Wigan possibly without eight players.

Bowen, Charnley, Thornley, Pettybourne, Flower, Farrell, Clubb, OLoughlin.

Academy players that are injured that would come in.

Sutton, Tierney, Hampshire.

Definitely advantage Leeds, but we said that a few years back and got 50 past us.

Granted Hull look pretty shambolic ATM but still a good showing it's seems from Wigan.

There was the first real signs of fatigue in some guys on Thursday but we can't really rest players for this one. Hopefully the big turnaround will prove instrumental.

The big one for Wigan is always O'Loughlin. If he plays, even on one leg, it gives Wigan a much better chance of a win.

Tierney and Hampshire are both injured. Sutton went off with concussion against Hull so he wil have to pass the test before he can play.

i would take nothing for granted.Weren't saints without a dozen not so long back? and they turned us over.

most will be back next week and hull were absolute garbage last night. don't read anything into that result. i've a feeling next week could be one tough game to many for us against a team thirsting for revenge

No they won't. Half of them are out for at least another couple or weeks.

Including O'Loughlin?

I am sure we've all heard that before.Wouldn't be surprised at 2 or 3 Lazarus type recoveries.This is a more important fixture to Wigan than to Leeds imo.If we win I think Wigan will struggle to reduce the gap.

i agree. wigan lose and top spot is virtually out of reach. add to that wanes desperation to beat leeds and i'd expect a good side out

As with ST's on many occasions and more recently the Pies never write them off and never take owt for granted.
History tells us what has happened before and as Tad pointed out this is the end of some very tough recent fixtures for us plus the hunger to "put one right" is also a factor in the Wigan approach.

From a personal perspective I have a really bad feeling about wigan this season. They have a large, fresh young team, they are up there near the top 2 without really breaking a sweat. How many times have leeds gone on to be champions after only sparring early doors?

They'll be extremly difficult to topple in the knockout games.

They will be of course. All comes down to how fit/injury free teams are come playoff time. Like has been mentioned O'Loughlin is massive for them but struggles to get out there a lot recently.

They'll stand a chance come playoff time because they're defensively very good, it's what saw them home in the playoffs last year IMO. Now it hasn't been as good so far this year but I think it'll improve as they go along and hit the playoffs. It's also why I'd place them as stronger contenders than Saints who ship a few too many points.

Spot on .It boils down mainly to injuries. We ran them close in the semi final eliminator last season even with a busted team. We can give anybody a game if we can put a strong 15 to 17 out.

Sean OLoughlin had an interview with SSN today saying he won't be fit for Saturday, aswell as below.

Liam Farrell, Matty Bowen, Josh Charnley, Iain Thornley, Ben Flower, Eddie Pettybourne and Ryan Hampshire, who all missed last Friday's 44-16 win at Hull, are unlikely to return and they have been joined on the injury list by Tony Club, who will be out for four to five weeks with a knee injury, and Ryan Sutton, who was concussed at the KC Stadium.

Yes but then he said he is close, and if not this week, definitely the next.

So shall we assume this is a bit kidology on the part of the goons & all the players named will be fit and playing???

One or two of those may be back but our injury situation is very real. Thornley's out for the season, Charnley has missed the last 6 and told people at the Magic launch yesterday he's another couple of weeks away, Flower and Pettybourne have missed the last 4 and could be nearing a return, Lockers has missed the last 3 and sounds like he's still struggling, Bowen and Farrell missed the Hull game, Hampshire picked up a knock playing for the 19s and Clubb and Sutton went off injured in the first half on Friday. Kidology isn't really SWs style tbh.

I will always be wary of Wigan, whatever 17 they field. O'Loughlin is obviously the big loss for them, he is their Sinfield and easily their best player. I think Ben Flower has been a big loss for them as well. I thought he was one of the best forwards I saw last year - not seen so much this year.

You would have to say that if that injury list is real then we should have the edge on Saturday. Take nothing for granted though.

Irrespective of the result this weekend, I expect both teams to be very much in the mix when the trophies get handed out this year.

Saturday is a meaningless showpiece for the RFL.

Of far more importance to SW is the cup game against Cas. There is NO chance of Lockers, Faz, Charnley, Flower etc being risked against Leeds if it means being weaker for the cup.

A top 4 place is within Wigan's grasp and as we well know there is absolutely no point whatsoever in knackering the team trying to come first on the ladder. Wane learnt that last year. Leeds have known it since the playoffs went to 8.

That said - Whatever team is out on Saturday will be competetive. No danger.

I wonder if the Wigan club are becoming concerned at how many games O'Loughlin is missing these past couple of seasons ?
A great player and without a doubt their key man to how they perform,but he just isn't getting out regularly enough
Wouldn't William be calling him Biscuit Bones by now if he played for us?

It seems to be almost akin to the situation Paul Sculthorpe went through at Saints

There's no doubt about it - they will be concerned. But what can you do? He played the Challenge Cup Final and Grand Final on one leg, and was clearly unfit, though still our best player, in the WCC.

But if he hadn't played we probably wouldn't have won the double. He might however be fitter now - for the meaningless part of the season.

At the moment we are still in the Cup and sitting nicely in the top 4. I wouldn't expect to see him until maybe the week before the Cup game then there's a two month gap to the semi final (if we win). The club did beat Leeds and Huddersfield in the playoffs without him last year - so it's not critical.

Did you have Tomkins, Richards & Mossop?

Yes - correct. No doubt that we will miss Tomkins, Bowen is good, but not AS good. Burgess is already proving to be a more than adequate replacement for Richards and to be honest, although he was not really rated by anyone (except Wane of course) Tony Clubb has been something of a revelation at prop.

Bateman has impressed everyone, and Williams, Hampshire, Sarginson and Manfredi, have all proved themselves this season as being capable deputies. These players will all be looking for regular first team rugby next season.

The pace of change at Wigan has been immense these last two years. But SW trusts in youth - although probably through necessity.

I wish we could have kept hold of our stars the way Leeds do, but we don't for whatever reason, and that makes SWs success as a coach all the more remarkable (I'm a fan - can you tell?!!)

It's something like 22 games out of 50 that he's missed since the beginning of 2013, and our win ratio drops from nearly 90% when he plays to under 60% when he doesn't, so yes I imagine it definitely is a concern!