Hirst is the obvious one. Even if it's in an easier game. 


Also annoying that we've not made more of the Salford debacle. someone like Shorrocks on loan for the rest of the year, allows us some flexibility with Ellis. Rest him, move him to prop and rest another etc. 


One thing is for certain imo - the squad needed freshening up before the season started and it's even more obvious now. 

Agreed, he looks like a player who hasn't had a pre season - similar to Walters last year, just looks really off the pace.

Havard picked up 3 points for head contact

So where do you think you are now? HKR losing the last couple has opened up the race for the LLS again no doubt. 


There's just something about Wigan this season to me that seems a bit different. If pushed I still think they'll win the comp but they are heavily reliant on French. Hugely in fact. They are also picking up more injuries it seems now which is natural given the number of games some of the players have played and that fact that Peet doesn't rotate much. 


Wigan fans every week keep saying there is nothing to worry about and everything will be fine but then every week of late they have been struggling. I know they came back well against Hudds but am I right in thinking Hudds had no subs for the whole of the 2nd half and lost 2 players to HIA's?


HKR without Lewis have shown that they also suffer badly without their best player and in that sense I feel Saints have coped the best of the lot having lost their best player.


I get also that Wigan have played a number of away games and now have a lot of home games but I can't explain it- they seem well off compared to last season. Stupid in many ways given you may still win the LLS especially if you beat HKR but it seems a strange comp this season. 

Like you've said, we are still going to be in the mix, and if i was a betting man, i'd back us to win the big games when it matters

Just had a quick look to last season and we had lost 2 games at the same point, but then lost back to back against Hull away and Wire in July and again away to Leeds in August (where we looked shot at to be honest) as thats where we had that run of games to catch up for the WCC. 


so, we arent too far off points wise, but i think some of our results were more convincing last season


KR losing 2 games definitely gets us back in with a chance of LLS, whereas 2 weeks ago after losing to Leigh it looked like being 6 points behind


I think the playoffs this season could be very interesting with 5 sides going well (KR, Wigan, Leigh, Saints and Leeds), and all capable of beating each other on a given day.


re injuries we've had them in previous seasons, and have had spells with both French and Field out. The challenge for the rest of the team is to step up and ensure we dont miss them, although especially French we all know is capable of something special so difficult to replace that individual brilliance. It looks like we are managing Thompson's game time this year, and with Havard / O'Neill and Miski all coming back from long term injuries, they should all be fresh and fit come the business end of the season. The main concern at the minute is 2nd row where we have been heavily reliant on Faz and Junior, especially with Walters (albeit he's played prop mostly this season) being out, and could provide cover there


re Saints, they seem to have quietly crept up on the blind side, and from an outside perspective lots of the Wellens noise has quietened down and with Wigan and KR losing a couple of game probably feel they can have a shot at top 2, if not top spot. Sailor now seems to be producing, but will he retain the FB spot when Welsby is back? 

Thursday is huge for us. We haven't beaten Wigan, HKR or Leigh for a long time so with the players we will have missing on Thursday, if we manage a win then a tiny part of me will start to think that maybe we can do something with players back from injury. 

What I will say is that Friday's win was one of our best in a long time, our defence was like the days under Woolf especially with the adversity and disruption of losing two hookers to HIA's. Knowles and Lees were simply incredible, Lees playing 80 mins in the middle in that heat was ridiculous. 


I also feel that despite the mocking, the "golden generation" of young lads isn't as far fetched as what people think. Whitby, Dagnall, Robertson and Stephens have all showed class at different times. 


Dagnall hasn't even played 10 SL games yet and looks like he has been playing for years, his try on Friday was superb. Robertson for me is different gravy, I feel he may well go on to be better than Welsby. He's certainly showing a higher ceiling and Welsby wasn't this good at the same age. Welsby also came through as part of the best side in the comp winning games every week. Robertson didn't give Handley a sniff on Friday.


Re Sailor I think he will move back to 6 when Welsby returns but who knows who else may be injured by then and there will be very little of the season left when Welsby comes back. He's definitely stepped up in Welsby's absence though.