4 forwards for me please Mr Wane

Cant help but look at that 17 and be impressed with the amount of british players in there (13)

Having 4 forwards on the bench is risky. You need 4 props, plus cover for the back row. That leaves one spot for cover at hooker. What if MMc gets injured after 5 minutes? You need cover even if you don't bring him on.

I seem to recall that in the GF even though we had 4 forwards Hughes only came on in the last 10 minutes when the game was won. Every other position in the team can be covered by Bateman, Clubb and Pettybourne. So if a half was injured Lockers can play with Bateman going 13. Bateman/Joel can cover the centres. Sarginson can play wing or full back. But Hooker is such a specialist position that you need specialist cover. As I say you don't need to bring him on necessarily, but you need that insurance.

Let's face it, only the two props really need a break with the other 11 doing the full 80. So your other replacements are there to cover injuries. Don't let what happened to Warrington in the final happen to us. Have cover for all eventualities if you can.

Smith and O'Loughlin have both put in good performances at hooker in the past. Don't forget neither Powell nor Williams is a specialist hooker anyway. Both are halves by trade

I think it's not so much a question of who is on the bench, as what the strategy is for Mac. I think - in line with many others - that he should play as long as he can, as we are a worse team without him. That being the case, the question is whether we need a hooker we hope not to use or a 5th prop. Probably the former, as I genuinely think the 4 we have can do the job.