Tony Smith is blowing smoke up his backside in the Wire Guardian probably because we looked mildly better with him at half back than Monas .

Is this the make or break season for GOB? If he's not given the opportunity to shine does he have to take a long hard look at himself and say I need to move on for the sake of my career?

When I saw he made the 17 I was made up for him, I naturally thought he was getting the starting gig with Stef at fullback but was probably as frustrated as he was that Monas got the nod.

On the subject of half backs does Myler need to change his game or does he stay the same and we mould Ratchford?

Of the three options we have in Ratch/Myler/GOB which pairing would complement each other the best?

Personally, I don't think O'Brien is good enough at this level. I haven't seen him take control of a game when he is on the field, albeit only for short periods of time.

We desperately need a quality stand-off to boss the team around. I also think Myler needs to step up too and start to want to be the leader but he seems reluctant or is it incapable - you decide

No good panicking just yet anyway , let's get our injured players back & see how it all pans out ,we'll still be a superleague team next season.

May be though ,once Grix &/or Harrison are back ,Ben Currie might make a decent stand off ,he seems to have a decent rugby brain & likes being in the thick of it. With all these new players matters on the pitch will take a while to bed in & the team will probably look like a rubik's cube for a few weeks.

I can't help thinking though ,with so many changes to the team, that a couple of more friendlies would have benefited us better than a trip to Oz.

I would like to see us give him an extended run in the first 13... Then we can find out where we stand with him. A game here and a game there wont ever do a HB any good.

I suppose the worry is that him and Myler are both too small. What i don't get though is why he hasnt put a few more stone in muscle on... GOB doesn't appear to be someone that relies on his running game like Myler. He could be a a tough little bugger with good hands and and excellent kicking game... he still has the build of a paperboy though.

I cant see Myler and ratchford being the long term HB pairing, so either GOB stands up to the plate and delivers or we will end up in the market for another HB.. i think the latter is what will probably happen at the end of the season.

He's not the best 7 in the world but added much needed direction to saints last year, which is what you were missing on Thursday

I can't help but feel he isn't robust enough. And lacks a little pace.

He is probably about the same size as a young Lee Briers. Unfortunately Briers had the Luxury of playing the early years of his career in an awful Wire side, and then occasionally alongside a world class scrum half, there was never any real pressure on Briers.

Gareth O'Brien has none of those luxuries, he is expected to slot into a silverware winning side and make a seamless transition taking over from a 15 year career pro.

I'd give O'Brien a good run this season, if we win nothing and he doesnt show glimpses of taking games by the scruff of the neck then we can disregard the fanciful notion of having a youth set up and go down the Saints route and buy an Aussie playmaker.

I personally think he has all the atrributes.

I just find myself getting really dissapointed in Myler at times. He shows glimpses of class..the wembley opening try for Joel for a starter, if that was an aussie doing that can you imagine?...

But then he goes missing in games and I mean completely missing when people said Briers went missing he was just struggling to pull any big plays off. Myler on Thursday struggled with drop offs...!!!

Whilst GOB doesn't have the best running game in the world, I think a HB pairing of him and Myler or Ratchford offers more than Richie and Stef together. Our two established players are a greater running threat, but I think GOB's got more off the boot and if we can shape him into the player who steadies the ship and gives us some direction in attack, then a combination of him and either Richie or Stef should be the future.

As it is, we've got two great running players, an inexperience stand off and a hooker filling in for our halves. We've got to figure a system out pretty soon or we're always going to be headless chickens when it comes to attack.

Doesn't anybody else think we signed ratchford to be the long term replacement for briers? I think we signed him when we did because that happened to be when he became available, I firmly believe that given time he will make the 6 shirt his own.

Myler in my opinion is a running half, much like Danny maguire really a very good support runner who can pick a pass he will complement stef nicely like he did with briers. I certainly never expect him to be the one who leads us around the field with the boot so the decision to play Monas and Myler together on Thursday, neither of whom have a kicking game really baffled me. Gaz o'Brian should have got the nod from the start in my opinion. If there is ever a game where ratchford is either injured or filling in at full back then o'brians name should probably be one of the first names on the team sheet.

That said our defensive commitment wasn't good enough and we never matched saints in any department they were definitely good for the win even if we gifted them 2 tries with awful defensive efforts and another with a slack pass at the end.

I don't expect that we will win the next game either but hopefully we won't play as badly as that, I can't wait to see Russell play full back for us and we can judge ratchford and Myler as a half back pairing after they have been given a fair crack at it. I still think we will be up there come the business end of the season.

In smith we trust (but please don't play Monas in the halves again at the expense of Gaz o'Brian)

I am not sure Ratchford is a 6, I thought we had signed him as the replacement for Hodgeson to be honest. The Russell signing I found on the one hand exciting but on the other a bit confusing as I am not sure where he will end up playing.

GOB has to, in my view, be given a chance at 6 and we will learn once and for all if he is the one or not. For me the jury is out, flickers of great promise followed by flickers of not a lot. The lack of an extended run may explain this and a good run in the side may help to resolve this conundrum. For me, I hope he steps up to the plate

I really struggle to understand why, and on what evidence, some people have decided O'Brien isn't good enough for this level, given the number of times he has played and the circumstances in which he has played.

