Wire squad: Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Daryl Clark, Ben Currie, Josh Drinkwater, Matt Dufty, James Harrison, Leon Hayes, Adam Holroyd, Sam Kasiano, Peter Mata'utia, Josh McGuire, Tom Mikaele, Greg Minikin, Matty Nicholson, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Paul Vaughan, Danny Walker, Tom Whitehead, George Williams

McGuire as been included in the 21 but if he does get banned they will not be allowed to replace him in the 21.

No Russell

Going with Thewlis on the wing then.

... or Minikin ?

If McGuire does find himself, in the words of Clarkson, 'suddenly unbusy' then I'm assuming that Harrison moves to Loose Forward and that either Holroyd or Whitehead get their chance coming off the bench.

I would imagine that, assuming Thewlis is the first choice winger following the warm up games, then Minikin has been included in the 21 in case of injury / illness as he can cover wing or centre whereas Russell is an out and out winger. Holroyd as cover for the halves.

Russell was due to start but has been ill all week per WG

Doubt McGuire will play, but for him to be included in the squad means there’s maybe more to this than we know. Interesting that the club haven’t actually disciplined him too, which I’m sure they’d be straight on to if it was a straightforward case of unacceptable conduct.

I guess we’ll see.

If McGuire plays the 17 picks itself.
If he doesn't then I can see Harrison going to 13, Bullock being a starting prop and Whitehead being on the bench (or Holroyd - depending on the tactics DP wants to play).

I’d love to see Whitehead get some game time this early. Even if it’s the last 20 minutes from the bench.

Some stated we had a pack that's better than most in SL. I'm not so sure, as too much rests on Vaughn's shoulders for me, as he's the only prop we have who is better than Cooper or Hill. And, that's Cooper and Hill at their best. The rest have massive question marks against them. Time will tell.

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

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

Kasiano
Bullock
Walker
Minikin

Hmmm. Not sure how wise it is to have Minikin on the bench rather than Holroyd or Whitehead. We shall see.

I would have thought there was enough utility experience in Thewlis, Mata'utia, Ratchford and Ashton, who can all play full back and anywhere in the threequarters. Currie and Nicholson can both fill in at centre as needed.

I would have thought Whitehead would have earned that bench spot. Happy to be proven wrong though.

Powell often had a random back on the bench at Cas.

they had injuries

Cas had injuries? I didn't hear about those.