Saw the interview now where Peet mentions it and calls it a massive blow for him and us. Didn't leave me feeling it's a minor one but we'll see. Every cloud and all that, it at least means we should be able to fit Harvie Hill in the side and I think he deserves that.

[quote="NickyKiss":e4qq7d09]Saw the interview now where Peet mentions it and calls it a massive blow for him and us. Didn't leave me feeling it's a minor one but we'll see. Every cloud and all that, it at least means we should be able to fit Harvie Hill in the side and I think he deserves that.[/quote:e4qq7d09] Agree, it could be a sort of blessing in one way. Keeps Byrne interested / motivated (not that i am saying he isnt)in the early part of the season, and hopefully gives Hill game time too. So when Havard is fit, we'll hopefully have both Byrne and Hill still fit and can rotate them around off the bench

[quote="Mark_P1973":2smj7hup]Agree, it could be a sort of blessing in one way. Keeps Byrne interested / motivated (not that i am saying he isnt)in the early part of the season, and hopefully gives Hill game time too. So when Havard is fit, we'll hopefully have both Byrne and Hill still fit and can rotate them around off the bench[/quote:2smj7hup] It will be interesting to see who Peet goes with as a starting prop alongside Thompson out of Byrne, Dupree or perhaps even Hill. Suspect it will be Byrne.

[quote="MadDogg":37lrrjtj]It will be interesting to see who Peet goes with as a starting prop alongside Thompson out of Byrne, Dupree or perhaps even Hill. Suspect it will be Byrne.[/quote:37lrrjtj] Yes, think it will be Byrne as he would be 3rd choice prop normally IMO, and can do big minutes. Then Dupree, Hill and Mago used as we did last season. I would think Matty Peet will be looking at giving Thompson and Byrne about 50 minutes in this game in preparation for next week, plus Dupree and Hill get a good run out too

Could we go with Walters for the time being not sure about how long he can do

Byrne and Thommo starting with Dupree, Mago and Hill on the bench. Walters next in line for the bench spot should one of them miss.

[quote="NickyKiss":2g1eb04p]Saw the interview now where Peet mentions it and calls it a massive blow for him and us. Didn't leave me feeling it's a minor one but we'll see. Every cloud and all that, it at least means we should be able to fit Harvie Hill in the side and I think he deserves that.[/quote:2g1eb04p] Did he say torn or pulled hamstring? I think the massive blow might be in relation to missing vegas

Any news on Miski? I ain’t seen anything about him being injured. Maybe some issues back home

Thought I'd read that those not in the squad were people who didn't respond well to the 3G surface that's in Sheffield?

I don’t think he played in any other of the pre season games. I think he has issues with his knee. 3G pitch fingers crossed no silly injuries

[quote="endoman":35aeddi9]Thought I'd read that those not in the squad were people who didn't respond well to the 3G surface that's in Sheffield?[/quote:35aeddi9] Yeah, Peet confirmed Miski and Wardle don't deal well with the artificial pitches and won't be risked but they're fine.

Don't Wakey have an artificial pitch as well? Guessing they will miss that game too.

Wakefield's pitch is a hybrid, like many premiership grounds. Almost all grass, with some fibres woven into it. It caused abrasions last year as the grass hadn't started growing enough so the root zone was more prominent.

Do the hybrids not cut up as easy? 3G pitched would be great for rugby if it didn’t involve the physical side of things. Also imagine the knee injuries are quite high on them

[quote="WWste":5983453n]Do the hybrids not cut up as easy? 3G pitched would be great for rugby if it didn’t involve the physical side of things. Also imagine the knee injuries are quite high on them[/quote:5983453n] They are more durable for sure. I read that every Premiership club has one... I guess it's what Saints also have now.

Surprised to see Farrell at centre.

Hill gets the start!

Feels a bit of a wasted chance to get Farrimond and Douglas a game IMO. Funny timing though a few days out from the League season, so I get why Peet would want minutes in players legs.

I guess it was a case of - who should we give an opportunity/mins to, Walters or Douglas. I guess Douglas is further away from a starting spot than Walters - especially with a big injury to Havard.

[quote="NickyKiss":1zudbcdh]Feels a bit of a wasted chance to get Farrimond and Douglas a game IMO. Funny timing though a few days out from the League season, so I get why Peet would want minutes in players legs.[/quote:1zudbcdh] I’m always calling for squad players to play some weeks in “easier” games but Peet plays his full team 95% of the time. He knows best.

[quote="NSW":req4udpt]I’m always calling for squad players to play some weeks in “easier” games but Peet plays his full team 95% of the time. He knows best.[/quote:req4udpt] He does indeed. It makes sure everyone is earning a place and not being given freebies anyway.

[quote="NSW":hhadwjsx]Did he say torn or pulled hamstring? I think the massive blow might be in relation to missing vegas[/quote:hhadwjsx] Sounds a really bad one. Peet has said it's going to be a few months 'at least'

Full match up on Wigan TV already, well done to the club on getting this game up on such a quick turn around!

I watched the full match last night, decent performance for a pre-season. A few hiccups but that's to be expected at this stage. Wigan were very poor under the high ball, almost every try Wigan scored resulted in Sheffield managing to reach touch from kick-off. That's the significant issue I noticed, we struggled against Leeds with kicks, too. The wind was terrible according to the commentators, causing havoc every time the ball went high. It was a forward-orientated game, the pitch was very narrow and wingers on both teams couldn't find any space at all. However, this highlighted how good our forwards are. Many of our forwards seem to have shredded some of that puppy fat and gained a few kilos of muscle. - Walters was outstanding and was the MotM for me, I recall three drives post-contact in which he made an extra 5-10 metres. Very powerful on the edges, and looks to be getting back to his Leeds form. - Hill was brilliant, he was a handful all night and made lots of metres going forward. He looks to have bulked up a fair bit in the pre-season. - Byrne was another standout, his try was great. He bulldozed straight over the top of the Sheffield player Joel Farrell, who isn't a small player, to go right near the sticks. - Mago had a good game and played some long minutes which is nice to see. As usual, takes three players to take him down and always getting a quick play-the-ball. - Leeming is such a classy player, created the first try of the game with a scoot from dummy-half and a quality kick to set up the opener. - Tyler Dupree, like Hill, looks like he's shed some weight and bulked up. Victim of an extremely harsh sin-binning for an accidental hair pull on Sheffield's Farrel, whose hair was nearly between his shoulders. Seriously looking forward to the season now!

Our kick defence has been poor for a couple of years, I think it's our biggest weakness by far. We concede a lot of tries from grubber kicks inside the 10m. Miski and Field are ok at best under the high ball (Field has improved a lot though).