Personally, I'm undecided - but I'm also undecided about Myler's ability to be(come) something special at this level, and am still unsure of Rathford's best position.

The difference is both Myler & Ratch have had time, and opportunities in a squad brimming with experience and talent to show what they can do. O'Brien's Warrington career to date has been the odd game when we have an injury, pre-season friendlies and being shipped out on loan. Now he is thrust into a team suddenly shorn of experienced, hugely talented players and expected to prove his mettle overnight.

Gareth, the balls in your court, prove these doubters wrong.

Absolutely spot on!

It was O'Brien's quick thinking and hands that led to Warrington's second try.
He followed up the ball that bounced off the post, caught it, and shipped it wide quickly.

Thats what real half backs do, see situations, and think of solutions faster than other players.

RL halfbacks play in a different way to Union ones.
In Union, they play like a quarterback in American Football, in a pocket of space, provided by their forwards.

In League the halfback takes the ball up to the line, and uses, his speed of thought, kicking game or bag of tricks to make the play.
The better the halfback, the closer to the line he can go, which in turn gives him more chance of using his skills, tricks or kicking game to affect the play, thus denying the opposition reaction time.

It is my view that Warrington need to decide on a structured way of playing that utilises the skills that they have.
Currently they seem to be playing like Briers will be back next week, and making do.

I think that Smith doesn't know what his best combinations are, and this will affect the team until he does.

think following the shocking nature of Thursdays performance there's been s lot of knee jerking and extremely dismissive comments about certain players including gob.

Now personallyI thought we were a million miles better after he came on, granted we were still weak up front and the game was gone but we looked better organized compared to monas doing his 08 impersonation.

Short term I think gob should be 6 as ratch and myler didnt seem to work thst well last year. However having Russell now causes An odd man out situation.

However at the same time, I was quite disappointed with how poor ratch was at fb on Thursday, last year he had genuinely played hodgo out of the side and looked pretty comfortable there, this year,Jesus he stank the place out

Play GOB at 6 and Russell at 1.

I've said it before...

Ratchford is good at many positions and master of none.

I find him best in the last 20 of each half when defences tire. He breaches the line and makes good yardage and is very elusive in running style.
In many games before this period I see him being lazy, idling behind play.

I would have him as a utility bench back and Grix (when fit) as utility bench forward accompanied with two props Wood (when fit) and Asotasi (who probably needs a softened defence at this stage to adjust to our game) on the bench every week.

Simple

1. Russell
2. Riley
3. Bridge
4. Ratchford (Drop Atkins)
5. J.Monaghan
6. GOB
7. Myler

Ratchford is in the position Bridge was a few years ago, we know he's a talent but not sure what his best position is yet. Bridge was a utility player for a bit then after he had that coming of age game at Odsal where he filled in for Briers at 6 and tore Bradford up he was seen as a stand-off for a while. We played him the best part of 2 seasons there alongside Briers and he showed a few good flashes of form but never really suggested he was going to be the answer at 6. Then I remember one off season the new line was that Bridge was going to be fullback and he played there in pre-season and the start of the season (and looked decent) but then got injured and was out for the year. It was only really when we signed Myler and Mathers and there was no place for him in the halves or fullback that the question was solved, he had to play centre and he excelled there.

I fear that Ratchford is going to also roam around for a while but I somehow don't think he will end up 6 long term. I think he will end up a fullback or centre. Maybe the answer this season will be as Yed says, give GOB a run alongside Myler, lets see what Russell is about, and put Ratchford at centre as I think he's better than Bridge and Atkins now.

Fair post. I wouldn't drop Bridge for Ratchford though. Ratchford only shows flashes of great skill.
Bridge is ball handling is faster and he's stronger.

Jordan Burke seems to have plenty of full back potential too. He was more effective in the Salford game than Ratchford who went off injured so we don't really know if Ratchford is still not fully recovered from his OT injury.

You have the same problem as us last year, no organiser in the team. Neither Myler, Ratchford or O'Brien can boss the team around the park.
Its Myler who should step up to the mark and grow some, i would give O'Brien the No 6 shirt for his kicking game, when he played for us it took him 3 or 4 games to settle.
For Ratchford maybe he could be used at centre replacing Atkins, Ratchford is better out wide, if you think Riley is as bad as Atkins then put Atkins on the wing.

Atkins can't or won't pass so let his pace strength and ability to catch a high ball feature on the wing and keep GOB in the team for a run and he will either sink or swim

To be honest the team ,in its various forms, has been bossed about on the pitch by Briers for the last 15 years (?) so in the dressing room we have a lack of people who could actually step forward as a natural leader.

I suppose the 2 most likely candidates are M. Monas & Higham but their available shelf life will now be limited so may be O'Brien needs to be used more to benefit from the experience of playing alongside these players.Lee Briers is also available to mentor all our available halfbacks into becoming on field master puppeteers.

I'd break the bank for Danny Brough now.

But I would have signed him 3 years ago and let Briers move on then too.

That'll upset a few on here.

After watching both Myler and Obrien aver the last few years, i dont see them both in the team together, i see them both as out and out 7's and neither playing stand off, So i would go with O'brien at 7 and Ratchford at 6. As O'brien offers more in the way of kicking and organisation.