3 of them have started multiple games at centre (and Shorrocks has played there too) it doesn't seem like a risk worth taking or one that makes much sense if you're thinking of a safety first approach.

As WF said, we can make changes against Wire and I think we'll probably have to because we've had some really tough games when backing up after a Saints derby. That might be the game where player management takes precedence over getting a result. You don't want to be flogging players at this time of the year and while 3 games in 3 weeks is nothing significant, 3 derby games which should be high intensity and require much higher work rates isn't the norm and there's nothing to prove at this stage of the season.

If we are short of a winger then let Eckersley have a go.

Eckersley is a centre! If we are stuck for a winger there is Jacob Douglas in the first team squad

That's nitpicking. He's a centre or winger and equally comfortable in both roles. Players don't just have one position.

Spot on! Swap Ellis and Shorrocks from starting to bench and, given your qualified choice of Mago, your team is what I suggested above.