Wayne Godwin will be out for up to two months..

Salford expect to be without Wayne Godwin, their only experienced hooker, for up to two months with rib cartilage damage.

The former Castleford and Bradford player picked up the injury in the early stages of the Reds' opening Stobart Super League defeat by Castleford at the new Salford City Stadium on Saturday and was taken to hospital in considerable pain.

"He's out for a while," said Salford coach Phil Veivers. "It's probably worse than a break."

Utility player Stuart Howarth took Godwin's place against Castleford until being knocked out after being hit in the face by the ball but he is expected to fully recover in time for Friday's visit to St Helens.

Salford's only other recognised hooker is 19-year-old Gareth Owen, who made three substitute appearances in Super League in 2010.

I'd say it's a bigger blow for us as it leaves us without a dedicated Hooker. Now I remember young Owens came and did a half decent job a couple of seasons ago. Could this be a good time to give him another chance?

I was very impressed with Stuart Howarth and I'm sure he will do a good job at number nine.

And of course let's not forget Matty Smith is also very effective in the hookers role if need be.

I think the reason Matty Smith wasn't moved to hooker on Saturday was the shocker the Holdsworth was having and PV didn't want to risk effectively having no half backs! Reg needs to get his act together & deliver if Matty does take over the 9 role

I agree Holdsworth needs to pull his finger out, but to be fair any set of halfbacks would find it difficult playing behind our pack...

Solution for Godwin's injury would be put smith at 9, bring Sean Long in at 7 and alternate Long's substitutions with Howarth reverting Smith back to 7.

simples.....

Bl00dy Hell DI that's once I've agreed with you and now you're agreeing with me - paranoia setting in soon!!

Ill never call you Mr though......

I'm not one for playing people out of position , Matty Smith has to stay put at 7 for me , the Smith / Holdsworth pairing has to be given more games to settle in before we start peeling Long's retirement slippers off for rugby boots!
Gareth Owen will have to step up , simple as, otherwise he should not be in the squad. Also Sneyd I think deputised at 9 a few games last season. Howarth if fit remains a really good bench utililty player, but not starting hooker.

Is he ready though, if he isn't, it could be the difference between winning and losing games, hooker has never been as demanding as it is nowadays..

I guess there's only one way we'll find out DI.. anyway he's only up against Roby

.

As we're back to 10 interchanges rather than 12, is it time to revert to 80 minute hookers anyway?

In the worst case scenario that the hooker then gets injured, we could then shuffle Smith to 9, move Moon to stand off, and put a back rower in the centres.

EDIT - just seen ave it's post on another thread. I'd say "great minds think alike", but I know ave it.

note t Howarth: keep your passes loso players can make momentum.

Having done my intercostals (or whatever they are called) twice and cartilege twice (insrance firms hate me), I send empathy and sympathy to Goodwin: ouch.

Get Owen in: we are not favourites next week so expose ideas and players: fail- no criticism, succeed- full praise.

I would put smith there and give moon a chance at 6

I reckon keep Smith and Holdsworth together for the time being, think they need a bit more time to gel properly. It could give Owen a real chance to shine, or we could stick to Howarth. If it starts going wrong then try Smith at 9 and something different with the halves, maybe Moon at 6 even.

Why are people saying that the Holdsworth/Smith partnership needs time to "bed in"? Didnt they play together almost all last season?

To be fair Smith spent a lot of last season also being our 2nd hooker. So you could (weakly) argue that they have n't really had a proper chance to gel

You're right, it's a very weak argument!!
FWIW I thought we did OK defensively on Saturday but for all the good things Howarth did we missed Godwin's speed around the play the ball. I would definitely give Owen some game-time as his replacement. Saints away = certain heavy defeat anyway so why not throw him into that game?