If Clarkson & JJB are fit to play who would you omit from side that beat Hull

I'd leave out Smith or Donald (1 for the wing) with Delaney/Senior in Centre

Also omit Kirke and/or Diskin depending on Ali's fitness

To be honest, I'd keep Donald in the team.

Played well against Hull and was more than solid considering he hadn't featured in the last couple(?) of games.

Whether that means dropping Smith or keeping Senior in SR I'm not sure though.

Diskin won't be dropped.

Smith is poor in the centre, did nothing at Cas or Hull
Senior must play there if we are ok for 2nd rowers
Couldn't believe Ablett was put there instead of Senior when Smith went off

Webb
Donald
Smith
Delaney
Hall
McGuire
Burrow
Leulaui
Buderus
Bailey
Jones-Buchanan
Ablett
Sinfield

Diskin
Lauititi
Eastwood
Senior

is JJB fit? he still had a pot/cast on his foot on saturday

any side you want...still gonna lose

Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! i love it best when people totally write us off!

i dont like it when leeds are written off. we are favourites for sunday after finishing top and leeds injury issues in the forwards, but you still have a decent pack and are always dangerous in the halves. we also have alot of youngsters who are yet to experience playoff football, will they cope not only with the pressure but the expectation of the wigan fans. this game is going to be alot closer than many think. maybe a just a couple of points either way. sunday will not be another CC final. leeds will turn up and wigan will have to play very very well to beat you !!!!

Webb
Donald
Senior
Delaney
Hall
McGuire
Burrow
Leulaui
Buderus
Bailey
Clarkson if fit - if not Kirke
Ablett
Sinfield

Diskin
Lauititi
Eastwood
Smith

Of course he wont play this way cos he never has a back on the bench (unless he has senior there but he would be classing him as a 2nd row if he did)

Difficult to pick a side at this time of the year without knowing the full extent of player fitness.

If Leeds win it will be close. Otherwise I fear a re-run of the CC final scoreline.

Pick from the following:


The squad in full is:


1 Brent Webb
2 Scott Donald
3 Brett Delaney
4 Keith Senior
5 Ryan Hall
6 Danny McGuire
7 Rob Burrow
8 Kylie Leuluai
9 Danny Buderus
12 Ali Lauitiiti
13 Kevin Sinfield
14 Matt Diskin
15 Greg Eastwood
16 Ryan Bailey
17 Ian Kirke
18 Carl Ablett
20 Jay Pitts
24 Luke Ambler
28 Lee Smith

I think Leeds will roll out the same 17 as last week.

I'd be tempted to bring Ambler and Pitts in for Smith and Ali this week.

I don't like saying that about Smith as he is one of my favourites, but I would just rather load ourselves with forwards, and I thought Donald had a good game last week.

Ambler and Pitts seem to have gone down the pecking order, so can't see them getting a game now we are in the play-offs.

Ali has to be in for me. He has the ability to break down teams, we will need some flare to create enough scoring chances to out score Wigan.

Hull have a big pack and Leeds more than held their own last week. So I hope we can repeat the effort and improve to get the win. So with the injury disruptions as it is, I think Leeds needs as many constants as possible now. So the same 17 would be a big help IMO.

Is Lauitiiti worth taking into the game if you're only going to get 20 minutes out of him before he breaks down again?

Yes.

5 minutes in the GF did the job.

His offload (all-be-it a scruffy one) was the game breaker to create the space for McGuire to win it last week.

All-be-it a gap with Radford type shape in it.

Alll well and good if Alis is on the pitch for longer than 10 minutes, but a complete waste of a gamble if not.



Hull played with 12 men last week, and lost one of their forwards from that team inside 10 minutes. I would not hold onto anything from last week as a given for this week.

You could say he always comes with a gamble!

He will play.

But we still needed to break them down after a few bombed half chances / full chances.

There's a few bits we cab hold onto from that game. Leeds looked after the ball a lot better and the defence was better because we didn't put as much pressure on ourselves.

How much the man down had to do with that, would be hard to guage.

An area which wasn't improved last week, which will need to be this week, is the general kicking game. We need to lock Wigan down.

Webb
Hall
Smith
Senior
Donald
Sinfield
McGuire
Lleulai
Buderus
Ambler
Pitts
Delaney
Ablett

Burrow
Lauititi
Eastwood
Bailey

: )

that aint gonna happen of course.....but would at least like to see Hall remain on the right with Donald remaining on left as per last week's match.

Webb
Hall
Smith
Senior
Donald
McGuire
Burrow
Leuluai
Buderus
Ambler
JJB if fit (if not I would choose Diskin played as 2nd row not hooker)
Clarkson
Sinfield

Eastwood
Lauititi if fit (if not Diskin then Delaney as back rowers)
Ablett
Bailey

We need to start well with good go forward hence a start for Ambler. Although Senior was good last week in the pack, he is our best centre so he should partner Donald with Hall's height needed to counter the danger of Richards in the air. As Wigan have a good kicking game we should be planning to close down Tomkins & Deakin with Burrows speed and not one of the forwards.

Thats the sort of team I'd put out too. The 'tried & trusted' formations haven't worked too well this year so why not try something different. For once (in a playoff series) we're far from favourites so don't have that burden. Would definately like to see Pitts play, at least he'll bring some enthusiasm/energy sadly lacking from some of the regular first teamers.

What impressed me about Saints last night (they certainly showed the way to beat Wire) was the intensity at which they played the game, to a man. We need some of that.....and quickly!

Webb
Hall
Smith
Senior
Donald
McGuire
Burrow
Lleulai
Buderus
Ambler
Pitts
Ablett
Sinfield

Ambler
Eastwood
Bailey
Delaney

Diskin is pointless in the second row/loose forward; Buderus should be playing 60/70+ mins, if he needs a break then burrow/sinfield/webb/smith/etc can cover for 10/20 minutes.

Delaney showed last week (and most of the season) that he isn't a centre. His decision making is very poor, and in close games you need all the chances you get. His defence is good, his attitude/work ethic is good, he's pretty good in the collision, etc but in half a gap you wish that it was in seniors hands and not his.

kirke - his mobility is very poor, anyone with good feet makes his look silly. hasn't added anything in attack in the last few weeks

ali - how he's got another year is beyond me. even in his prime he was very much a passenger that would only come into the game for 10/20 minutes, but when was the last time he actually did something special or was a major factor in turning a game/winning the game

Id go with Eastwood, Lauitiiti and Leuluai all coming off the bench. We need some impact, something we lacked in the Final.

i'm with you on this team, Wigan would not be expecting it and the element of surprise could give us an edge