The problem, if it is a problem rather than healthy competition, though is ..... does he start ahead of Thewlis?

Right now would have to say no, Thewlis as done nothing to warrant being dropped.

He has made a play for a shirt now though hasn't he... that's what i like here... No one really expected anything.

i mean, he probably doesn't get a game when everyone is fit... But its great him coming in and playing well.

or maybe he can make a play for a shirt... nice problem to have.

Genuinely never understood the dislike of Russell, Fast, strong and always gives it 100%. Even when we were playing badly he was one of our better players yet still got stick from everyone. I was buzzing to see him play again for us and he hasn't disappointed.

It depends who we are playing for me. If it is a wet night, youre down a few forwards and you are going to be pinned on your own line all night, Russell. Most other contexts, Thewlis because he is more of a threat and needs the gametime to keep developing.

It certainly is, though not so bafflingly with everything so much more settled compared to last season. Hopefully we'll have a full or close to full squad to pick from for that tough run of 3: Cats, Pies, Stains.

I think Stains are still the ones to watch out for as they have strength across the park, especially at 2nd row and centre where they've probably got the advantage.

It all goes back to when he got hammered taking a high ball and it clearly knocked his confidence, when he came back he got peppered and struggled so the fans got on his back.

I don’t dislike Russell, sounds like he’s been through a lot over the last few years . I just don’t think he’s that good and certainly not as a starting winger for a team with aspirations of winning things. Ok as a squad filler when we have injuries and by all accounts he did well tonight so well done to him.

Won't be stains mate they'll be nowhere near..only cos the rfl have got it in for em and they'll have every ref against em

Clark to go for a scan on a knee injury but Powell does not think it is serious and Drinkwater back next week.

I (and i think many) saw what Russell admitted to years later, a player that was unfit, dropped in confidence and had distractions. Turns out he had gambling and booze problems and needed help.

There's a very very slim chance anyone with those issues could perform at the top of their game and Russell didn't, hence the stick......we just now know why. I don't get the love for Russell after all that, it was a clear dip and a clear bad patch on the pitch. If you think he was one of our top players from day 1 to his last day I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

If he's put all that behind him and even uses it as a drive to achieve, then all credit to the lad.

I wasn't impressed with his signing because of what he was when he left the club (performance, not addiction issues) but I'm also very happy to be proven wrong.

Playing some great stuff this year! With Wigan being average and Saints I feel slightly regressing I think it might be……I won’t say it.

Sounds like your monster pack is dominate making it easy for your outside backs (who don’t look amazing on paper) are finishing well.

Enjoy the ride guys

As Zebedee use to say time for bed, hope don’t wake up tomorrow and the season as not started and find out it’s all a dream.

this team just managed to escape bottom of the league last year.

steady on.

Even if our props have scored more tries than Wakefield.

Impressive display.
Once the 2nd try had been scored there was only going to be one winner.
Cas were dominated in both attack and defence.

Special mention for Matty Russell - took the tries well, but more impressive was his running out from defence. We all know what he can do. He's a handful. He's a confidence player, and it'll be sky high after that performance. On that basis - even though Josh has done nothing wrong - he keeps his spot for me next week.
Danny Walker - big minutes and a big performance. Good job he's playing well given Clarks injury.
Matt Dufty - his try saving chase back was phenomenal and set the tone for the rest of the match.

Concerns?
Clarks knee injury
Sam's hamstring
I thought we were lucky not to get a player binned for the number of penalties we gave away - especially in the 2nd half. Our early errors invited Cas to our line. We won't get away with that against better sides.

Most pleasing points?
We played the full 80 minutes and kept them to nil.

Good to hear from someone actually there as the radio doesn’t always give a true reflection.
As for the penalties we have obviously got hold of the Entertainers play book…

I’m glad now its been proven about Russell.
I got a bit of a backlash on here for saying in pre-season if Russell is better than Thewlis, he must play ahead of Thewlis.
Competition is healthy, and measured rotation is durability.
Thewlis is ready to be our fullback, but there is still development in him. We’re in a great position to use Dufty’s inclusion to take Thewlis to greater levers, and with that time, he’d surly develop to be one of the top 3 best fullbacks in SL.

Well I'm not so sure 'proven' is the right word.

Matty had previous frailties - specifically under the high ball - and I'm sure he'll be targetted in future if he retains his place.
One thing I would say though - reading interviews with him - is that he's now in a much better place in his head this time round. He's matured off the field and as a result is more content with himself on it.

One game doesn't change everything but he's done nothing wrong in that match.

Haven't you heard? Referees only punish you if your shirt has a red vee on it! Put your tin foil hat back on and you'll understand! It's all a conspiracy I tells ya!

Back on point - we're only six games in and the real tests are to come. See how we do with a bad run of injuries (inevitable in the current game) and how we fare in that run of three games against Cats/Pies/Tin Foil Hat brigade. But the signs are all positive thus far.

Fair point but we were missing Bullock and Harrison last night who have been very good this season as well as McGuire who will undoubtedly make a difference to our pack. We were also without Drinkwater who has been excellent, Thewlis and Wrench. So that's 5-6 regulars out. Plus we lost Clark early in the game. I don't want a bigger run of injuries than that!

I think our biggest issue is depth in the second row and how it affects our interchanges given Holroyd also appears to be injured. Harrison can slot in there if needed but is of course out for a while.

If Clark is missing next week I really hope Doolan gets a bench spot and we don't try and shoehorn someone else into the interchange hooker role unless we think Walker can do the 80.

More likely to be Hayes, I suspect, due to his experience already within the first team squad & the fact that 6, 7 & 9 aren't really much of a difference in the modern game?

https://www.therhinos.co.uk/league_tabl ... ague-2021/ Come a long way from this.

https://www.therhinos.co.uk/league_tabl ... ague-2021/ Come a long way from this.

Good post. We've achieved 6 from 6 without McGuire pulling on the shirt and having injuries to a number of players. We have a home game against Hull before an intriguing run of three games. It will be more of an informative period for us, whether we can turn out a near full strength 17*, or not. Super start to the campaign, and there's much to like and build on.

*Six games in, "what's our best 17?" is a far more difficult question to answer, than it was at the start of the season. A number of strong claims to a shirt have already been made.

We haven't been at full strength for a single game this season. We were missing 4 players in week one and that could be as good as its actually got. 2 of those 4 are still unavailable. We've lost more since as well. We have had our share of problems with injuries and suspension, credit to Powell and the squad though, they've just got on with it and got the job done every week so far.

Over these last 6 games, we’ve had at least 9 injured first team players and one long term suspended.
This level of handicap over any season in the last decade, would have probably left us nil-6 games with the same starts.
It’s the quality depth of our pack that minuscules the hinder, while inadvertently simultaneously increasing that quality in depth further still with forced rotation experience.

Packs win games…
2 packs will win SL