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.

More likely Singleton in for Harvie Hill if he is back, Nsemba has probably done just enough to keep a bench slot. Hill has only made brief appearances.

I'm wondering whether Peet will want to keep Morgan Smithies on that right side to possibly the limit the damage a little bit. In hindsight, Mcnamara completely outclassed Peet on Saturday by targeting the right edge of Nsemba, Field, King and Miski.

Every team tries to target the half on the edges, its hardly a masterclass.

I think "Field is a defensive turnstile" is being a touch overstated by some, he was OK in defence at 6 & 1 before his injury.
Saturday was his first game back in 2 months he was always going to be targeted, we're already light in the pack and we kept coughing up possession against a much bigger pack meaning we got mullered up the middle and the sliding defence struggled to shift over to cover that side. Also for some mad reason Peet decide to play cust at hooker instead of O'Neill when we're already weak in the middle.

Going forwards If we can keep our completion rate high and discipline clean we'll trouble any team because we've shown we can stick in games and have the strike players to take chances.

If the team had come with the right attitude and showed some desire to be first to the punch, Field isn’t a sitting duck. The collective was to blame, not one guy.

Yeah, the attitude wasn't right, it looked similar to the Leeds game where it seemed like they said this game is gone, target the next one. Risky because once you drop your standards its very hard to pick them up again, as they showed in the first half of the cup game.

As I thought, French named at 6 for tonight.