that would be the team for the start until finsh returns then move same to full back finch and tommy halfs macca and deacon hookers, with deacs at hooker he played a few times here and did okay and he keeps the team in control when on the field look at leeds in play offs at home he went off and look what happened. and dont forget about big gaz hock to coming back he will have to do some forcing his way into this team.

Of course. It's why we won last year in my view. Amos Roberts wasn't missed one bit, a remarkable fact considering he was in unbelievable form early last year.

Madge has said on the website this week that Fielden and Gleeson should both be good to go in Cardiff. Might be a little undercooked though which would be a bit of a concern

I was thinkin about this the other day about two wigan sides we could put out which i dont think any other rugby league team on the planet could put out.

1) tomkins 1) roberts
2) goulding 2) pryce
3) carmont 3) marsh
4) joel tomkins 4) gleeson
5) richards 5) charnley
6) finch 6) mellor
7) tommy 7) deacon


fielden

lima
9) micky mac 9) logan tomkins 80 mins
10) coley 10) presscott
11) faz 11) tuson
12) hock 12) hoffman
13) lockers 13) hansen

14) mossop 14) ocarroll
15) davies 15) jonny walker

4 players short but im sure bilko could fill them in they are both very impressive teams

The depth we have is massive and should play a huge part in our season. We've had a good few years injury wise and theres always an injury crisis around every teams corner so to have this sort of depth could be so important if we're to challenge for top spot and honours again.

I just hope we don't pick up too many more knocks in the short term especially in the backs. We have depth in the backs but not on quite the scale we do in the forwards.

This time last year, most Leeds fans felt that the squad that started the season had a lot more depth than the one that won its third consective title, hence the optimism about us doing 4 in a row. We effectively added Eastwood and Delaney to the squad from the previous season.

The problem for Leeds was never simply a lack of depth. We started the season too slowly due to the WCC and a crippling injury crisis, and never really got over this. When things started to pick up we became too reliant on Peacock (and to a much lesser extent McGuire), and without these players the team could not rise to its previous high levels. It doesn't matter how much depth you have, in a salary capped sport players of this calibre are simply irreplaceable. At the same time, many of our other senior players were carrying injuries due to the more gruelling schedule of having played in the WCC, the full CC programme (including the brutal game against Wigan). Others, for example, Buderus, Lauitiiti, and Webb, clearly suffered a downturn in form, partly, I suspect, linked to injuries, but not necessarily. There were clearly problems behind the scenes as well, with Eastwood, Diskin and the majority of the coaching staff moving on. In hindsight, it wasn't a terrible year considering that we made the CC final and gave you your hardest games in the play-offs.

I think Wigan are in a better position at the moment because they play more as a team than Leeds did last year, not being reliant on individual brilliance as much (Tomkins aside). That said, now that you are 'top dogs' it will be that much harder because every other club will set beating the champions as one of their pre-season goals.