I would expect Powell, Hampshire, Dudson, Hughes, Crosby, Gelling and maybe Connor Farrell to play on Monday.

Monday looks like an opportunity to hand a few chances out but we don't want to go too far because Bradford have an upset in them imo.

I'd look to rest Bowen, Burgess and Lockers on top of the lads that look likely to miss out through injury and go-

Hampshire
Manfredi
Goulding
Gelling
Sarginson
Green
Smith
Clubb
McIlorum
Crosby
Hughes
Farrell
Bateman

subs
Dudson
Taylor
C Farrell
Williams

Taylor deserves a rest, then maybe Clubb next week

FB 32 Hampshire
RW 23 Sarginson (would have preffered Manfredi to get a run though)
RC 3 Goulding (would have rested him and played Sarginson here if Manfredi had been in the 19)
LC 5 Gelling
LW 32 Burgess
SO 19 Powell
SH 7 Smith
P 24 Clubb
H 9 McIlorum (get him off for Williams if/when we get 20 in front)
P 16 Dudson
SR 14 Hughes
SR 12 L.Farrell
LF 25 Bateman

S 27 Williams
S 28 James
S 36 C.Farrell
S 37 Sutton

Edit: forgot L.Farrell had a week off v London

Bowen
Sarginson
Gelling
Bateman
Burgess
Powell
Smith
Flower
McLlorum
Dudson
Farrell (had a rest Vs London)
Hughes
O'Loughlin

Taylor
Clubb
C Farrell
Hampshire (On at HB and push Smith/Powell to 9)

Quote ="DP_wwrlfc"Bowen Sarginson Gelling Bateman Burgess Powell Smith Flower McLlorum Dudson Farrell (had a rest Vs London) Hughes O'Loughlin Taylor Clubb C Farrell Hampshire (On at HB and push Smith/Powell to 9)'" Bowen isn't in the squad and Flower was injured on Friday www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

Quote ="DP_wwrlfc"Bowen Sarginson Gelling Bateman Burgess Powell Smith Flower McLlorum Dudson Farrell (had a rest Vs London) Hughes O'Loughlin Taylor Clubb C Farrell Hampshire (On at HB and push Smith/Powell to 9)'" Bowen isn't in the squad and Flower was injured on Friday www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

Hampshire at 1 then, Taylor to start and Sutton and Williams on the bench.

Seems that Murphy is doing well at championship level but it is strange to see Tierney at stand off. It will be useful to see Gelling get a run out.

Maybe Tierney is trying to shape a career for himself at halfback which is something his dad could not do (Jason Robinson), Wigan signed Jason from Hunslet Hawkes as an halfback and he ripped teams to pieces at A team level.
When Jason got into the first team it was at halfback and he was such an unstructured player he just did not fit in there, that is when he moved to the wing.

One interesting thing I found in looking this up is that Wigan where not Jasons only professional club ,I always thought he came straight from Hunslet Parkside a junior club) but it seems that he signed for Hunslet Hawkes on a semi professional basis. I think I will be advised on the validity of that by other posters if I am wrong.

Well I read his book and I don't remember reading anything like that. From memory it was Wigan's Yorkshire scout who found him and certainly he was only a young kid when he came to us.

Taken from Wiki ?.

"born 30 July 1974 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Robinson began playing rugby as a child at the Hunslet Boys Club and then Hunslet Parkside before starting his rugby league career in 1991 at semi-professional side Hunslet Hawks"

I am like you SW, I always thought that he came from Hunslet Park Side but when I read the bit from Wiki I put it up on here knowing that it would be questioned.

Therein lies the problem with Wikipedia. Anyone can put anything on it whether true or not and because Wikipedia calls itself an encyclopaedia most people will take it as read that the stuff within it is true and accurate. The BBC famously used it as a source for a news piece on Ronnie Hazlehurst (music composer for television shows) when he died and said on national news that he had written one of S Club 7's songs. He hadn't and the BBC were mocked for the error. The researcher for that news piece thought Wikipedia was a reliable source when it isn't. The info about Jason Robinson signing for Hunslet (they weren't then known as the Hawks) and going from there to Wigan may or may not be true but the same doubt over validity is there with most things on Wikipedia.

