Losing either or Roby or Burns would be a killer for us and would make you favourites I reckon.

We simply have nobody who can do anything close to what Roby does. O'Loughlin is huge for you but in Bateman you have someone who can step in.

We could potentially be without our 1,6,7 and 9 which would mean we'd need a huge performance from the forwards and Wilkin single handedly guiding us.

We need at least one of Burns or Roby out there in order to win in my opinion.

Agree with all of that.

In my opinion it doesn,t matter how many pivotal players we have, first things first we need to sort out our defence, we can almost guarantee that the goons don,t want a forward battle and will try and move the ball out wide as quick as possible.

This is we really need to put a lot of pressure on Matty Smith so they don,t get any rythem, likewise there will be a lot of pressure on Wilkin if he is our one and only pivot.

We are getting a little bit snookered if we lose both Burns and Roby with Wellens at 1 and Lance at 9 we could look at Turner at 6 with Jonesy and Dawson concentrating more as defensive centres for when the Goons go out wide.

Its a bit of a challenge for KC, interesting to work out how he will approach it.

...
well i dont think i could beat a team on my own....PLONKER!

If burns is injured, we surely can't turn up the chance to reunite the GF winning halfback combination of Hohaia and Flanagan!

Leeds are like Saints and other top teams .. in general good at playing Rugby , Pity your s**t.

I can't wait to see Leigh stomp all over you.

I think lance will be fullback again. Wello has a hip injury and will see specialist this week.

Roby was concussed? Cant see that stopping him this week. Similarly, Burns played the whole game with what looked like a pretty sore cheek bone, but I reckon he will be out there too. Not sure about Vea, he looked pretty sore when he went off.

The problem with robes, he will have to pass all the medical tests to play Friday.

Thompson passed them to play v Widnes after the Wakey game and he looked worse than Roby did to me.

I'm no expert but I reckon Roby will play.

Vea clapped the fans at the end of the game, I can see him playing. Greenwood may be out there, and Walsh ... Well I'd never say never



Wellens is a bit of a blow. Hohaia had a really poor game until he moved to hooker last week - I'd feel really uncomfortable if that was a prolonged situation. Makinson would be the safest option, but I wouldn't want to lose him from the 3/4s because he's easily our best attacking threat. The back 5 seem a bit of a problem with Percival and Lomax out, and Dawson and Jones looking woeful/ out of form.

Robes will play I think but my point is, it's not down to him, it's down to medical team.

Heard anything on wello mate ?

Tommy has to play fullback if wello is out. It's a no Brainer Imo. Lance invites teams to kick high balls and he and swift are not the best on high balls.

Tommy doesn't bring much in terms of attack really, very rare he beats a man but is a worldclass finisher and that could cost us if we get one chance to finish it.

Yeah I get your point mate. I'm sure if it was up to him it wouldn't even be up for discussion.

And no not yet mate. I hadn't been tipped off he'd been replaced in the 19 which is rare so it's a bit hush hush on that one.

I have to say we missed Wellens this week. Just goes to show speed is not everything. He just is so much more assured at fullback than any of the pretenders.

Keeps us at full strength in other back positions too.

Unless it happens to be a great bomb which with his secure hands he catches and lands over the line to score the winning try of course.

Wellens has started to look poor at Full Back now. His positioning is no longer enough because he is that slow, he simply can't make up for it. If anybody with even a hint of footwork breaks through the line they will beat him one on one, it's like sticking a a back rower at the back. Kicks towards him are also starting to hit the turf with exponential regularity.

He was limited coming into the line anyway and now the play just dies in his hands, he can't bulldoze over a player nor can he beat them on the outside. I just don't think Wello is the answer anymore, having said that neither is Lance going off last week so we're stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Our constant injury crisis' are getting dull now. I mean, the first 4 times we lost half the squad, it was fun. Now, the 97th consecutive season this has happened, it is not funny anymore.

That's modern day rugby league.

I literally can't remember the last time we got close to getting our first choice 17 out on the field. It must be a number of years now. Between us and Wakey on Friday there was something like 15 or 16 players missing.

The only side that seen to avoid an injury crisis most years is Leeds. They get the odd one here and there but they don't seem to hit a really bad trot. Luck or credit to their medical staff? Who knows!

I do agree. Last year, Wellens looked like he had really bulked up, and whilst it never quite made up for the loss of his speed, it made him really effective at a number of jobs (see the Leeds game at LP).

He seems to have completely lost that this year, and has been barged over the top of a couple of times already (vs Widnes springs to mind) - whilst I defended Wellens quite a bit last year, I can't help but feel we're approaching that mystical year too far territory.

That being said, he's still a better option than Hohaia at fullback.

The worst case is what? Lomax, Percival, Burns, Walsh, Roby, Greenwood, Vea, Wellens, Walker(?) out? Anyone else a doubt? IT would be okay, but that's a very very good spine missing.

Quite bad news. My Gran had a hip replacement and she was never the same after that. A new hip might make him quicker. A mobility scooter like my Gran got definitely would. It wouldn't affect his game much these days either.

If we do have both halves, our fb and hooker missing, plus percy it would take a very poor side to lose to us imo. Thats every strike player in our team gone.

So how many are you likely to be missing this weekend given such injuries are common in modern day rl?

If you say Bowen, Sarginson, Smith, Williams, McIlorum, Bateman, Tomkins plus a couple of others it would reflect what we could be faced with.

Anyway, enough catastrophising - here's hoping both teams manage to get decent sides out and we get a good game.

Charnley, Thornley, Powell, Sutton, Crosby and O'Loughlin.

Aside from possibly Thornley(although Gellings form has been poor) all would be in a first choice 17 at the minute.

It's not a points scoring exercise I was trying to get in to, just merely pointing out a fact that the vast majority of teams go through the mill because the sports so tough (and fast).

I'm pretty sure the equivalents in the Saints side of all those Wigan players you mention there won't be missing either. I'd be stunned if tough lads like Burns and Roby missed this one.