A very tough one but a win is needed to get us back on the horse.

Miller
Fusitua, Newman, Momirovski, Roberts
Croft, Frawley
Oledzki, Ackers, Holroyd
McDonnell, Martin
Smith

O’Connor, Lisone, Goudemand, Sangare

Edgell, McCormack, Sinfield, Donaldson

Very tough one. Not confident at all but fingers crossed we turn up and put a full 80 performance on. Huddersfield have turned a corner in recent weeks. I’m not sure we can afford to lose it otherwise confidence will take a huge hit

Is Bentley available?

If our ambition is to be best of the rest and accept that Wigan Saints Catalans and probably Wire are a level above us then our results against HKR Salford Hudds and Leigh will determine if we are progressing.As such Sunday is a very important game. Currently we have won 2 and lost 1 in that group. Personally for me how we play and if we are getting closer to the standard of the top 4 should be just as important but in terms of the table we need to be winning our home games against the teams around us!

Been told James Bentley is having to be stood down for a month due to his history of concussions and having a high level concussion away at Huddersfield September last year.


Tom Holroyd is also having to be stood down as well apparently due to having a heavy concussion against Warrington.

So I believe we have Holroyd, Bentley & Gannon all currently missing due to concussion protocol.

So in theory Bentley misses next three then hopefully available for Catalans on 11th May. You would hope his defence is not missed against Hull and London as we should be able to win both those comfortably!

I cringe reading posts in which fans name certain opposition teams and assume Leeds should automatically win based on league position and/or the status of the opposition club. It's not the 2000s anymore, the salary cap has greatly closed the gap between teams in terms of squad talent and depth, and it just shows a lack of respect for other clubs IMO. It also implies that we will perpetually lose to teams above us, killing grounds for any reasonable hope in the team while artificially raising expectations against weaker clubs. No wonder coaches talk about taking it a game at a time...

Hmm. The Best I can offer you is first 40 no effort, then trying a bit for 10 minutes after half-time.

At least we've got the excuse lined up if we lose.

Miller
Fusitua Newman Momirovski Roberts
Croft Frawley
Oledzki Ackers Goudemand
McDonnell Martin
Smith

O’Connor Lisone Sangare Donaldson

McCormack Edgell Sinfield Littlewood

Interested to see how Meslier goes at full back Frosties!!
Should be decent under the high ball

Not so sure about that mate.
He will probably punch it in the air.

Not disrespecting the opposition at all but I don't think its unreasonable to state that if you have ambition to progress season on season that you should be targeting winning your home games against teams that finished the previous season with a similar points total.
Also I believe 90% of supporters would be disappointed with defeats to the 2 bottom placed clubs.
As you pointed out all clubs are equal regarding the salary cap and if we are maintaining that there is not that big a gap between squad quality across the league then where you finish at the end of the year will depend on the quality of your coaching. To a certain extent I agree!
For what its worth I would like to see Hull bounce back as it would be good for the wider game.

I'm hoping we can field a 17 like this

Miller
Roberts
Newman
Momirovski
Fusitu'a
Croft
Frawley
Oledzki
Ackers
Sangare
Martin
Mcdonnell
Smith

Subs

O'Connor
Lisone
Goudemand
Ruan

I think recalling Ruan is a smart decision he'll hopefully get some game time with us losing a few forwards to concussion protocol.

Disappointed we can’t play Holroyd, we just cannot get our first 17 together.

Miller
Fus, Newman, Mom, Roberts
Croft, Frawley
Mik, Ackers, Sangare
McDonnell, Martin
Smith

O’Connor, Lisone, Goudemand, Ruan.

Should have a good reaction after some time off and hopefully beat Huddersfield and gain some confidence and form going into Hull and London games

I also see its a Lot Pod and Squareball cross over for their review!

I’m just hoping that if Fuisitua does play he’s not just used as our main battering ram out of defence. Yes he’s a big lad, but if we flog him like we’ve flogged Handley over the last few years he’ll soon be back on the treatment table. Lads like him are meant to be used as auxiliary forwards to enable to enable the bigger guys to have a breather. They’re not in the team to allow our props to toss it off.

I have backed Huddersfield on the predictions topic. On that basis I am more confident of a Leeds win.

That's what I would go with if Fus available.

Gannon out until at least June apparently too. We really have no luck with injuries. Never known a team like it.

We're not 100% that Rob's condition is down to rugby - but. We also had Stevie Ward don't forget, sadly retired way before his time.

Plenty of other clubs have had issues with ex-players and head injury legacies, but we've had some worrying trends at Leeds - currently Gannon and Bentley in particular.

I worry about Gannon in particular, such a potential talent and if he's too prone to concussion we're just never going to see it.

I wonder if there's some correlation between how young these guys made their open age debuts - it's hard to overstate the physcial impact for young lads playing against fully grown men (even in Championship). Calls into question our strategy of playing our young players in over-age environments right through the academy too IMO. It's OK having protocols in place but it does not stop you getting concussion from defending, or just from the legitimate force of impact compared to lads more their own age and strength.

Can’t see Gannon play this year. Not something that can be rushed. Soon a he’s back will be getting head contacts, it’s inevitable. Medical team will rightly be extremely cautious. We don’t want another Ward scenario.

Glad Ruan is back, hope he gets a place. We need forwards badly atm.

I realised myself just now ha!

Interesting seeing Sinfield, Ruan, Roberts, Edgell, Nicholson-Watton, McCormack all in the 21, meaning at least two of these will play. Roberts is a certainty given Handley absence, but with Ruan and Nicholson-Watton being both recalled, you’d expect at least one of them too.

Miller; Fusitua, Newman, Momirovski, Roberts; Croft, Frawley; Oledzki, Ackers, Sangare; McDonnell, Martin, Smith.
O’Connor, Lisone, Goudemand, Ruan/Nicholson-Watton

Sinfield, Edgell, McCormack.

I've contemplated this for a few years now. The days of 16 and 17 year olds playing regular first grade are over. It's not just head knocks, it also has a huge affect on the body. Look at the state of Jack Walker, as an example. We're essentially expecting kids to take repeated car crash level impacts.
Personally, I don't think it will be long before we introduce a minimum age limit to senior rugby, like they have in Aus.