You’re Slammin’ Sam…
Who’s your starting 13 and bench for rnd1.
Be mindful we are thin on goal kicking options.

1. Dufty
2. Thewlis
3. King
4. Ratchford
5. Ashton
6. Drinkwater (will be at 7 though)
7. Williams (will be at 6 though)
8. Bullock
9. powell
10. Vaughan
11. Currie
12. Fitzgibbon
13. Nicholson

14. Walker
15. Crowther
16. Musgrove
17. Kasiano/Harrison/Philbin

1. Dufty
2. Thewlis
3. King
4. Ratchford
5. Ashton
6. Williams
7. Drinkwater
8. Harrison
9. Walker
10. Vaughan
11. Currie
12. Fitzgibbon
13. Nicholson

14. Musgrove
15. Philbin
16. Crowther
17. Powell

I'd probably go for the same 17 as Smiffy, although I'd be happy with Tai or Wrench in at 3 or 4 as.well. Thewlis can kick if no Ratch. I suspect we'll see Crowther starting at 13 ahead of Nicholson.

1 dufty
2 thewlis
3 King
4 tai
5 ashton
6 Williams
7 drinkwater
8 Musgrove
9 walker
10 Vaughan
11 currie
12 fitzgibbon
13 Nicholson

14 Powell
15 kasiano
16 crowther
17 philbin

Crowther at 13 Nicholson interchange

Has anything been said on the second rowers?

Fitz and Currie both specialist left side players, wonder who will move to the right.

I think Fitz has played a fair bit on the right & switched to the left recently.
* We do seem to have a bit more depth than this time last year & not just at prop. We did have Philbin/Wrench out for a while.

I'd expect Fitzgibbon and Nicholson at 11/12. Currie might be a centre option in Burgess's eyes, and I suspect that's what the recent soundbites about Burgess 'having some thoughts about centre options' are about. I'd prefer to see Wrench being given the early run there though. Burgess seems to rate him, and he's the future. Nothing against Currie, but there's no sentimentality this season for me, and he's got to show his worth from outside the first 13. The one thing that Currie does possess is a large skill set, but he'd have to be consistently top-draw for me if he's to cement a starting position.

I've no real idea, but for my input - there are quite a few starting 'certs' but I think it depends on how Sam wants the team to play.

There are 3 places up for grabs I think if all fit - centre (Ratch/Wrench/Tai), starting prop (Harrison/Musgrove) and 1 bench spot (between Harrison/Musgrove).

1-7 is fairly fixed for me if all fit - except for the 2nd centre spot (King is the other one providing he shows his worth from day 1 - and in Sam's previous coaching role he has shown he has limited time for reputations).
I've head positive things said about Wrench recently by Sam, so who knows.

1 Dufty
2 Thewlis (probably takes goal kicking duties if Ratch not at 4).
3 King
4 ??
5 Ashton
6 Williams
7 Drinkwater

The forwards and bench are much more difficult to call.

8 ?? (Musgrove or Harrison)
9 Walker
10 Vaughan
11 Currie
12 Fitzgibbon
13 Nicholson

14 Powell
15 ?? Musgrove or Harrison
16 Crowther
17 Philbin

Kasiano / Bullock could get a gig here depending on injuries. I thought we had too many big props last year but we struggled with injuries/suspensions as could Dwyer. (Dudson, Green, Thomas, Whitehead could to but not necessarily in that order - and of course Hayes in the halves has impressed me from what I've seen).

I'd love to see some of the youngsters come through on merit but whether it's too early or they are at the right level I'm not sure.

I'd like to see Powell start at 9.

If walker isn't good enough to be our starting hooker then we should have released him and kept Clark. We wouldn't have had to sign another 2 reserve hookers then either.

You gave me a heart attack, the thought of Mr Glum turning out for us…then I twigged!

Im going for the Tony Smith circa 2013 big pack ... Also i dont want Toby King anywhere near a Warrington shirt

1. Dufty
2. Thewlis
3. Currie
4. Tai/Wrench/Ratchford
5. Ashton
6. Drinkwater
7. Williams
8. Bullock
9. Powell
10. Vaughan
11. Nicholson
12. Fitzgibbon
13. Musgrove

14. Walker
15. Harrison
16. Kasiano
17. Crowther or Philbin

I guess I was thinking Powell would offer us more defensively and add bulk in the middle at the start of games.

1. Dufty
2. Thewlis
3. Wrench
4. King
5. Ashton
6. Hayes
7. Williams
8. Musgrove
9. Walker
10. Vaughan
11. Nicholson
12. Fitzgibbon
13. Crowther

14. Powell
15. Harrison
16. Currie
17. Bullock

What is interesting is that Crowther has appeared in everyone's top 17 so far. He arrived at Wire with many questions around why we wanted him as he seemed surplus to requirements at Wakey.
Good on the lad. There is something about him that the fans seem to like.

I think it's a mixture of two things what we have seen so far whose game is around effort he is perceived to work hard and leave nothing behind. It's easy to get behind someone who you can see is giving their all.

Secondly I think SB endorsement of him leads us to think he'll be in or around the 17 this year, so people like to be proved right so by having him in your team and he is included you get the affirmation that you know what you are talking about.

My own view a capable hard working guy who will do his job when called on will he be better than Radley not sure but I'm glad he's in the squad.

He puts in the effort consistently and looks like he wants to win at all costs.

i wasn't enamoured when we signed him, he's a grinder with high workrate,if anything it would/should have been what longstaff should/could have been aiming at doing to compensate for being undersized, jordy isn't the biggest.

he's different from the other forwards we've got.

i can't see him starting, it was mentioned that nicholson would be playing 13 this year, that indicates he's going to be intergral to attack, its fair to say dufty isn't filling the hodgson role, so we'll have to go further up field for more attacking shape,

13, 7 and 6 rather than 1/6/7

Not sure what 7 has been offering.

I think Dufty has had to fill in more in that role because of the lack of anything from a 7 last year, he's not Hodgson (I think Thewlis will be more Hodgson esque,) he's Dufty and I think he'll do well this year. I think King back in the centres offloading and this years reffing instructions, being in the last year of his contract he'll go well.

He's the opposite in perception of Crowther because he's a flair player, and not a workhorse, he inevitably gets tagged as lazy, but for me his defence improved last year and in particular that Catalan try was great.

We have him until Nov 2025. He is still one of our longest contracted players.

I was talking about Dufty, punctuation could have been better.

He was a disaster as coach, so you're out of your mind if you think he could transition to hooker....

You beat me to it Captain!