Even with the five changes they made to the team?

I would be tempted to start Delaney at prop and with Kylie off the bench as impact prop and drop Bailey after he deserted his post and left a huge gap under the sticks against Cas. However we will be up against a fired up and inform Salford who will need a win to have a chance of a top 8 place, so we need to start well.

Therefore I would start with JP, Aiton and Kylie in the front row with JJB & Delaney in the 2nd row and Ablett at loose.

In Sinfield's absence I would play Burrow at 7 and Mags at 6 as we will need play makers on the field for the full 80 in the skipper's absence. If Aiton needs a rest or gets injured then Burrow to 9 and Sutcliffe on from the bench.

Walters deserves a bench spot as he has put in an enthusiastic stints with a high tackle and marker tackle count over the last 5 games he has played. That leaves two bench spots from Ward, Bailey, Singleton or Minichella. I would give the latter two the chance to make an impact and rest Ward and Bailey.

I don't understand the comment 'the old style ball handling LF is pretty much non existent these days'......is it against the rules? Are clubs not allowed to buck the trend?

Delaney at prop or '3rd prop' at LF for me. Never again in the second row....until he learns to pass of course.

The players of pre super league generations, who worked on the building site all week, trained on evenings, often played 2 games a week and regularly played 45+ games a season are, as we speak, forming a support group for Stevie Ward, his tired legs and the poor ickle full time Super League players.

The game pre super league is just like me organising a get together of mates to have a game of footy, with jumpers for goal posts. There is no comparison mate. Those players would not last 20 minutes of one game these days.

Yes even with the 5 changes, actually only 4 different faces in the 17 and Gibson was fairly quiet at centre and Carney was badly missed until Clare finally made an impact very late on. Carvell was actually one of the more livelier Cas players I thought.

A similar occurrence happened the week they played Wigan in the league after beating them in the CC, a few changes there too but they looked tired and were easily brushed aside.

That's why I can't see them reaching the GF, they could definitely beat one of the main contenders in the playoffs but I can't see them backing it up against the top sides a few weeks in a row.

I think you are missing the point Printer.

Powell rotates his squad, and rests players. They do not have the squad, and nor should they that other top sides have. Therefore when he rests he reduces the quality of his side (although all sides should have some reduction when playing fringe players). When he plays his first choice players they more than match the sides they are playing. The defeats you talk of are where he has done exactly that and rested players.

He is a coach that ensures the welfare of his players, and therefore gets the best out of them when it matters. Whether that best is still good enough come any trophy time, only time will tell. But for what it is worth, a club like Cas shouldn't just be coming from nowhere in one season and reaching grand finals anyway.

What are you going on about?

I simply said they looked to still be physically feeling the effects of last week and you're going on about squad rotations and squad depth quality.

"The defeats I mentioned". I mentioned two games and the Hull game last night was a draw.

Did you see Clark get his ribs taped up last night at half time in the dressing room but still play most of the 2nd half? Wonder how that'd go down on this board with a Leeds player.

I hope you're using the theory of 'whoever may be at fault for a try is dropped' universally. Brilliant.

Again, missing the point. Then get all defensive.

You were pointing out that Cas can not get themselves up for two big games on the trot. Pointing it out that they can not handle it physically, and pointed out to defeats on the back of big wins to back that up.

I simply pointed out the true position, that those defeats after big games were down to resting players and rotating his squad. He did it again last night, but got away with a draw. However, the performance level drops from the team when the resting and rotation happens, due to the fact Cas do not have a squad that matches other top teams. However, when they put out their first choice players they more than match those top teams. I also said that no club like Cas should be coming from nowhere to reach finals, and hence why I alluded that trophies would not define their season.

No doubt you are turning this into another McDermott thing, even though his name nor Leeds is mentioned. I was just pointing out the true scenario.

I made a comment about Cas looking physically tired last night. You have this thing about defending them (see other thread where they'd have definitely scored even if Sinfield hadn't been sent off.

You've completely taken something about Ward and Cas being tired still and gone down another route.

And don't get try and get clever with the "me turning it into a Leeds/McDermott" thing. You started it with praising Powell for resting and rotating his squad and we could see the thinly vailed aim of where you were alluding too.

