Do the same rules apply for the Challenge Cup as in Superleague?

i.e. Does the 19 man squad have to be named 48 hours before kick off?

I think so Brian

I would assume so.

we need to be really strong up front on saturday, for me if oloughlin and bailey are both fit joel tomkins would miss out- he just seems to be making to many unforced errors this past month and although the effort is there I think in this game joel could be a liability in the penalty and error department- I think our backs are what will win us the game so we do not want to be changing them around when the pig goes off, flanagan on the bench as secondary hooker for me, he doesnt deserve to be dropped and neither does mossop- having a 5th prop in the squad against a very big wire pack could be the way forward. Bailey Hansen and Lockers in the back row for me and they will get through tons of defensive work.

Id be looking at a team of

PHELPS
ROBERTS
GLEESON
CARMONT
RICHARDS
SAM TOMKINS
LEULUAI
COLEY
RIDDELL
PRESCOTT
HANSEN
BAILEY
O'LOUGHLIN

FEKA
FIELDEN
MOSSOP
FLANAGAN

18TH MAN JOEL TOMKINS

That can't be right.

I thought the 18th man was the fans.

we will have about 6000 18th men there on saturday

Well I hope J Tomkins has paid for his ticket or better still has got one. I thought all the Wire fans had bought the tickets according to them.

joel miss out hahahhhahahahahhahhhhhahahhahhhhhhahahhha

what ever

I would be tempted to drop Joel or Hansen this week as opposed to Flanagan, as long as O'Loughlin is fit.

Flan was absolutely awesome against Saints - would drop JT personally, been poor for a few games now and doesn't send the right message to other youngsters if you're going to drop someone who was superb (MOM contender) in the previous game.

How would Sam react if his brother was dropped?

I can guarantee you that if Joel doesn't play and Sam has a poor game there will be some on here blaming Noble for dropping Joel and it being the reason for Sams poor form.

but what if joel doesn't make it long term for wigan? do they only play as a package? and does the same apply to tomkins III who is just coming through? It really shouldnt affect him but as you say you never know.

Joel had a poor outing admittedly but he has already "made it" at Wigan.

It would be absolutely criminal to drop Flanagan and leave in Fielden.

I have to disagree, in my opinion he has much to work on given the competition we have in the backrow, with a fully fit backrow available which it seems we may have, Tomkins has to miss out for me. His ball security needs a lot of work and at the moment is showing no signs of improving which is a worry for me for his long term prospects at Wigan.

Who do we play at prop then?

And before you say Mossop, I don't think Mossop is ready to play prop against Morley, Carvell etc. Although he had a good game against Saints (superb second half) he was playing out wide as a second row and not thumping it up the middle.

Hock has gone, Bailey is getting no younger and IMO he is better then Hansen. I think he is safe.

Mossop in my opinion is ahead of him on form of this year, on form of this year i would take Hansen. Bailey potentially has one more year in him, and simply because he is a current Wigan player with a starting shirt does not mean he always should be.

His error count and ball retention is poor, when he has a good run of games he cuts this out but it always creeps back in.

He has the potential to be part of the fixtures and fitting for a long time but i do not think until he improves significantly in this department is he entitled to be, we have to look to put together a squad and improve in areas across the park, if there is better out there then Joel does not have a devine right to being in the Wigan club.

As for the coming week, Mossop, Flanigan, Hansen, Bailey and Locky all deserve a place over him in my opinion.

you make me laugh,after richards last year joel was our best player and was 2nd in young player of the year,and filled in for lockers very well
he contributes to the team very well and takes chances which dont always come off,so what
when he has a great game on sat your opinions will change

your right we will, but thats because he's had a string of poor games now. Even in the games when he played well he was particularly error strewn, and with the strength in depth of the back row he shouldn't and won't get the benefit of doubt as others because there is a ready made replacement to walk into the team.

Form states he is not worth a spot over the others, nothing funny about that. Its fact.

It is often not so much him trying things that ensure the ball goes to ground, it is simply a very lose carry. I dont mind the ball hitting the deck if he is chancing his arm but firstly he needs to learn when to attempt it and secondly as said above often his mistakes come from a loose carry nothing to do with him trying something off the cuff.

If he plays i hope he does go well, if he does not i hope he goes well next time he gets a chance and earns his shirt back.

Its called having a squad with depth, no player has a devine right to play, especially in the secondrow where we are so strong.

Optimistic ey? Work it out - you had an allocation of just over 5000, of which 600 were returned.

Warrington have sold out 4 different batches of tickets, so therefore the makeup should be around 8000 Wires, to 5000 Pies.

Have A Good Day All! - Might see a few of you in the Alehouses.

Hock and Lockers went through the same problem with poor ball retention and knowing when to stick and pass, its become more of a problem with Tomkins since those two are not in the team, Because of all our back row hes the one with anything aproaching the same ability with ball in hand. If you droped him for the semi it would send the wrong message in my oppinion, and for the long term prospects of the lad he has to play.

Wire's 19 man squad...

Louis Anderson, Vinnie Anderson, Matty Blythe, Chris Bridge, Lee Briers, Garreth Carvell, Jon Clarke, Mike Cooper, Ben Harrison, Chris Hicks, Paul Johnson, Matt King, Richard Mathers, Lee Mitchell, Michael Monaghan, Adrian Morley, Paul Rauhihi, Chris Riley, Ben Westwood.

Injuries;

Mickey Higham - torn bicep
Brian Carney - broken arm
Paul Wood - broken leg
Simon Grix - shoulder

Wigan RL 19 man squad

Amos Roberts, George Carmont, Pat Richards, Thomas Leuluai, Stuart
Fielden, Mark Riddell, Iafeta Paleaaesina, Phil Bailey, Sean O'Loughlin,Joel Tomkins, Andy Coley, Harrison Hansen, Paul Prescott, Karl Pryce, Cameron Phelps, Martin Gleeson, Lee Mossop, Sam Tomkins, Mark Flanagan.

Phelps
Roberts
Gleeson
Carmont
Richards
Tomkins
Leuluai
Prescott
Riddell
Coley
Hansen
Bailey
Lockers

Feka
Fielden
Mossop
Flanagan