Not sure what he'll go with for the 17 there. No way Thewlis can be dropped after last week. I suppose the big one is who goes in to replace Nicholson in the second row. Is it either Mata'utia or Holroyd/Whitehead?

Holroyd in. Whitehead 18th man

Agree on Holroyd in, I guess the other questions would be right wing and the final bench spot, Thewlis didn't seem to do much wrong, but it seemed to me Powell was favouring Russell before his illness, so I'm guessing he will come in.

Yes, I agree I think Powell will drop Thewlis for Russell. And Thewlis did miss a tackle which lead to a try last week. However I have to say I am still a big Thewlis fan and don't really understand why we have recruited Russell.

One possibility is that Mata'utia ( I wish he would change his name LOL) could move to BR and Darbyshire get a run at centre, but I think it will be Minikin. So either Whitehead or Holroyd to come off the bench and fill the hole in the pack.

If Russell does come in, I will start to get a bit nervous about how Josh Thewlis is being treated. He made his debut in 2019, so this is his fifth season in the first team, but despite some excellent performances, he still always seems to be the one that gets left out when there is a selection dilemma. Time to show faith and stick with him, in my opinion.

Most other wingers in SL would have put Olpherts into touch for his try on Friday. Olpherts (among others) did that to Thewlis more than once last season as well. Thewlis' goal line defence is sketchy at best at times. Powell seems to be summing up whether his work in attack makes playing him worthwhile at the moment which I think is a fair question.

I am a fan of Thewlis and he and Ashton did a great job on the early carries in the first half against Leeds. I know the pack was brilliant against Leeds but I thought Ashton and Thewlis ran like they had been shot out of cannon early in the game that also helped the forwards with momentum.
It was noticable in the second half that Leeds tried to halt the wingers progress early in the tackle count and they were a bit more successful at it.
Russell is a real handful on play 1/2 and even good defenders like Yates and Hill struggle to dominate him so for that reason I would favour Russell for this one if he is over his illness .

I appreciate that we all want to see wingers flying down the wing and not used as battering rams but I also understand the importance of gaining momentum on tackle 1/2

If Russell does get the nod over Thewlis I’d be pretty disappointed. Giants will have a field day kicking to his corner either in the air or by turning him with low kicks. Agreed that Thewlis could have done better on Olpherts (but noting that Russell was similarly ineffective v Charnley against Leigh) but he was very good in all other aspects including a great finish. Hope he plays.

If we start playing Russell over Thewlis then we’ve just learned nothing as a club and it will be depressing. Thewlis, whilst still with some weaknesses, is a talent and should be way ahead of an average journeyman in the pecking order.

Russell is a very typical Powell winger, I reckon he will start on Friday. Strong and gets good carries in on the early tackles and importantly, gets a quick ptb more often than not, hopefully he’s ironed out some of his earlier issues. Thewlis is still young - 20 and younger than Jack Welsby for example. He will have plenty of opportunity, I’m not sure wing is where he will be at his best anyway. When Wrench comes back I assume he’ll come in to contention for a wing spot too.

Edit: personally I’d probably prefer to see the likes of Thewlis & Wrench take the opportunity rather than Russell too - but I can see why Powell brought him in.

Also though not an issue right now but if Bullock goes like he done against Leeds, he surely keeps his spot when the likes of McGuire, Dudson et al all become available.

Swapping Thewlis for Russell because you're wanting to improve your defence is like closing your door and opening all your windows because you dont want to get robbed.

I want Russell nowhere near the 17. I want him to be a cover for our main wingers and I don't see the need for him against hudds.

On the contrary.
I want the best players who have earned the shirt to start.
Competition is healthy in RL.
If Russell out works Thewlis, then Thewlis needs to step up…
Which he did.
Why are you making this point now, and not 4/5s the way through 2022 when Dufty went fullback?

Some wingers may well have taken Olpherts into touch, but I’m not sure Russell is one of them. He has the size to do it, but not sure he wouldn’t have just turned and made a grab rather than managed to get there and go low around the legs. I don’t remember Russell’s defence being the latter against Leigh in the friendly.

When dudson is fit, Makiele should drop out. 4 props of Vaughan, dudson, bullock and Kasiano would be my ideal scenario.
Oh, and if Powell picks Russell ahead of josh thewlis then I am going to be mightily unimpressed(even if we win)

Baring late injuries prior to kick off, tomorrows squad is.....

Dufty
Thewlis
Matautia
Ratchford
Ashton
Drinkwater
Williams
Vaughan
Clark
Mikaele
Holroyd
Currie
Harrison

Kasiano
Bullock
Walker
Minikin

No Russell! Looks like common sense has prevailed

Yes, I agree.

We need to persevere with and develop our younger players like St Helens and Wigan do.

I expected wholesale changes, to cover Nicholson`s absence, but the selection of Holroyd is a straight swop for a young 2nd rower to an even younger specialist second rower.

I've been thinking about the Russell v Thewlis debate all day. Clearly Josh is the player you'd pay money to see performing at his best and is a great prospect. I also don't think you replace Thewlis with Russell if you want a better defender; I don't know that there's a great deal between them in that area.

HOWEVER

You can have the most exciting set out of outside backs in the world, and the best set of props, but they are only going to be effective if you can clear the first 15-20m off your line and generate some forward momentum. So as a coach you have a choice to make: 1)gamble that you will be able to restrict your opponents from making territory, as we did last week, in which case you go for a back three of Dufty, Ashton, and Thewlis; or 2) make a pragmatic decision that you might get pinned back a few times and find a place for Russell and his scoots from dummy half.

So if you are making the more confident choice, don't be surprised if you have a few very tough yardage sets when you are playing teams like Saints and (I suspect) Huddersfield.

Well, that's a bold move putting Holroyd straight in, but I like it. I think we got Holroyd from the Widnes Scholarship and he has gone from strength to strength appearing in all three of the Yorkshire Academy teams last season. How times have changed when in the recent past we only seemed to bring through 'promising' juniors that never actually made it to the current situation where we have talent all over the place.

Fair play to Powell too, I think of all our recent coaches he’s the only one that has continually pushed youth in to the first team. There were times last year when people were sure Powell would drop Wrench / Thewlis for Minikin - but he never did, even giving Lynch a shot.

Because Russell wasn't here then. Am I missing something?

Wasn't minikin ruled out for the season early doors?

If were going to build a strong squad for the future, then we need to have faith in the future. Good to see that Thewlis keeps the shirt, and Holdroyd will get an opportunity. I get the arguments about Russell, as we do need wing cover, the same applies to Minikin. Russell, in his first spell, wasn't the future and was moved on, and that's why I'd prefer Thewlis getting a start. However, wing isn't making the most of his ability, but that won't change in the short term with Dufty in the squad.

I'm sure Russell will get a crack sometime. Minikin had a good game vs. Leeds and took his try really well.