Can't see that Kelly will have passed any head test yesterday so unless new injuries picked up I think it will be Manu in Kelly out, could be:

Shaul
Faraimo
Carlos
Griffin
Tuimavave
Connor
Sneyd
Watts
Hadley
Paea
Mini
Manu
Bowden

Green
Fash
Washbrook
Abdull

The other question is whether the game will go ahead with the apocalyptic snow forecasts. Seem to remember it's less the pitch, more Health and Safety concerns about the paths etc round the ground that are the risk.

Suggest you incude Talanoa unless CT can play in 2 positions at the same time!

would change turgut and masi for washbrook and fash,

I reckon Kelly will play. Fairamo was ko'd against Wigan and he played against St George. If he is fit, I'd go with Connor and Carlos in the centres, I keep convincing myself Griffin is due a big game but he never seems to produce the goods, apart from the odd half here and there.

Id like to see Abdul at LF from the off to improve our attacking structure, Cas were so much slicker with their ball movement our wide and I think having Abdul there would improve this for us.

Washy on the bench to cover hooker as I think Hadley needs a break (And can also cover the backrow).

If Kelly is fit, there would be no place for Griffin in my 17.

The last thing we want is Washbrook at hooker, even if Hadley is fooked he'd be quicker and more effective than Washbrook.
Rather have Abdul on at 13 from the off and have Bowden on the bench as a prop with Green, Masi and Fash.
Currently Fash offers more than Washbrook.

Tend to agree with this. For all of Washbrooks versatility which has been well utilised in the past two seasons, he does not look anywhere near effective enough to maintain a place in the 17 for me. Granted he does not let you down, he has a safe pair of hands and rarely gets penalised, I feel this is no longer enough if we want to be at the upper end of the table.

I agree, decent squad player, but not in our first 17, in fact there would have to be a few injuries for him to get a game (like on Saturday)

However with Houghton out I think he is useful to have on the bench to give Hadley a break, he did a decent job of covering there last season, personally I would prefer to see Litten given a bench spot, but I don't see Radford doing that.

Washbrook currently has the worst missed tackle rate out of the whole squad, he's made a paltry 68 metres at 5.7m per carry and is up there with the top error makers aside from Connor who has double the next person


I just don't see Washbrook as being 'safe' at this moment in time, he's a tryer but he's well short currently as are some others. Litten should be in front if we are wanting to relieve Hadley in any case.

I realise Washbrook hasn't had as much game time as some (which magnifies his error number though) but it just goes to show that we should be looking to someone else to have a go at filling his slot/role if Radford is sticking to his mandate of picking players on form.

Which should see some players under pressure, I reckon Logan could be given a run in the centres if others aren't up to the mark, I can't see Shaul being dropped though.
The stand outs so far for me are Hadley and Paea with Abdul not far behind.

We deffo need to sort out bench out though because that was a baffling choice on Saturday if I'm honest, it left us well short of grunt.

Houghton, Taylor, Manu missing and Green's partner expecting a baby anytime soon, who's this player with "grunt" you'd have picked?

So you think picking a centre on the bench was more or less grunt than picking a forward?


A player was picked with a known injury problem and we covered it with a back on the bench, others have already said this was an error in judgement.
So Green was available to play but wasn't picked, 'any minute now' wasn't this Saturday was it, and as Warrington did they pulled their player off the pitch when baby decided it was on its way.

Connor was "unwell" before the game, not injured.
I'd be very surprised if he didn't say he was ok to play.

Griffin, Carlos, Connor: put Griffin on the bench instead and no one would have commented on playing a "back" on the bench.

You still haven't said who you would have played.
I guess Turgut wouldn't be on your list, so maybe someone who could better Abdull and Matongo's total carries between them of 2?

I've no idea why Green didn't play, nor have you, maybe it was jetlag.