Can't really be bothered with your fog knitting arguing today as I simply made an observation about last nights game and you couldn't accept it......and you and one or two others cry foul that they can't have an opinion on here as it's not allowed by other posters, laughable.

Printer- Fwiw as I read Gotchas post his point about Powells squad rotation was a direct answer to you saying that Cas "struggle" to back up after big games adding fine detail to the debate mate!
Leeds were never mentioned and to be fair IF it gets about Leeds/McDermott he isn't afraid to point it out so how you take that as a "thinly veiled aim" of going there then you've completely mis-read the point imo.

Of course they are, and with both Sutcliffe and Ward around Leeds may well do that. However, with 2 half backs, a hooker, and a FB operating as play makers does a team really need a play making LF? Leeds do need a player or 2 more in the pack who can offload though and hit good lines, and this is what I hope to see Ward and Sutcliffe develop into rather than a Sinfield type LF.

That's exactly what it was. He just gets so defensive he makes things up as he goes along. I didn't even praise Powell for what he said.

The other day, him and his two stooges were saying if you have an opinion on a message board then people have a right to respond to it. Now it happens with him, pointing out his incorrect view, and he gets all uppity about it.

Why must you all constantly have boring arguments?

But those pre-SL players didn't go through the equivalent of a car crash at 60mph 20 times in 1 game like Jamie Peacock did in the Warrington game at home this season. They also didn't run as far or as fast in the games they played. And they had a full reserves team to help aid their introduction/re-introduction to the 1st team. Because, as you say, they were semi-pro. It's probably about the standard (physically, not talent) of London Skolars.
I also don't recall times in a season pre-SL where there would be 6-10 players injured at the same time. Something which appears to be happening more and more across SL teams.

No I usually make allowances for the odd mistake but Bailey's defensive lapse against Cas was a terrible error.

Defence is Baileys main asset yet these days both Ward and Walters offer more in this department. We know what Bailey can do and I would like to give Singleton and Minchella a couple of games to see if they have what it takes to be in the mix for the playoffs. Walters should be in on merit. So I would rest Ward & Bailey for this one. However I feel sure Big Mac will go with experience against Salford.

Will just say here, and I am not disagreeing with you on Bailey getting dropped, that JJB does that defensive lapse on the line week after week when he is in the side. Infact within two seconds of coming on last week, he did the very same thing, flying out of the line, leaving a massive gap that Cas did capitalise on, but just lucky that his team mate saved him.

Unless you are suggesting the same dropping, then of course you point would be ridiculed as just biase.

No the errors are not the same. One of JJB's attributes is his speed off the line, unfortunately this does sometime result in leaving a gap especially if his teammates are slow off the line. JJB added vital energy and line speed in defence when he came on which was a major factor in Leeds gaining the momentum as he drove defenders back over the gain line.

Now Bailey' error was quite a different kettle of fish. He can never be accused of coming out of the line quickly now can he? He had just taken a position on his own between the posts and Hardaker (assuming they were going to attack to their left) called for more bodies as cover. Bailey without first checking that his outside man (Ablett) would take his place (to the left of the markers) just left a giant hole that Ablett had no time to fill. For such an experienced defender to make such a blunder which cost us 6 points cannot be compared equally with our (JJB led )rushed defence that has been missing over our recent slump.

Not a droppable error, just in your mind.

What are Ward and Walters' tackle stats like compared to numbers? In terms of tackle efficiency etc? As you can't proclaim Ward to be doing a better job than Bailey defesivley? I bet Bails has only just missed 7 or so tackles this season let alone in one game! I like Walters and I like the way he has been dripped into the team, one for the future.

For me Bails has had plenty of rests this seasons so he's good to go, and Mac seems to be getting his preferred 17 out there now. So we'll see what he runs with. Could expect a couple of key rests next week before the big semi.

As I said. Showing obvious biase can only result in ridicule. You can not blame JJB's defensive brain farts on his team mates. They are coming up correctly. The whole idea is you come as a line, not a lone ranger. Ok if you pull it off, but your problem if it fails.

JJB did add vital energy when he came on, but the very first set in defence he left that yawning gap, that Castleford did exploit, and his team mate rescued him from it. You only had to look at JJB's face when it happened to realise how he felt.

Like I said, if you want to use these reasons to drop someone, then it needs to be consistent across the players.

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