Above us after beating us next week Stu.

We're just lucky Wakefield are poor

He is far too small to play prop.

Hooker it is then

FTR....I would play him at 11.

I think there's the potential for Powell at 13 with Cust/O'Neill at 9.

Or 4 points behind us after we beat them again

*



*May or may not be what I'm suggesting will actually happen. Unfortunately I don't have access to the internet at the moment so will have to clarify next Friday around 10PM

Powell is 5’10, far too small. Don’t be quoting Paul Gallen either because he was as wide as he was tall. Needs to be over 6ft to play loose and over 95kg at least.

So by a "big stand off" you mean over 6ft and over 95KG.

Jesus......how many of them are there in the modern game? Sounds like GB in the early 00s of Faz at 6 and Scully at 13 and vice versa.

I kind of know where you're coming from. A 13 needs to be a 3rd prop (Gallen) or a ball player (SOL) depending on how you play. We tend to go with the 3rd prop option but don't have the 1st and 2nd props to do the first bit

We've lost our best two props, one for the season and one for a couple of months, there's no fix for this, if Salford made Dupree available I'd hope we'd go all in for him but if they want to keep him that's that.
Lack of grunt up front and the no.9 issue that's been done to death are the root cause of our problems.

Absolutely correct,on both points.

To be fair for my money Smithies should be at prop and not back row or lock.

He's not big enough

That was one of the reasons I jokingly (I think) mentioned Tommy - not the greatest scrum half we have had but one thing he could do was organise and tell others what was needed - things this current team are very much lacking, we are crying out at times for an on field general.

I agree I think Briers is a big miss.

How many props were you missing today cat?

Yes, a big stand off. So maybe a stand-off who is 6ft and can be bulked up 10kg. I’d say a lower grade Aussie who matches that description and can tackle, switch him to 13. Like your Brad Fitler in his latter years, or Sculthorpe/Farrell/Lockers.

Or a Prop with good hands, a stand off born into a props body so to speak

like your Lee Crooks, Sam Burgess, James Graham etc.

There aren’t many in the modern game because the game has been dumbed down into middles, pivots and edges but there are players who can be shaped into that position.

I thought you had stopped watching Wigan?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Do you think that is potentially a bit ambitious?

The players you name are up there with the best to ever play the game, not running around in park football in Australia.

Our biggest issue at the moment is lack of props due to injury and a 7 whose confidence seems to be on its aris.

We get props back we will fine despite the ropey spell we are going through.

Just take the goal kicking duties off Smith, easy call, take some pressure off him, if someone else misses, they miss

I agree give it to Field he can miss aswell.

I haven't seen it mentioned in here but Field's defence is atrocious. You could see King and Nsemba both trying in vain to cover him, he is literally a speed bump. Some pathetic efforts on Whitley, Mourgue and Romano in particular.

Not sure what it means for French but Field surely can't defend in the line again.

Very tough to watch, hopefully it’s just down to rust.

Wonder if Bevan could defend there and Field at full back?

I'd be absolutely stunned if Field defended in the line again against Saints. He looked terrified.

Saints will get Sironen one on ones all game on Field.

Field will be at 6 though. Peet seemed to indicate that after the game.

Peet's clear preference in his time as coach has been to play Field at fullback and French on the wing. He had plenty of opportunities to do so before he was essentially forced into it with Cust's injury/lack of form. I doubt he'll revert to type on the back of that one game but I wouldn't rule it out. The mismatch in the two forward packs is the main concern though (again!).

Amazing how one round of games can completely change the outlook. A loss isn't the end of the world but a 2nd successive heavy defeat would be a disaster with the Challenge Cup game coming up (as well as being grim to watch of course).

I can see Singleton coming in, perhaps for Nsemba.