I think 11 of the 13 starting positions are pretty much nailed on as such,

1 - Hardaker
2 - BJB
3 - Watkins
4 - Ablett
5 - Hall
6 - Sinfield
7 - McGuire
8 - Leuluai
9 - ??????? Lunt or Burrow
10 - Peacock
11 - JJB
12 - Delaney
13 - ??????? Ward or Bailey

SUBS
- Griffin
- Clarkson
- Burrow/Lunt
- Bailey/Ward

I thought at first as a few of you might do also straight away, that Ward should definately start at 13, but thinking about it would it be a better idea to carry the extra prop to start the game as Wigan do start very strongly usually and will want to especially this weekend because they won't want to be going into the 2nd half with the scores close against Leeds in a big game. I know Ward can do the defensive work as he showed against Hull playing Second Row, but do we want him spending the first 20-30 mins tackling himself out? Similiar to Burrow, would Ward in this case be better coming on fresh to attack the Wigan team later on in the game.
As for Burrow i think if their is any team in SL that he should not start against in the hooking role then it's Wigan for the reasons stated above, i doubt we're going to be able to blitz Wigan early on and so would Lunt's more organised approach in attack and defence in the middle be the better choice. If we start with Burrow & Ward and Wigan do get off to one of their strong starts then we don't have a game changing bench to alter the flow and two tired attacking players.

What's the best option, save something on the bench for the last 50 mins or go straight for it from the off and hope that the likes of Ward and Burrow give Wigan enough problems from the start too? We aren't the fastest of starters in matches quite often though.

Personally i think Lunt definately over Burrow to start and i'm split between Bailey and Ward for Loose.

Lunt and Ward to start. Would currently have Moore or Kirke ahead of Clarkson on the bench.

4. Zak Hardaker
2. Ben Jones-Bishop
3. Kallum Watkins
12. Carl Ablett
5. Ryan Hall
13. Kevin Sinfield
6. Danny McGuire
8. Kylie Leuluai
31. Shaun Lunt
20. Darrell Griffin
11. Jamie Jones-Buchanan
15. Brett Delaney
25. Stevie Ward

7. Rob Burrow
10. Jamie Peacock
16. Ryan Bailey
17. Ian Kirke

Although some of us on here feel that Peacock should maybe start on the bench nowadays, their is no way that McDermott won't start with him this Saturday.

I'd go with..

Hardaker
Bjb
Watkins
Ablett
Hall
Sinfield
Mags
Bailey
Lunt
Peacock
Delaney
Jjb
Ward

Burrow
Moore
Griffin
Leuleui

Bails and Moore can do stints in the BR the likes of Kirke and Hauraki aren't good enough imo and Clarkson IF he plays has to start imo and i wouldn't start him before Delaney and JJb hence his omission.

I'd line up mean and moody. If we don't stop their pack and match round the ruck than we will have little chance.

We will also need Sinfields A Game with his general kicking. Got to push them back and force the errors. So we will need a rush style defensive push. Will zap the energy but we need to dig deep.

It's a game I'm very much looking forward to.

I'd have the game changers (Burrow and Ward) on the bench.......Clarkson should start or not at all.......and pray for heavy rain.

Think the printers line up is about right with the one exception , I would always have bailey at prop. Why, because I like him in the thick of things winding people up and drawing defenders into the tackle, hopefully creating space on the fringe of the ruck.

Spot-on the game will be won in the forwards. Wigan might be underdone if they bring too many back from injury. Should be a cracker.

I don't care if we win or lose.

I don't care how we perform or entertain.

I just hope that after the 80 minutes we rack up enough of the right stats so we can all sleep at night.

Regards, Small Minded Geek.

Hardaker
Bjb
Watkins
Ablett
Hall
McGuire
Burrow
Kylie
Lunt
Peacock
Delaney
Jjb
Sinfield

Moore
Clarkson
Bailey
Ward

I would have Bailey as a starting prop nowadays too but i put the team i think McDermott will chose and not what i'd have. I'm pretty confident that Leuluai and especially Peacock will be down as starters, some may not like it but i imagine JP's name is going to be one of the first written on the team sheet. The 11 i've put down i think are pretty much spot on what BMcD will pick unless anyone is carrying a knock, the other 2 positions are the only ones i can see as not being clear ATM from his selection history.

I'm thinking Bailey at Loose is the way to start, if we can keep even with them after the first 30 then the prospect of bringing Burrow and Ward on together to attack them sounds good. And if we do fall 2 or 3 tries behind like Wembley or Headingley a few weeks ago, again we have the players to bring on to try turn the tide instead of having Bailey and Lunt on the bench who whilst providing lots of work and grunt aren't the right players to help us create the tries to get us back into the game if need be.

I reckon we'll line up something like this...

Tomkins
Charnley/Thornley
Goulding/Thornley
Carmont
Gelling
Lockers
Finch
Mossop
McIlorum
Lima (Wane 90% sure he will be back for this one)
Hansen
Hock
Farrell

Lauaki
Flower
Tuson
?????

I reckon it will be stronger than the last team to play you with Hansen and Hock back.

However, you guys will be up for it. I reckon you will turn us over.

Thornley cant play, was signed after the registration deadline. And I would say at the minute, your ???? will be Logan Tomkins

Hadn't even considered Thornley.

You might be right about Logan but I'm not convinced this is a game for him. I have a feeling we might stick an extra SR on.

1. Hardaker
2. Bish
3. Watkins
4. ablett
5. Hall
6. Sinny
7. Mcguire
8. Griffin
9. Lunt
10. Peacock
11. JJB
12. Delaney
13. Ward
Subs
Burrow, Bailey, Kylie, Kirke

Hardaker
Bish
Watkins
Ablett
Hall
Ward
McGuire
Kylie
Lunt
Peacock
Delaney
Jjb
Sinfield

Moore
Singleton
Bailey
Burrow

Leeds line up.
Do what they usually do v Wigan.

Behind the try line.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist.

I actually think it will be a very close game, which is a worry for me.
The games Wigan have lost have been the close games, in general we have blown teams off the park. We need to close out those close games.

No apologies needed.

Very good.

Leeds seem to have got a bit of self belief back ( 4 on the bounce now i believe) whereas Wigan have chopped and changed their team through injury over the last several weeks. This will be a tight one. A confident, motivated Leeds team is always a dangerous animal. I cant wait for the game but got a feeling Leeds could edge a tight one between 2-4 points. Rain is forcast as well which will benefit Leeds more than it will Wigan.

I may be mistaken but didn't you say something similar on here prior to Wigan putting a cool fifty past Leeds at Headingley as recently as the 1st of June 2012?

So far this season it's Leeds 14 Wigan 70 on aggregate over the two meetings. While I hope it's not another blow-out I'd be surprised if there are less than twelve points in it at the final whistle.

Out of the 8 semi-finals we've won since 1994, only the Featherstone, Toulouse (and possibly the Hull) games have been relatively stress-free.

IF we are going to win, I suspect we will all be emotional wrecks by the end.

Well, the game itself may have been stress free......

See, i was spot on