m.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/3857 Wheeler likely to regain his place too

m.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/3857 Wheeler likely to regain his place too

Hopefully coming into a winning side there is not going to be too much pressure on him to be barnstorming from day one.

A ten minute run out to get up to speed would be fine.

Really looking forward to seeing him play. I'd start Wheeler but Lance did enough at Salford to get a spot on the bench.

The selection headaches for NB are a good problem to have.

who would you drop for Mose and Wheeler?

Wellens and Laffranchi. Absolute no brainer.

If Wello plays this week it's a joke. It'll prove there was and never will be any intention of him being used as anything other than a sub every week.

Fully agree.

Wello and laffranchi have to make way for Mose and Wheeler. It's harsh as I usually don't like to change a winning team but would be nice to try and get the game won and let Roby have a rest with lance going to hooker

Its a no brainer alright, but will NB drop to of the most senior players?

What's the word on Beaumont. When will he be available?

Really looking forward to watching Masoe play
[iWhat's that thing coming over the hill...[/i

Are HKR still going to be missing Poore and Weyman?

They are both back from suspension.

I think realistically Wello probably will be dropped from the 17 this week, but I think dropping Laffranchi would be a bit harsh...I think he has looked pretty good in opening 3 games, averaging just over 30 tackles a match and chipping 2 tries in. I'd personally look at keeping Boof in there and possibly use him in the back row (although this would possibly mean Jones missing out this week who has also been impressive).

Looks like NB has got a couple of headaches for selection this week which can only be a good thing

Unfortunately I'm beginning to think that this isn't the case. At the start of the season quite a few people were defending the club and saying things like "Wellens will hardly play" and "he is only there as backup." Then Nathan Brown and Paul Wellens both did interviews and I said that I got the impression that Wellens will still feature regularly.

I know we are only 3 games in but I just get the feeling that I was right to worry and Brown is going to squeeze him in more often than not, regardless of how ridiculous and cringe-worthy it is seeing him run on for the last 15 minutes and contribute next to nothing.

Should be a ding dong up-front, then.

Yeah should be good. They have Neville Costigan too plus Langley is back from injury. I think it'll be closer than what most people seem to think. I fancy us to win but by a similar result to the Hull game 2 weeks ago I reckon.

Couldn't agree more - they drew with Hudds the other week and are being written off as easy beats.

Their pack is very strong and their halves should get better with games. I reckon it will be a very tough game indeed.

Could well be the biggest test yet for our revitalised pack? Throw in that HKR are a bit of a bogey team and it [icould[/i be a tougher night than most think.

Someone said on another thread that Sandercock had a habit of pulling one out of the bag when he was under pressure.

Let's hope not re. the last part. I certainly don't think it'll be a stroll for us. A win by 12-16 if I was a betting man.

The game against Huddersfield though was a bit of an anomoly. (spelling)..

I would hope if Saints where 24 - 6 ahead at half time at home, we would not let that slip. CATALAN (cough)!!!


I would hope that with 2 people being available for selection that were not last week, that should be reason enough to let 2 players sit out. It's not about saying someone is better than someone else. It's about giving enough players game time and rest time to keep the whole squad fit.

One thing is for certain if the same 17 play week in week out, we will get an injury run.

Personally for a game against London say, I would have no issue with Lance getting a start at 9. No he is not the best hooker, but do we need to play Roby at hooker for that match???

Jones has played well and so has LMS, but I would have no issue with one of them taking a week off, to allow Masoe in the side. So long as next week it was Laffranchi or someone else taking the rest.

Would personally leave wellens and wheeler out. I want wheeler to succeed, but he needs to work to work his way back in, and lance didn't do anything wrong - also, given wellens abuse for only playing short minutes, wheelers stats aren't much better. Laffranchi on the other hand is our 3rd top tackler.

Given their forwards are big and had a weeks rest, a pack of Amor Roby walmsley, Wilkin Manu, lms and a subs bench of jones, Soliola, masoe, laffranchi should give us an edge!

Rest Roby next week, move lance into hooker and bring wheeler back in, and then start to rotate the pack a little bit imo

It's difficult to compare stats when you are looking at a stand off against somebody being used in the back row. Completely different roles and different areas of the field.

Agreed but overall contribution should appear somewhere ... Pretty much all his stats are similar (all slightly better admittedly, but similar none the less)

Let's take tackles as an example. You are comparing Wellens who is been used in the middle of the field for 3 games to Wheeler who defends one or two in from the left wing (normally the side that defends the least) and has played in 2 of the 3 games. Therefore the fact that Wellens has done a similar amount of tackles to Wheeler doesn't surprise me in the slightest. (Wheeler has done 6 more.)

Looking at the other stats, Wheeler has made 10 times the amount of tackle busts and has a better average yardage gain, depsite the fact Wellens is being used against tired defences when the game is already won.

Wellens will somehow get selected.

It should be Mosoe in for laffranchi and Wheeler for Wellens with Hohaia off the bench.

Agree with all of that.

It'll be nothing short of a disgrace if Wellens is selected again.