Considering he said himself that he won't find out until Monday, I highly doubt that you know this.

(Oh, and if you are right, it's probably just a very good guess...)

we'll see.

When I heard "torn calf muscle" I immediately thought no chance for the Wigan game as that's at least 4 weeks out.

I spot a thread "Briers out 2 to 3 weeks" and think - result! only to then read that he's out "longer than first thought".

I'm confused - is 2 to 3 weeks longer than first thought (which would suggest that for a torn calf there wasn't much first thinking done to begin with) or is it longer than the 4 weeks I first thought?

Heard of Lee himself on Saturday at a rugby tournament he is aiming to b back for Wigan in the cup

The danger with these calf injuries is that the pain can go away after 1-2 weeks but if you try and push it too soon it can quite easily re occur.
I think even if he plays in the CC game against Wigan it may still be a bit of a risk.

Que sera sera

We have a squad, we are no longer a one man team. Get the lad fit for the business end of the season though

be nice to have him back for the wigan game but its no disaster if we dont..he`ll be fresh for the buiseness end of the season thats what matters..for the cup game against wigan it`ll be tight whether briers plays or not

Yes, but Briers can be crucial in the tight games. Friday night at Cas showed we still miss is organisation and structure. OK, we managed to rattle up 48 points but most of them came from off the cuff style rugby and some poor defence. That approach would not see us beat Wigan. Tony Smith has said himself he didn't think much of our performance.

I'm not saying we can't beat Wigan without Lee, but to do so we need the team playing a good, tight game plan, we need to take all our chances (several were bombed on Friday) and we need someone to help Myler at halfback. Bridge just plays at 6 like an extra centre.

Hodgson at stand off and Bridge at full back may be an option but TS doesn't like shuffling players around so Bridgey will probably stay at 6. Briers is a big loss but we've managed without him before. Saw Benny Westwood limp off in the 2nd half and didn't return. Anyone heard anything?

I like the cut of your jib, MKC, regarding Hodgson @ stand-off.
Bridge @ stand-off does nothing for me

i think grix did a fairly decent job at 6 last time briers was out.

Is that Tony Banks in a Warrington shirt Lefty? Never knew the maestro was a Wire
and not seen him in the Rodders either.

Bridge is a class stand off.

no he isnt.

Bridge is a centre end of ! He can't play another position at a level that is required

He is a utility, neither a specialist stand off or centre its only the juggling of Smith that has forced him into centre position, if Briers wasn't an even classier half back he would be number 6.

I think we should wait for any confirmation on Briers' injury layoff.

It may only be a couple of weeks, it may be more.

As far a stand ins go from who we have available at 6 and what it means if they play 6

=#0000FFMonaghan
means rubbish distribution from the ptb, which is a huge loss

=#0000FFHodgson
No chiming in the line, probably Bridge or Riley at FB, Bridge is a loss at centre though but his strong running is a plus at FB but how's his positional sense and defence, Riley confidence dip makes him a liability. When has Hodgson played stand off though and are we underestimating how effective he is at FB.

=#0000FFBridge
Just not vocal enough for me and his kicking game is weak plus we lose his effectiveness out wide

=#0000FFGrix
Jack of all trades master of none, great player to have in a squad but other than his versatility has nothing that stands out

=#0000FFClarke
Brings with him the confidence of being a senior member of the squad, half decent kicker, good defender but i don't think he has the rugby brain to unlock defences

The main problem you will have losing Briers is that Myler will be asleep all game, he can't organise the team like Briers can. Hodgeson won't be able to chime into the line like he normally does and Monaghan won't have the support he needs.

I know. I don't think we'd be capable of putting 40+ points on a team without Briers. Did you Eddeh, that in every one of Richard Myler SL seasons, no Wigan scrum half has had more assists or tries than him. Myler averages more tries and assists per game than any other english scrum half Eddeh, and even did when he was at Salford in a much lesser team.

It is indeed, the self same keyboard maestro, MKC
Couldn't believe it when I saw him in our club's colours (think photo was from Abacab era)

Ahhh, you wont have seen him in the Rodders, he's more of a Wilkies Tavern man

I have never denied that Myler is a fantastic support player.

He will not be as effective linking up without Briers though, he will probably have to take on more kicking as well and he is no where near as good as Briers.

but has been consistently better than Finch this year!

I've been better than Finch this year

My nan has been better than Finch this year and she is dead!