Not really got an argument to come back with. I’m a huge fan of Bullock and I think he’s been harshly done to again but had he left out Byrne or Partington, I think that would’ve been even harsher.

There’s clearly something not quite right between Lam and Bullock. As fans we look at Bullock and rate him highly but I’m not sure if it’s a playing issue or an off the field issue but Lam doesn’t hold him in the same esteem.

If it's rotation, that's good tactics and as said above shouldn't be viewed as dropped with the resulting inquest on here. I can't argue with Havard getting his chance anyway as I think he's been excellent in his first team outings so far. Same could be said for Clark too for that matter. It's a good place to be in with all the competition for front row places. It's probably the area we've been weakest in. You might argue it's now become one of our strongest.

One of the strongest and getting stronger. There’s potential for this set of props we have coming through to be absolutely outstanding in a couple of years.

Not arguing Havard being in there, he can be in there every week for me no issues but I just don’t understand this rotation waffle now when Bullock has one bad game. Clubb has poor games every single one and still isn’t dropped (until this week)? It’s a poor excuse and a blatant lie.

I agree with NK; there are clear issues between Bullock and Lam. I just hope it doesn’t harm the team in the long run.

Joe Bullocks marker defence is awful.

Couldn’t disagree more in the short term
We haven’t got one prop who can do more than 15 minutes effectively
Clark was a sub today for the reserves
I want 2 60 minute props which eventually Bryne and Havard may deliver
15 minute props is still our Achilles heel
Longer term I’m quite happy with the prospects of our props but short term we still have too many props who can’t do plus 100 meters per game
Saints game will be a good indicator just how much we have or haven’t improved
Longer term I can see the shoots of improvement but this season it’s still an area where any game I wouldn’t be surprised if we got turned over

Injuries excepted I think we’ll find out on Good Friday what Lam thinks his strongest side is.

Personally I’m happy to see the props rotated over the first 2/3rds of the season. If they are fresh and fit at the business end then hopefully we could see the benefit.

Surely rotation is our game plan rather than it being because the props can’t do longer than 15-20 mins at a time? In fairness we’ve also seen various props (not Clubb) do spells of 30 mins plus this season. I’m pretty sure Partington and Byrne have done longer spells and George Burgess seemed to do a reasonable first spell last week. It probably was optimistic to call it one of our strongest areas thinking again but I’m certainly far more positive about the prop situation then I have been for a number of years. It’s looking pretty good IMO and I see signs those young lads are learning and improving.

Lam said in an interview on Wigan t.v. that he intends to rotate his props as much as possible in the early part of the season.
If you look at what he has at his disposal.
Clubb, Flower, Burgess, Byrne, Bullock, Havard, Partington and Clark. Then add Kilner and Wells.
There aren't enough reserves games to fit them all in ( a major problem IMO)

Bullock can probably count himself unlucky, but, that dropped ball from the kick off and the try conceded when he was one of the markers will have had an influence on Lams decision.

I don't think it was optimistic at all NK. The emergence of Partington and Byrne as genuine starters and the addition of a still clearly destructive Burgess coupled with Clark and Bullock (with a full year and pre season behind him) who have both shown themselves to have good minutes and good go forward has transformed our front row options. That's before we get to Havard, Kilner and Wells. This time last year we were pretty much looking at Clubb and Flower with some raw inexperience to back them up. That is some difference! Notice I haven't mentioned Flower for this year and who was our first choice prop last year. This time around he has to prove himself in order to get in front of at least 5 others!

Also it's a short turnaround so Lam will probably shuffle the pack around again on Friday at Salford.

We didn't win a single "big game" last season because we were bullied in the pack. I was hoping Burgess and Clark would fix that but I'm not convinced yet. As good as Hastings is/has been like all halves he will be useless behind an ineffective pack.

I agree that we are improving on the prop front but are overly reliant at the moment on the young guys ie under 20/21 to do the big minutes and start the game
We have some cracking young lads coming through and if we can keep them together in 2 or 3 years we could have a serious pack
I hope Havard and Flower go well today and Flower as starting prop sounds far better than Clubb

I’ve seen nothing from Clark to suggest he will become a regular first teamed and he is obviously behind the kids in Lam’s eyes
This year for me depends on how much of impact GB has on the pack if we are competitive in the big games

I think the right call would be to say it has the potential to be one of our strongest areas. I say that because I’m truth I’m looking all round the side at the minute and we look strong in most positions, especially when we’re at full strength. Good quality starting players and good quality back up in pretty much every area.

I think it’s a bit OT to say we might get turned over, I fully expect a victory today against a weak KR side. I think the pack we are likely to put out should dominate theirs and from that Hastings, French, Marshall and Manfredi should have a good day.

Out of the props we have at our disposal at the moment I reckon Clubb and Flower will be shipped out to make way for Wells and Kilner.

Wells is a 2nd row and clubb just signed a new 2 year deal so dont think that is going to happen.

Benny has a deal until the end of this year so he may be a bit vunerable

My mistake on Wells but his build is more of a front rower than a back rower. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him propping in years to come.

I know about Clubb but I’d hope we can release him somehow

Starting 13;

French
Marshall
Bibby
Zak
Manfredi
Hastings
Tommy
Bryne
Powell
Oli
Farrell
Isa
Smithies

G Burgess
Flower
Havard
Smith

I probably wouldn’t go with that starting front row but other than that I think it’s a decent side. Well capable of putting a decent score in against KR.

Rotating the props to keep them all fresh, I like it. Looking forward to seeing Havard.

Perhaps Bullock and Clark back in on Friday against Salford, since the team have a short turn around. Then best possible pack vs Catalans

Doesn’t make sense to me and the “rotating props” excuse. It just doesn’t wash. If we were truly rotating Bryne, Oli and possibly Havard would be rested given they’ve played every game (except Havard). Bullock and Clarke would be in, after all they’ve played twice.

I’ve nothing against Oli, Bryne or Havard playing at all but let’s call this what it is; a dropping of Bullock, Clarke and Clubb (the latter can stay dropped too).

Well we made hard work of that. Hats off to KR though they played well and were the better team.

HKR had a good go, I never thought they would win it. Marshall and Bibby were poor today, Burgess would have been chased out of the town by a pitchfork waving mob if he had made the errors Marshall made today.

Will Marshall get dropped?

Are you kidding? We were miles off our best but never looked like losing?

I agree. We were better with Hankinson in the side last week. I’m not at all convinced by Bibby and he really needs to up his game.
Marshy has been superb but had a shocker today. There’s a god should for Hank and Budgie on the flank if today is anything to go by.