Perry, Eastmond, Lomax, Gaskell and Dixon could all return this week.

It was predicted that god was back this week too, but he missed out again.

Leons having a scan this afternoon,hopefully its good news.

Interesting dilemma for rolls if lomax gaskell and eastmond are all fit. Will eastmond get a game or go back to the reserves ? Possibly stick him on the bench. Don't believe he showed enough in his games to justify a place ahead of lomaskell

Agreed, I think when Pryce comes back too the pairing will be Pryce at 6 with Lomax at 7. You can tell that Royce really doesn't like Kyle from his interviews and statements.

It could go either way. I suppose Simmons might want to test the water with Lomaskell and so keep Eastmond on the bench in case one of them breaks down or needs a rest. They've both been out for quite a while and so will not be match fit, although Saints did say on Twitter that anyone returning will need to 'hit the ground running', which suggests there is no plan for easing anyone back in! By choice though I can't see the coach playing Eastmond ahead of Lomaskell given that they were in such good form and progressing well before they were injured.

will be good to almost be on an even keel with the oppostion for a change.(if the above are back)

Assuming Pryce isn't back, out of the above three, Lomax is the star. While Eastmond has shown us in the past he is a talent, his contribution in games this season has been dissapointing. Gaskell, while not the star Lomax is, has proved an excellent foil for Lomax's attack, adding steady distribution and a long kicking game to our armoury.

Eastmond would probably get the "back" slot on the bench, as he could cover a few different positions.

If Leon and wheeler return soon, who will miss out?

Before all the injuries Jamie foster was the player missing out or he was the outside back on the bench that Royce likes.

IMO Pryce at 6 and lomax at 7 in the halves would be very good.


If wheeler reclaims his centre spot that will leave meli and foster fighting it out for the wing spot. If Kyle is to be the outside back as you've put in your post then either meli or foster lose out. ( or even ade)

I dont think we afford to leave out foster with his kicking,
2 points could be a big difference, take hull and cas as an example!

Foster has to start for kis kicking, which means we have a real log jam in the halfs. Although Pryce is our best and most experienced 6, I really cant see him being here next year,particularaly with hohaia arriving. I would like to see Lomax and Wheeler string a few games together at 6 and 7, they are our best combination for mine. Gaskell will have to bide his time, which is unfortunate for him, but good for the squad.

Leon replied last night saying he gets his scan results on Thursday.

While I agree that that would be a fantastic partnership with ball in hand, it would leave us without a specialist kicking game. With that in mind, injuries permitting, I'd be tempted to put Wheeler (his kicking against Wigan was awesome - I'm assuming that wasn't a one off) or Gaskell in there. No idea who I'd leave out ... nice problem to have though.

Foster should be first choice and IMO should have started this season as first choice as he was our best winger at the back end of last year.

I suspect it would be Ade that lost out in that situation, although his form has been good, Foster's kicking is invaluable and Meli's attacking threat is one of the highest on the squad.

That is assuming no one else in the squad could take up the kicking. Lomax has knocked a few over this year, hasn't he?

Lomax is a very good goal kicker himself, but Foster is still a cut above.

He has, but he's nowhere near the standard of Foster.

No, but I remember him getting some pretty difficult ones.

Foster's a good kid and has been solid for us, but I hope we're never in the situation when we're held ransom by his kicking in order to leave out better wingers.

I've not seen as many matches as I'd like to this season, but I don't think I've seen Foster put a foot wrong yet. He might not have much pace, but he's a good finisher, a handy kick returner, he's got good hands and a brain as well. Goal kicking aside, I think he's in on merit. After catching State of Origin this morning though, I must say it would be nice to have a winger somewhere within a country mile of the standard they seem to be churning out over there.

I don't believe Foster is a one trick pony as many seem to make out. The fact he has 10 tries to his name which is 5th in SL shows he can do more than just kick. He is an excellent finisher. He's solid and reliable in defence and under the bomb and whilst he's not got Darren Albert's pace he certainly couldn't be considered slow.

He's currently the leading point scorer in SL.

He's safe, he has a habit of taking a ball out of the air in difficult situations, he also tends to be in the right place at the right time to cover breaks and kick throughs.
I don't think he has the physical extreme to be a top class winger (pace of strength), but, given he used to be a centre and therefore must have some ball handling skills, so would like to see him get a run at full back sometime where he can show those talents off.

I agree - that seems to me to be the position to which he's most ideally suited.

My one tiny issue with Foster at FB is that when the ball comes bouncing through he seems to want to take it with one hand. If he could avert himself from doing that I'd have no problem with him there.

I think he's got potential to be pretty good fullback. He's very safe on kicks and has a very very positional mind for such young lad that suggests it's natural but my only concern is he can't really beat a man. He's not got great pace to run round teams, he's not big enough or strong enough to bust tackles.

The fact he is great finisher suggests his best postion is wing but if he could start beating men I'm sure he'd be quality fullback.

Royce's comments about players not easing themselves back in "the players that are coming back cannot ease their way back in – they have to get back into the game and whack into it at 100 miles an hour." sound as though it could be aimed at Eastmond, after his pretty poor displays on return from injury. Would suggest to me that if Lomaskell are fit, they will get the nod ahead of Eastmond. www.sthelensstar.co.uk/saints/ne ... hemselves/

Royce's comments about players not easing themselves back in "the players that are coming back cannot ease their way back in – they have to get back into the game and whack into it at 100 miles an hour." sound as though it could be aimed at Eastmond, after his pretty poor displays on return from injury. Would suggest to me that if Lomaskell are fit, they will get the nod ahead of Eastmond. www.sthelensstar.co.uk/saints/ne ... hemselves/