I am a big admirer of Sam Powell and his commitment to the club. His workrate and enthusiasm should be the benchmark that all of the other squad members need to aspire to.

However, as everyone knows he has shortcomings to his game, which I feel as an attacking force is holding us back, and I feel the time has now arrived for AL to address this issue. We need more speed, accuracy and skill around the ruck and Sam is unfortunately not the man to deliver this.

I think it is time to try something different, we need Tommy to start at 9, with JS slotting in at half back to improve our kicking game and give us some element of control during games. Tommy should play for 50 minutes. then bring Morgan on for the last 30 minutes at hooker when the opposition big guys are getting gassed.

I have no fears re Morgan’s defence, I can’t recall ever seeing him miss a tackle when someone is running straight at him, and the benefits of his speed off the mark, eye for a gap, and ability to support the ball carrier need to be utilised more. He will not be getting a game at full back because of Zak, and he is not particularly effective as a half.

These two options give us a better running, kicking and support game from dummy half and I don’t feel there will be a lack of speed of service from the PTB. This will allow us to get the ball wider quicker.

I would also like to see Gabe given a fair crack at right Second Row in place of Faz, he has good basic speed, he is strong going forward and his defence is good. It will be interesting to see how much damage he could cause running on the edge of the ruck instead of straight up the middle.

Also sooner or later Sammy Kibula needs to be given a chance to see if he can hack it at SL level. If he can make the step up he would improve the teams skill level massively, and provide a different option through the middle that I don’t think any other team in SL possess, rather than a head down and barge prop. As our props other than Ben and Joe are not performing up to scratch at the moment, maybe if not now, it will soon be time to take a punt on him.

Finally I don’t think anyone should give up on Gilly yet, he has not had a great start to the season, but he is playing out of position. He is class, and possesses a lot of skill and pace, but if he continues to struggle, Hankinson needs to be given a chance on the right with Gilly and Sarge battling it out for the left centre spot.

I think overall we will go well this season, but with a few tweeks we could be a whole lot better.

He will play Sunday

He’s got to use himself in the right way also and that means applying himself and playing at full tilt every game even when a new contract isn’t in his sights. I’ll be interested to see how he’ll go under Lam and if he can get a bit more effort out of him.

He can be a very good player when he wants to be.

He certainly blows hot and cold. That said, we signed him as a devastating Second Rower then promptly moved him to Prop.

Perhaps he can play Second Row for 4 months now that Farrell is out and Lam is more of a traditional rugby man?

Tautai played the vast majority of his rugby at Wakey at prop but maybe running a little wider then he has here. He doesn’t look fit enough to play in the second row for me. The biggest frustration for me is that he can be a good player on his day but we’ve only really seen that in a spell of a few months when he was in negotiations for a new deal.

Team announced:
Hardaker
Davies
Sarginson
Gildart
Marshall
Williams
Leuluai
Bullock
Powell
Flower
Greenwood
Isa
O’Loughlin

Tautai
Byrne
Hamlin
Sammut