The reason I would give for putting Gaskell in is that I believe a professional rugby league team really should have at least one player with a kicking game. Madness, I know.

Well, I've watched him every time the u20s have played at home as I go to the stadium early deliberately to catch at least the second half of the u20s game. It was a habit I got into at Widnes and one I really enjoyed. Gaskell looks just the same as he did in the first team. He can pull off some beautiful passes, make great decisions and execute a great grubber (which sometimes results in a try) or long kick and then other times he makes a wrong decision or his grubber doesn't work or whatever. In short, he looks like a halfback who is thinking, working hard, showing ability and executing skill but who isn't God.

Crazy suggestion, that.

Forgive me but if you had bothered to read a bit higher up the same page as your post, you would have discovered that I am far from happy playing Lance at stand-off. I point out that I think that none of our current stand-offs are good enough and playing Lance is only using the best of a woeful bunch.

So you would bring back Foster for his kicking then because that's the limit of his talent ATM. A player needs more than a kicking game and, frankly, that's all Gaskell has got.

No, why would I bring Foster back for tactical kicking? A club can get away with one creative HB and one running HB. Not two. We have a promising player who also has the best tactical kicking game at the club and he cannot get a game as we are playing someone out of position at 6 who appears to be lacking any kind of solid tactical kicking game.

I think Gaskell has everything to be a very good stand off...he's clever, great hands, good long/short kicking game and can take the line on.

He's the naturally gifted halfback at saints without a shadow of a doubt.

The eradication of that part of his game comes with gametime. Something he is painfully short of as we continue to play a bloody FB we don't need in his place, whilst he cannot play in the position he is known for as we are playing a FB who should really now only be a back up member of the squad.

I cannot wait for this season to end to be honest now. Just want to see Brown re-envigorate the squad now.

That maybe the case, but to replace him with someone who has nothing but a kicking game ( Ok but not brilliant ) and no other threat is not the way to go. Unfortunately we don't have an anywhere decent stand-off at the club. Lance gets the nod because of his big game experience and that, for some reason, Lomax plays better when he's his partner.

Gaskell has other threats. He has made clean breaks you know. He has pace. He is rangey and has used that. He can think and react quickly: for example turning a poor pass which missed its target into a grubber kick from which we got a goal line drop out. He is not yet consistent but he has not yet played a full season at first grade, and now won't do. He needs exactly what Lomax needs and for the same reasons (except Lomax has had more experience in the first team, albeit not at halfback).

Gaskell is much better than you make out. He can break the line, open teams up, kicking game and has good rugby brain.

My only complaint with Gaskell he sometimes takes the wrong option and blows chances. The grand final was a perfect example of this but that will come with experince.

He should be give a extended run in the first team at stand off.

Can we have some good summer first though? Summer hasn't even started yet and we're almost at halfway. I don't want the season to end yet because that will mean it is the autumn!

I agree he can make breaks, but once through a quality stand-off would convert a high proportion of those breaks. Gaskell blows far too many chance by taking the wrong option or ignoring support runners and going himself. For any half back of any age that is a major and fundamental flaw in their game and would be extremely difficult to coach once a player reaches the first team. This skill is instinctive and his instinct is to go it alone, probably because all through the junior ranks he was good enough to get away with it.

That is more than our stand off of the moment is doing



I think his decision making will come with experince.

Where's jamie foster these days? injured?

Not injured. Dropped to the u20s.

It's because of opinions like yours that we have to endure boring rugby. Gaskell is a player who plays to make something happen, if he didn't try different options and stuck to constantly doing and initiating the same choices then maybe he'd fit in better at Saints at present because ALL the players are so predictable. Just like we saw against Wigan last week when they shut Roby down and anticipated what Saints would do before they even did it themselves. Making errors and wrong decisions is the best way we learn and I see Gaskell has made more positive play than negative. He should be playing in the first team, there's no doubt about that, but Rush has made it obvious that there's some personal stuff going on and has frozen him out. Now, when you mention that he 'ignores support runners and goes in himself', it makes me realise you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

My opinion has nothing to do with boring rugby. I have watched Saints play some of the most entertaining rugby ever played. I have also endured them playing some pretty dire stuff over the years. If you have watched the games he has played over the last 12 to 18 months you would actually see that I do know what I am talking about. I actually have my own, self developed, opinion which can be backed up with facts. You seem to spout the same arguments which all Ill informed use I.E. praise the good, Ignore the bad. Until you find some evidence to back up your claims, could I trouble you not to comment on my posts. I wish to have sensible debate, which is clearly beyond you!

Top Saint has done the right thing and opened the Gaskell debate elsewhere so lets get this back to the game.

How do we think our 17 will shape up against Leeds. I'm quite confident, but TP could be the difference, if he is ready he could be a handful for Leeds, if he is half fit then it maybe a risk I would not take for this game.

Yeah. I rather think, though, that Burrow will be quite a handful for TP. Wasn't it TP's legs Burrow ran through in the GF to score his try that everyone kept going on about?

I'm not confident myself. Not only will Burrow be back to cause us problems but they now know how we play. Last time out they were expecting a team that was struggling and we blasted them from the start. We won't have that element of surprise this time and after our showing against Wigan they will be aiming to close down Robes, since that is all it appears to take to render us impotent in the attacking stakes.

Wellens
Makinson
Shenton
Wheeler
Meli
Hohaia
Lomax
Laffranchi
Roby
Perry
Wilkin
Soliola
Puletua

Bench
McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Flannery
Clough
Flanagan

TP will play today. Magennis and Jones missing out, don't know how they're lining up just yet.

Our squad will be from:
Webb, Watkins, Hardaker, Hall, Mags, Burrow, Leuluai, JP, JJB, Ablett, Sinfield, Smith, Delaney, Bailey, Clarkson, Griffin and Lunt
So likely: Webb, Watkins, Smith, Hardaker, Hall, Sinfield, Mags, Leuluai, Burrow, JP, Ablett, Delaney, JJB
Subs: Bailey, Clarkson, Griffin Lunt
Hauraki and Moore are in the U20's for this evening.
Our U20's team for anyone interested is:
1 Luke Briscoe
2 Jimmy Watson
3 Alex Foster
4 Jimmy Keinhorst
5 Jamel Chisholm
6 Stevie Ward
7 Ollie Olds
8 Ian Kirke
9 Paul McShane
10 Richard Moore
11 Weller Hauraki
12 Clayton Stott
13 Aaron Brown
14 Jack Pring
15 Colton Roche
16 Sean Casey
17 Daniel Smith
Watch Ward, Briscoe, Chisholm Olds and Keinhorst they're ones for the future.

How many are you expected to bring across this evening?
It's going to be an interesting one seen as though you do usually bring a fair few across.
I wouldn't blame you if people decide to stay at home rather than battle through the horrible M62!

Safe journey across!

Burrow was certainly a hand full for TP, when he manhandled him man and ball in the last match. Burrows gripping on for dear life.