If it doesn't mean nothing then by default it surely means something?

If he hadn't played well against said team then you'd be slagging him off, you can only play against what is in front of you. If the whole team only performed against wire and saints we wouldn't make the playoffs. Regardless of who we were playing against, Hock played well and scored a hattrick, not bad for someone who has only played a few games since being out for two years.

Really glad Hock's getting his fitness back and playing well. He's worked bloody hard after his indiscretions and that needs to be applauded.

sat in the east stand. did he side step the wakefield full back. for his first try.watch on sky sports tonight yes a side step of sam/tommy class.

his another 2 tries were of forwards tries but back to is best

Yep, they showed the highlights before the Cas game. Looked a much better game altogether with all the dross cut out.

You'd be surprised

Pipe down Tony.

He ran great lines on Friday night and was able to find the gap through some great finch ball work.

Good signs. H and Hoff to start at wire for first 20-25 mins. Hock off the bench

I'd start Hock personally, I want us to go in all guns blazing in the first 20 mins.

His step has always been one of his best assets. He is simply unstoppable on a 1v1 situation near the line.

I agree, with Hoff and H you know you're going to get a solid first 20 minutes, the bring on Hock when the defence isn't as fresh and he should find the gaps.

Hock and Hoffman are both left sided 2nd rowers. We can't start with both in their natural position.
Hoffman to start with HH and Hock off the bench when Hoffman is spelled.

Yep.

Easy hat trick, the balls he was given made the scores. His fitness is a worry.

Couldn't disagree more, I think his fitness is pretty impressive given how long he has been out of the game, He did approx 50-55 mins on Friday which is more than enough for a SR/prop that is likely to be spelled.

I agree that they were easy tries but he has to be in the position to score them, working as well with Finch as he was on Friday he will get plenty more.

Saturday would be an excellent game for Gaz to score another hattrick....



Having him coming off the bench against Wire is a big bonus. I think our bench could well be the difference on Saturday.

Hock has the aggression to match what will be thrown at him, we haven't had that lately against wire. They play games against us like a cup final, aggressive, fast and like a knock out game.

It will be great against Wire because they're gonna really give him some stick I reckon and he'll just get fired up and smash em.

Same here, get him running at Briers.

You can't just decide to go in all guns blazing and expect it to happen. If Wire get early possession then Wigan might not see much of the ball and patience will be essential. Wire are the very best at making a quick start and sticking Hock on the field straight away could play straight into their hands as they exploit his defence. He wasn't great defensively before he was banned and it won't have improved a great deal while he's been out of the game. Match fitness is still an issue and give Wire a chance to target him and they will, and they'll probably come out on top.
Against Wakefield his attacking play was good but he only made 11 tackles. He wasn't tested at all and it's tackling that will really test his match fitness.

For me, Hock is still a massive risk, especially defending in the back row and Liam Farrell is by far the safer option, especially defensively.

Playing Hock was always a risk, his threat to wire outweighs the risk for me.

He should be on the bench with hoffman to start for me

Spot on.

Hock has always played the game on the edge but his attributes he brings to the side far outweigh any flaws wire could target.

We can maximise his good points and try to lessen any risks by playing him from the bench and injecting him at certain times.

Let's go and win this game and not fall into the trap of trying not to lose it. We were guilty of that at Leeds in the cup last year IMO.

Absolutely.

This isn't going to be a game for the timid, that's for sure.

+1