ratchford is not injured or ill watch him for the 21s on sunday against the stains

12pm kick off according to the saints site.

Why?

Good team I think but a bit dissapointed Ratchford's not in, from pre season form he should have Jordans place in the squad and put him on the bench. Is a different option in the halves and steadied the ship last week, and can be played on the wing, no reason for him not to be IMO.

Come on lads - its mid February - its a long season - its likely to be a forwards game on Saturday - lets back our coach - he knows better than us - well most I think. Ratchfords time will definitely come on firmer grounds.

Alongside Luke Dorn perhaps?!

It seems that every club takes the easy option when picking their respective teams, if it comes down to a young Brit or Aussie/Kiwi import, the young Brit loses out every time.
It es me off tbh.

thats because pommys are at this game its a kiwi,aussie game

mcrae was on gmr last night i posed the question of steff being one of the stand out players in the friendlies and he disagreed and said he wasnt now is it me or was he watching different friendly games that i went to and i seen them all when he came off the bench he gave us more direction and options and but he seems to differ

In all fairness Dorn was playing in an injury raveged side who's pack were second best every single match, yet he still managed to score plenty of tries.

edited.

Didn't want to play for us? He had only just signed for us. Tbh I don't think I'd of fancied it that much playing in the infamous 2007 easy beats team!



































Thankfully the franchise system will put a stop to other clubs/agents illegally tapping up players mid season from clubs at the wrong end of the table in the hope they become free agents if their club gets relegated.

"but i dont think paul is a good player last season he was far from impressive"

Totally disagree - he had some poor matches but, in several, he ran the game. I missed very few games last year. Paul thought and startted moves quicker than many around him; his influence on Myler was for the good.

The main point re Ratchford is that he's a favourite of several who post on here and so CANNOT BE DROPPED. Comparisons with Dorn etc. are meaningless as (for example) Dorn was a different type of player.

Personally I feel that the coaches are aware of his good ability but feel that, with wet pitches and the squad learning Superleague, he wants forwards to dominate the game plan.

I also forecast that Ratchford will win a certain place by July.

Paul started last season slowly after his neck injury. Granted he did have one awful game at FEV but in the main he got better and gave the team another dimension in attack imo.

to hillbily red nobody is saying ratchford should be guranteed a spot but on the form he has show in pre season he should have a least been on the bench if you look at the squad who can cover the halves bearing in mind robbie has stated he doesnt want to play halfback because he isnt has quick has he used to be

If you heard McRae's pre match press release he talked about having the right balance for this particular match. He obviously believes he's better having four forwards on the bench to counter a big physical Celtic side.

Ratchford's position is stand off and McRae feels that Jeremy Smith is his best option and brings experience to the half back positions considering the other half is young Richie Myler.

It just doesn't make sense to accomodate Ratchford if it messes up the whole game plan. I have no doubt Ratchford will play a big part this year but McRae obviously feels he's a luxury we can't afford on Saturday.

I think the biggest selection headache is Turner or Littler for centre. Presumable which ever gets the nod then the other will drop out of the 17 altogether.
Who would you go for?

At the moment I think that Turner is a bit of a defensive liabilty. I'd rather stick with Littler despite his faults at present. Turner needs to work on his defence, then be brought in slowly. Otherwise he could just get blown away early season, lose confidence and with it his potential to be a much better player.

Littler.

Jordan is potentially a real talent but Stuart has SL experience as a centre.

Ratchford is unlucky not to be in the 19 man squad after the good pre-season he has had. Im sure he will get his chance in the coming months, Mcrae obvisously feels he has,nt played as well in pre-season as the likes of Turner, Littler which I disagree with.

As for who to play at centre today I'd probably go for Littler because of his experience.

Wilshere, Robbie Paul, Fitzy at a push...Id say Robbie Paul has made a massive difference to us in the friendlies I've seen (the play the ball is much much faster when he's on) so I cant argue with him being on the bench, Wilshere can and has played half back for us in the past and Fitzy played half back for Ireland in the world cup so we're not exactly short of options.

The way some people are talking its as if we're leaving Wally Lewis out of the squad

Jordan also played 6 and 7 all the way through his amateur days and through our academy system.

but jordan isnt playing and is best position is loose foward.my point is and wigan supporters are having the same problem. i will stop after this post we have 3 years to blood these youngsters and we are not doing it robbie wont be here at the end of the season we will never beat australia or the kiwis how many british born players in tonights squad and then tell me its correct in wigans team last night 9 foriegn players its not right.just because they cant get contracts at home it anoys me to see our talent get pushed out .we need to start a petition to get the quota reducded to just a couple.

Come on that's EXACTLY the point - you bring youngsters in gradually - the fact that this squad has been built in the way it has is very encouraging - the youngsters WILL get their chances - you don't throw everyone in on day 1, with this 3 year period we don't have to do that and it would be self defeating.
RL, more than most sports, IS a squad game - during the course of the season there will be injuries, loss of form etc and I'm 100% certain there will be rotatin within the squad - so let's stop the perpetual complaining and support the team and the coaching staff

so in a squad of 17 how many youngsters do we have in and also the 2 that have been left out have played super league before i will save my reservations till after tonights game maybe its just nerves

Be patient Everton - give the lads time. It really is a different level.