A big year certainly and I really hope it blossoms for you guys. My teams wants a challenge from every club, not just Saints and you guys seem to be leading the way to closing the gap. Good luck.

I think

Hick
King
Atkins
Bridge
Riley

is the best you can put out.

Mathers on the bench. All 5 players are better than him so put them all on, simple.

That's the Wigan @Mather's is no good' bit coming out. He's been fine at Wire and will be first choice Full Back in 2010. The backline will be...
Mathers
Hicks
Bridge
Atkins
King
Briers
Myler
Chris Riley will be cover for both wings and there's plenty of variation there as Hicks, Bridge, and King can play in more than 1 position.

Why wont Hicks get a visa?

Still smoking Bob?

To be honest I would rather have riley at fullback.I dont see it with Mathers , he is a liability in my eyes. Although he brings something to the team with his enthusiasm

Noo, that's the everyone with 2 eyes can see Mathers isn't very good bit coming out.
It's going to be pretty straight forward but I certainly would be more excited about seeing Riley at 1 for certain periods this season.
I actually think the backs look fairly ordinary, big and strong but severly lacking in pace. There's no one there quicker than my dog wolfs down a sunday lunch and if we break from deep it could show.
Hicks could be a year past it, Mathers never had it but he's a good clubman and King..I dunno, we'll see

I prepare for flaming but I think Atkins would make a better winger than centre, certainly in something like an England capacity

No pace?? Errrrmmmmm did I just imagine Riley going the length of the field against Bradford beating Dave Halley (who people were saying was the quickest around) easily for pace?? To be fair I was quite drunk at the time though but Im sure I remember it.

For me, Bridge is streets ahead of Atkins in terms of technical centre ability. Atkins is a great athelete, but if there's any one you should move around, be it wing or 2nd row, I'd make it him.
I think he'd make a good athletic 2nd row like Gilmour or Johnson who can cover the centre when needed.

mathers
king
bridge
atkins
riley,penny or carney................

You on the pot with Bob.

no..............

There's something in this 'Hicks can't get a visa to come back' isn't there, ie, It's true.

Hope it isn't true. Hicksy will be missed both on and off the field.
Don't understand why he can't get a visa renewal as he's been here for two years already, unless the club have made some kind of monumental error with any of his applications.

The problem anybody will have with Mathers is that even when he's full of confidence theres always an 'oops' moment around the corner somewhere. He had a rough ride at Wigan but when he went to Wire Smith seemed to raise his confidence levels and get him playing some good stuff but his time was still littered with some big errors. I can remember ones at Leeds and Hull KR(in the cup) off the top of my head but thankfully from a Wire point of view they didn't cost you.

It's really just a case of weighing up if what he brings to the side is greater then the errors he's prone to now and again.

If he's a fully confident Mathers i'd still say he's worth his spot.

I also imagined Riley chasing down Greenshields in Barcelona.

I don't understand peple saying there is a lack of pace.

Riley is very quick and so is Penny as we all know.

King is quick for a big man.

Myler is pretty raipd.

Atkins is as quick as most centres.

Which is a massive yes, his ability to organise the line is something that we badly needed, a voice. He also has some ability with the ball, and I expect to see even more from here this year.

He's a better option than Riley at fullback, though perhaps not as exciting or explosive. Safety is what you need. Riley made alot more errors at FB than Mathers, but granted more 60m breaks.

Mathers main attribute imo is his general leadership and enthusiasim he brings to a side. It's obvious from watching him he loves playing the game and you can tell he's a very popular figure at any club he's been at.

His passion for the game and the club he represents at any given time is the reason i found alot of the criticisim from Wigan fans harsh. He may have not been at his best but it wasn't for the want of trying!! If a guy like Karl Pryce had Mathers outlook on the game he's be a sensation.

Riley and Penny both won't play in a first choice 13, Riley would in mine, in place of mathers; but not in Smiths.
King might be 'quick for a big man' but he still got caught by malcolm alker after being put clear.
I'll elaborate on my atkins point. He's the sort of guy who would normally be playing soccer as a kid, not a great technical rugby player but a very good all round athlete who's found his way into RL and because, lets be honest, in this country we dont produce many 'athletes' he'll look good. In pure centre terms Bridge is the better footballer by far but athletically Atkins is superior. For me it's how much he can learn in the next few years.
Put simply, Atkins would get a place in an NRL team...on the wing.
Our backline (talking outside backs here) lacks class, only Bridge you'd say has any.

Was told at the end of last season that Hicks would not play again because of a back problem, i guess we will see in the coming weeks, dont see any reason why he would not get a visa tho.

Hicks applied for a visa at the end of the season , and there was a problem somewhere , not too sure what though think it could of been admin error, but 3 weeks ago he applied again, so not sure how long these things take but surely it should be done in time for the season .... was also suprised to learn that the Visa is paid for out of the players own pocket, 600 dollars i was told its cost him both times lol..

Says in todays guardian Hicks will be back here Monday.

That's good news.

In that case, I think it'd be a stick on that Penny would go to Widnes on that dual registration thing, makes sense. He gets first team rugby every week, whilst we still have control of him.

There's no point him kicking his heels, playing for the reserves, which clearly doesn't do him any favours. You'd assume he's behind King, Hicks & Riley, so let him go & play.