The 19 man squad is: John Bateman, Matt Bowen, Joe Burgess, Josh Charnley, Tony Clubb, Dom Crosby, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower, Anthony Gelling, Blake Green, Jack Hughes, Michael McIlorum, Sean O'Loughlin, Eddy Pettybourne, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Scott Taylor, Joel Tomkins Read more at www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... MIUAk4G.99 It is interesting to see Taylor back in the squad.

The 19 man squad is: John Bateman, Matt Bowen, Joe Burgess, Josh Charnley, Tony Clubb, Dom Crosby, Liam Farrell, Ben Flower, Anthony Gelling, Blake Green, Jack Hughes, Michael McIlorum, Sean O'Loughlin, Eddy Pettybourne, Sam Powell, Dan Sarginson, Matty Smith, Scott Taylor, Joel Tomkins Read more at www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... MIUAk4G.99 It is interesting to see Taylor back in the squad.

Matty Bowen

Josh Charnley
Anthony Gelling
Dan Sarginson
Joe Burgess

Blake Green
Matty Smith

Ben Flower
Michael McIlorum
Dom Crosby
Joel Tomkins
Liam Farrell
Sean O'Loughlin

Bench:
Eddy Pettybourne
Tony Clubb
John Bateman
Scott Taylor

Taylor to play
McIlorum to do the full 80 or be spelled by John Bateman or Sean O'Loughlin
Hughes and Powell to miss out

Wolfs:
10 Roy Asotasi
4 Ryan Atkins
3 Chris Bridge
17 Ben Currie
19 Anthony England
25 Ben Evans
18 Rhys Evans
15 Ben Harrison
9 Micky Higham
8 Chris Hill
23 James Laithwaite
5 Joel Monaghan
14 Michael Monaghan
7 Richie Myler
20 Gareth O’Brien
6 Stefan Ratchford
1 Matthew Russell
11 Trent Waterhouse
16 Paul Wood

Gonna be a doozey !

Saved me writing my team out. I'd possibly consider starting Bateman for Tomkins but other then that spot on.

Micky Mac thrives on long minutes and has worked on his match fitness after injury now. That bench will take some stopping!

I'd go with Arthur Warrior's side but I don't reckon Taylor will play. It'll be the same 17 as the last two games IMO.

Taylor was 18th man against Hudds wasn't he?

I'd definitely keep Powell in the team, if McIlorum or either of our half backs got injured we would be fecked.

Difficult situation for Wane this Friday I think. It's tempting to go with 4 forwards on the bench v Wire, with them playing the extra game and also the last few times I feel we have had the better of them in the forwards (a rarity in the last few years against them). However, I think it will be the exact same 17 as the last few weeks.

The risk in going this way is the drop off in intensity when Micky Mac goes off and Powell comes on. Wire are the best team in the league in putting points on the board quickly; we went from 4-0 up to 18-4 down in the matter of 15 minutes last time out, IIRC. If we can avoid one of those purple patches that Wire are renowned for we will win by a few scores in the end IMO.

Flower, Crosby, Clubb and Pettybourne to carry on from where they have been the last few weeks. Pretty confident about this one, although admittedly earlier on in the week I thought it was a 50/50 game.

Exactly what I thought when I read it. Not too sure about your starting Props in that line up but the rest of the pack looks very, very strong indeed.

Can't help but think it's going to take some serious Wigan brain farts for anyone else to pick up the trophy this year.

Id keep the same 17 as last time, but replace Crosby with Taylor.
Taylor was our best prop for a lot of the earlier part of the season, and hopefully will be chomping at the bit to get back in the 17.
Eddie is such a good ball playing prop and Clubb was immense last time out, so Dom would be the one to lose out for me.
I feel we need back-up for Macca, and Powell also gives us cover of the halves.

I'm in the 4 forwards on the bench camp. It worked in the play offs last year. We have SOL for cover, also have Bateman or Tomkins to Centre and Sarg to cover the halves if needed.

We had Logan on the bench though. Same job Sam Powell will do.

Not against Warrington in the Grand Final we didn't. 4 forwards is the way to go, Lockers to cover 9/halves if needed, backrowers to cover centres etc

Another one for 4 forwards. Keep McIlorum out there for the full 80 unless by some miracle it's won early in which case get him and Lockers off

4 forwards for me please Mr Wane

Cant help but look at that 17 and be impressed with the amount of british players in there (13)

Having 4 forwards on the bench is risky. You need 4 props, plus cover for the back row. That leaves one spot for cover at hooker. What if MMc gets injured after 5 minutes? You need cover even if you don't bring him on.

I seem to recall that in the GF even though we had 4 forwards Hughes only came on in the last 10 minutes when the game was won. Every other position in the team can be covered by Bateman, Clubb and Pettybourne. So if a half was injured Lockers can play with Bateman going 13. Bateman/Joel can cover the centres. Sarginson can play wing or full back. But Hooker is such a specialist position that you need specialist cover. As I say you don't need to bring him on necessarily, but you need that insurance.

Let's face it, only the two props really need a break with the other 11 doing the full 80. So your other replacements are there to cover injuries. Don't let what happened to Warrington in the final happen to us. Have cover for all eventualities if you can.

Smith and O'Loughlin have both put in good performances at hooker in the past. Don't forget neither Powell nor Williams is a specialist hooker anyway. Both are halves by trade

I think it's not so much a question of who is on the bench, as what the strategy is for Mac. I think - in line with many others - that he should play as long as he can, as we are a worse team without him. That being the case, the question is whether we need a hooker we hope not to use or a 5th prop. Probably the former, as I genuinely think the 4 we have can do the job.