Murphy isn't doing that well, he has Teflon non-stick hands, often drops the ball for no apparent reason. His handling error rate is very high.

Tierney only played the one game at stand off, he did ok if nothing special, but was back at FB on a Good Friday and went off injured during the first half.

The best of the regular players we've had from Wigan has been Connor Farrell by a mile. A bundle of energy, runs and tackles his heart out, gives it everything in every game.

Good to hear that. Some on your board seem to underestimate his abilit.

Performed well today, opposition was very poor granted however (as the old saying goes) you can only play what's in front of you. He played really well, strong running, took his tries well and tackled aggressively. As per usual he put a lot of effort in, must be favourite to grab Thornley's centre spot for the next couple of months!

I was impressed by him today.

He was always looking for the offload after contact and bar a couple of dubious ref decisions it worked for him.

I hope he backs it up over the next few weeks.

I thought he had a good game. I hope he manages to get a run in the side. I really want him to succeed at Wigan, he has all the attributes. Feel a bit sorry for him, I sometimes wonder what he has to do to get in the team! He makes the 19 a lot and always ends up getting dropped.

He was a slight forward pass off a moment of brilliance in the first half to set Manfredi away and was always looking to get his wingman away were he could. He wasn't perfect and has areas to go away and work on but he always causes teams problems.

A decent starting point for a run in the side IMO.

I think the fact that he can get his winger into space with a nice offload means that he gives us something extra.

The only thing Thornley has on Gelling, imo, is consistency. I really hope he can string a run of top performances together.

Thornley is quite inconsistent as well IMO. It looks a confidence thing with Thornley whereas with Gelling it's a concentration issue. He has a lot of natural ability and his physical attributes are very good and if he can start to eradicate errors from his game he could be an excellent centre IMO.

I'd argue Thornley always plays around the same level when ever he's selected at centre. He's a big, powerful lump who hits holes near line. After that there's always a wobble or two in defence and no creative play. You know what you will get from the lad.

Gelling on the other hand is harder to judge. Like you said he has all the tools to be a very good player but for what ever reason it doesn't always happen for him.

Gelling did all that was asked of him v the Bulls as did all the team but you just can't judge anyone on that because the opposition were so poor.

He seems a lot bigger than last season which may affect him speed-wise and mobility-wise v Thornley but you could say that regardless of who we played. It is just an observation based on the players physique.

I like Gelling as he has that work ethic but I also think Thornley also has something about him that could make him a great player.

Thornley has all the attributes, I just think he lacks the drive. It's like he has to get wound up to actually run hard, he seems to breeze through games, especially against the better teams.

This is only Thornley's second full season in the first team. His improvement over last year is there for all to see.
As he's out then I'd go with Gelling at 4. Size, pace, plus him and Burgess really have some height. Depending on the size of the opposition winger/centre they must be favourites for any attacking high bomb to the corner.
It could be a good combination creating competition for places.

Gelling managed 191 metres last night. His average in his seven games is almost 165 metres per game, that's excellent for any player especially in the centre position. www.superleague.co.uk/matchday/player/20446

Gelling managed 191 metres last night. His average in his seven games is almost 165 metres per game, that's excellent for any player especially in the centre position. www.superleague.co.uk/matchday/player/20446

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Gelling managed 191 metres last night. His average in his seven games is almost 165 metres per game, that's excellent for any player especially in the centre position. www.superleague.co.uk/matchday/player/20446'" He's always looking for work and it's always him who takes the ball in after a 20m tap. It's unspectacular but it certainly helps out the forwards. Worth his place at the movement.

Quote ="Rogues Gallery"Gelling managed 191 metres last night. His average in his seven games is almost 165 metres per game, that's excellent for any player especially in the centre position. www.superleague.co.uk/matchday/player/20446'" He's always looking for work and it's always him who takes the ball in after a 20m tap. It's unspectacular but it certainly helps out the forwards. Worth his place at the movement.