You definitely missed Houghton and Heremaia today, your hooker today looked out of his depth tbh.
Do you reckon McDonnell will be your first choice fullback then? Seems a bit harsh on Shaul who stood out for you guys today and looked more than capable last season.

Cunningham has been bigged up in the u-19s but when I have seen him play for them,he hasn't impressed me at all.Good point about the full backs..position,personally I would go with McDonnell as our 1st choice as he is more complete player but Shaul is a exciting player but just needs to fine tune his game...he may end up on wing until Talona? Is ready

The St John Ambulance member as broken the patients confidentiality by allowing you to hear that. and you have compounded it by typing it into a public forum, anyone knowing him and reading this forum now knows the diagnosis or miss diagnosis and the patient and their family may not want this to be public knowledge. BTW its St John Ambulance in the singular.

I only caught the second half on BCB (who themselves were very rusty) but they made notable mention to a couple of long range breaks made by Saltonstall only for inexperience to either take the tackle or kick through for Henry.

How did he seem to get on? And would he be worth a proper loan deal?

I've seen no mention of why George was left from the squad after being named, does anyone have any info?

I read on twitter that the easiets position to win the GF from is 11th, so it's obvious no-one is going to try until the last couple of weeks. Wood should resign now.

It wasn't Saltonstall that made the break and kicked ahead, it was Adam Brook.

Yeah it was definitely Brook. Saltonstall did make a break, but didn't kick the ball, he was tackled.

I didn't make yesterday as I was in Scotland but it sounds a very handy run out. A few mentions for Brook which probably means he's packing his shorts and booking flights to Sydney as I type.

In all seriousness, even accounting for the financial issues I haven't felt as optimistic about the direction the squad/coach is taking in many a year. Hopefully we can build to some good walk up numbers and allow this new board to really get behind Cummins.

I know forums are the spiritual home of hyperbole, but I still think it's both disrespectful (of both teams) and way off the mark to describe Hull as "utter garbage". Circumstances led to them being pegged back repeatedly by a combination of clever attacking play, a dominant pack, and maintained excellent kicking. Despite the pressure, and their weakened side which was clearly undercooked, they didn't let in many soft tries, I thought most of the Bulls tries were creditable and well worked efforts. I did not see anyone shirking in the Hull defence, and despite being hammered, they kept going the full 80 and were rewarded with three tries.

Their "utter garbage" also got them across our line on a large number of occasions, only to be held up, pushed back or repelled.

Who did you have out ??

As the Hull fans sat near me seemed to think you only had 3-4 1st squad players out and another one whcih was due to land from Oz or wherever this week ??

Just out of interest as didnt look full strength

If Superleague started tomorrow, everyone was available, and I had to pick the team, I would go with:

McDonnell (although you could make a very good argument for Shaul)
Lineham
Crooks
Yeaman
Talanoa
Rankin
Miller
Paea
Houghton
Green
Ellis
Tuson
Westerman

Whiting
Heremaia
Feka
Watts

8 of those didn't play at all, and Rankin only arrived last week so came on at half time.

Don't forget the injury to Lineham meant a back line reshuffle that left us with Stark (u19's and doesn't have a squad number), Crooks (playing out of position on the wing), Thompson (out of position at centre), and Arundel (in position but probably not 1st choice).

Just to point out, Thompson is not out of position at centre. He's played there loads for Cas.

But regardless, it's a friendly. It means very little in the scheme of things. As a Bulls fan, I won't get too excited with the win, just like Hull fans shouldn't be too disheartened by it. The idea of friendlies are to try things out and get players some match fitness, all the while not risking people who aren't 100%.

Both teams had players missing. Both first choice hookers, both first choice fullbacks.

Hull made a lot of mistakes, but better to make them in friendlies than in League games. Similarly Bulls made a few mistakes with passes, but it's all about getting the timing right.

Don't see the need for everyone to make so much of it to be honest. Bulls fans be encouraged by all means. Hull fans realise there's a bit to work on, yes. But let's not pretend that it's much more than that. It doesn't by any stretch mean that Bulls are a superior team to Hull once the league begins, nor does it mean they're not.

Yes that's true, but we havn't signed him as a centre and he won't be playing there unless we have an injury crisis.

Well said

Decent run out for both clubs yesterday, I think both should be there & there abouts for bottom end of the play off ladder, few dodgy calls by the officials for both teams,didn't like the way Sammuts knees went in Linehams back didn't think he was like that, maybe it was just at speed & Tbf they haven't played to that level for some time so was just rustyness.

Who covered for the 75 minutes Scrutton was off?

Good practice for the rest of the season, when we are likely to just have 3 - or fewer - props fit (enough) to play, and probably half the rest of the team ex academy players with few SL games behind them. The conclusion I draw from the game is that we should at least be able to keep clear of relegation even with a lot of injuries to the squad.

First one of the season, well done.

When Scruton came off Manoakafoa came on and did quite a long period as did Sidlow. Carvell came back on for a shorter stint at the end and Walker propped for a bit too.

I really would like to see us bring Evans back if possible as extra cover in the front row. He may not be as good as our main 4 props but he’s more capable in that position than Walker who is our only real backup. Much longer term Mellor might make a prop at some stage as he’s a big lad.

thanks Mat, so did Hull also have to have a centre playing at prop?

Not surprised the lads ran out of steam at the end.

I was surprised just how many minutes Sidlow did. Haven't seen stats, but he seemed to be on the pitch for the large majority of the game after Carvell went off following his first stint.

Couldn't agree more about the cover though. Our main 4, I'm happy with. But we badly need some cover. At the moment, our cover is players out of position, as there isn't a single other player in the 25 that is primarily a prop. Just as you say, the likes of Walker and Mellor, who are big enough to play it, but really back rowers.

If we can't get Evans back, I'd be interested to see how young Walker goes on loan from Wire. He didn't play against Hull, but if he's a prospect, he may be better cover than our existing "none".

I reckon Ferguson could do a stint at prop if needed. Obviously not ideal though, but if it keeps the club afloat then so be it.

Think winterstein would have been used as prop cover but now he has gone we are missing someone, sure we could get a loaned it some point.

If article linked in other thread about mark Mexico still coming if he gets visa is correct then squad balance would look a lot better and I'd imagine he's a fair bit cheaper than winterstein to boot.

Yeah I posted this then read the squad topic and realised I'm behind everyone else haha.

I think that's pretty fair comment, though to be honest, what with Ben going on the overseas trip with wire, and three other young players already here, I really can't see it happening at this stage. More than most seasons we could do with a decent run without injuries, though that's just not the sort of luck we get, is it?