Why pick on a bloke who wasn't even playing? Mitch Brown should have his bottom smacked for coming out of the defence line, he did it pre-season and was told about it ! I'm getting tired of defending Tonga on here, it is frustrating he's had injuries however, when he's played he's shown his pedigree! He was concussed against Dewsbury in the process of making a low tackle, that's no reason to get shut of him! Perhaps we should consider getting shut of McNally, after all he didn't play a single league game last season and only appeared in the 8s! now, he's injured again

James Clare, he too might become 'injury prone' lets shed him too!!


I'm talking c..p of course, perhaps you might consider your views too?

Brown is not a SL centre for me, he will get exploited by teams more so as the season progresses.

Willie Tonga is a centre of proven calibre who oozes class. The problem he has presented to the coaching team is that the number of Leigh games where he has declared himself 100% fit can be counted on one hand, twice.

Maybe it is in his head?

Harold,I agree with that,and think he just might feature on Friday.I also think we should be looking at Curtis Naughton to make an appearance too. Atalea Vea has just not impressed at all and there are 4 players i could choose from before him.

Harold, for me Brown would be full back,I would put Hampshire at 6 , though maybe not this week

,bring Higham,Hopkins and maybe Maria or Acton in,I think Fridays game is Definatly winnable ,it will be extremely hard but it is there for the taking.Charlie knows.

Yea, but what would Harpo say?

I expected Cas to put 30 or 40 points past Leigh. They will be in the top 4 challenging for honours this season. Leigh have signed 11 new players so it is going to take several games before Jukes knows his best team and then it has to gel as a team.

Hock had an excellent game and Green looks a very good prospect. Stewart, Drinkwater and Higson had solid games but Hampshire doesn't look like a full back to me. Maybe give Mitch Brown a run out there see how he goes.

Was pleased to see Leigh rally in the 2nd half - only 18 - 16 - which shows that fitness isn't going to be a problem. All in all we are in for an exciting season although I expect Leigh to be in the Middle 8s.

We can only expect this season to be one of consolidation and growth. Doubt we will give our place in SL away to any challenging promotion hopefuls. Well done Leigh.

He would just give you a cup of tea Ian.

Well said.

Hock my Leigh MoM.

We missed Mickey.

Riddy didn't look fit.

Drinkwater class.

We can score points.

Need to get used to SL speed and intensity week in week out.

Top 8 a huge ask - and task!

Paul McShane (Castleford) - Grade B Dangerous Throw (EGP available)..
Eloi Pelissier (Leigh) - Dangerous Contact- caution issued.

Riddy isn't fit Charlie..I don't see any other options available other than Hampshire.Kicking game will be compromised, but needs must.

Reynolds???
Seems to have goods wraps pre-season.

Expect us to stick with Ridyard TBH, hopefully he learned a lot from Friday - kicking the ball dead in goal is not a good option with the new 7 tackle rule - lacked composure generally as a team against Cas, the Half Backs are the pairing to help control the game better

Agreed Col, but if Riddy is not quite fit(which he didn't look it on Friday), Then I would be tempted to play Reynolds there. We need more power, and more work from the pack as well, and i have to say a couple of changes there wouldn't surprise me. It will be interesting to see what back line we go with.

Well with the injuries now stacking up (Hood broken ankle apparently) we will be lucky to have 17 fit in a few games time. Its all started to go t*ts up

Don't want to speak out of turn here, but I watched your halfbacks with interest on Friday and I would stick with that partnership. Ridyard wasn't fit, admitted, but the only way to get match fit is to play. Drinkwater will come out of his shell a little and then it should be a decent partnership as he can provide the bit of flair and Ridyard can direct a team. Ridyard made some mistakes with his kicking, but mainly due to the new laws and how to play them to the best advantage. You need an experienced head sometimes, and he could provide that calm and stability when needed. Look at Finn last year at Wakey, not the most dynamic of halfs, but his thinking and experience steadied them when they needed it. On the subject of Rocky Hampshire, I wouldn't be putting him in the halfs. 2 sets of coaching staff in SL cannot be wrong. Neither Wane or Powell see him as a half back, and we put a prop there instead of him, even though Rocky was fit. His best positions that we found were wing, then fullback. I can't comment too much on Reynolds as I didn't see enough of him when with us to form an opinion as to his best position/s. Good luck against Leeds, I'll be watching that with interest, I think it's gonna be a tight one.

Good honest assessment. I also watched our halves very closely as well, calling on many years of experience and came to the same conclusions.

A) on Ridyard, he will be taken out of the firing line short term. He will not play on Friday. Ben Reynolds will partner Josh Drinkwater at 6 & 7.

B)Ryan Hampshire's positional play at full back was poor, he made defensive errors and is also far from reliable when peppered with the high ball. He is a young lad and he will learn but I suspect he also may be taken out of the firing line Friday. Mitch Brown will move to full back.

Good luck to you 'Caslad75' for the season. You have an impressive structure there.

Without watching the whole game back again, I thought the majority of the kicks that went dead, were from Drinkwater, and not Ridyard? That said, Riddy looked 'off the pace' of the game - although the only way to get match fit for SL, is by playing SL.

Riddy missed the last 4 or 5 weeks of pre season, big gamble to throw him in unfit. I would flog him as if it was preseason and have him back v Saints, if Ben plays well then I fancy him to move to FB. Tonga/Crooks at centre it seems to be, the wild card is Stewart to 6 and go with the extra forward but that would mean Reynolds at FB imo

In that case, he should not have played then imo.

Alan, the ball was kicked dead 3 times. 2 from Drinky, 1 from Riddy. to be fair 1 of those from Drinky,there was a good chance for Dawson to go for it and try and get something out of it,but he made no attempt whatsoever.

The pass from Drinkwater to Hampshire to put him in, shows cohesion between them.Thats fact,are we to just ignore that fact because Cas and Wigans coaching staff say he's not a half?

Should have gone to Sheffield.

Is that not more to do with him linking up from FB though - no idea whether Hampshire can or can't succeed at halves, 2 top coaches indicate not but he is still young so who knows.

At the end of he day let's hope we don't have a knee jerk reaction because of Friday- so long as we learn the lessons we'll hold our own in a lot of games, gave up a lot of field possession and any team would get punished at this level.

I could be wrong and situations can change at any point leading up to kick off, but I do believe Hampshire has been dropped.