Bit confused with Scruton, he was actually in the 19 to face HKR, but obviously didn't play, wonder if he failed a fitness test? Anywayyyy, my team would be;

BJB
Johnstone
Hall
Arundel
Lyne
Miller
Finn
Scruton
Howarth
England
Molloy
Tupou
Arona

Simon
Sio
Annakin
Walton

Will be interesting if he picks Hall ahead of Walton.....

PopTart, I think you will find Anderson is injured and hasn't been dropped. And I don't get what you are saying about Howarth being picked over Sio.... It's a 17-man game and Howarth is more suited to start the game whilst Sio is more suited coming on and adding impact.

The point is, he hasn't just stuck with his favourites.

And how would you know who his favourites are

Deep sigh.

Anyway, I do worry about putting Hall in the centre inside Johnstone. Both have had their defensive issues (though Johnstone had an outstanding game defensively last time out. I wonder whether Walton would be better against the likes of Atkins and Lineham

Johnstone is not a weak defender . Anyone who has played the game will tell you it's his inside defenders that's the problem .a winger gets made to look stupid cos of this . You don't actually see Tom miss many one on one's just see him out of position which isn't his fault . If he stayed on his wing then there would be a massive gap for any centre to go through . He can't win really can he

I'll give you that Fin has a good goal kicking game - buts the rest of what you say, nah.

As for Miller, can we really afford to continue to experiment with someone at 6 whose only strength is his running? I think he'd be a class centre, he did alright at fullback when asked, but doesn't really have much else in his locker. If he has, he's yet to show it. Pretty much all SL teams except us have a halfback pairing that has more than one or two qualities.

10/1 on friday, for anyone who fancies it

Finally there is someone on this forum who speaks sense!

"Defensive issues" is not the same as can't tackle.
I absolutely agree with you that the centre and second row/half back inside him make a big difference........however he has equal responsibility.
You can't jut say the other guy was out of position so I had to be and therefore mised the tackle. You have to work as a partnership and that includes him.
Putting him with Hall......in my opinion, is not a good partnership. But we'll see.

And just to be pedantic. I've played the game, but I was a long way from the wing. Playing the game does not tell you the defensive structure of the centre wing partnership.
Personally, in my time watching rather than playing, I think it's the hardest position to defend. especially the high ball and overlaps where all eyes are on you.

What do you want them to do? Hold hands?? Quite clearly if the guys inside him aren't doing their job then what can Tom do about it?? Other than get sucked in which leaves space down the touchline.

Actually there are quite a few on here who have been saying that, including I suspect in a previous life the poster you have just replied to, Johnstone's defending one on one is not a problem but his positional sense is which is causing the problem along with a centre what does not do his job properly when defending.

The thing I get the most frustrated about watching Wakefield this year is our slow defensive line speed, which looks like it enables opposition attacking plays to be have more fluidity enabling an easy overlap for the fullback and wing combination. Though Hull KR did not exploit this as much as say Castleford did, it is still a worry for me personally.

Defending in the modern game is all about structure and zones it's not as easy as it used to be and just make sure you tackle your man . Which is the reason teams have defensive coaches and study other teams attacking structures. It's all about preparation and being professional

It is incredibly hard to defend in modern rugby, having to make split second decisions, which if the targeted fall guy defending player reads either a dummy pass or runner wrong it's try time. Though watching the NRL sides produce a master class in defensive structure proves that it can be made to look very easy, which is very frustrating watching Wakefield at times.

I thought Johnstones one on one in the friendly against Cas was quite poor. That said Ryan Hall was not much better on Sunday night.

As I said it's a partnership.
Good wingers, just the same as good fullbacks manage the defensive line.

You can't just absolve him of all blame.

Personally I prefer the winger to stay on their wing no matter what. If the guy in field does lose his position, it's more likely to be recovered from centre than if you have to run past the winger making the tackle.
But that's just me and I never played wing in my life.

Like I said, at least twice on this thread above, I'm not saying Johnstone is a weak tackler, I just think putting Hall next to him, who IS a lazy tackler, is going to make a bad partnership in defence, when right now, that's our best asset.

Obvious, it's as old poppers say - it's the ones who are playing well - with the proviso that it's those who are playing well in his opinion.

NB: Thats the only opinion that counts by the way.

I wish I could agree with you Vastman but for some reason you're speaking Swahili. Translate, please?

He's probably just come out of ale house

I wish - now amended.

I'm looking forward to seeing how England goes against his old team mates, a lot at wire thought him and Chris hill was best partnership. Simms seems to struggling, I'm hoping he holds his own.

Couldn't agree more. That is also my concern.

No excuses tomorrow Salford only had 4 days and nearly beat Wigan

Are you for real ? Wigan who had half a day more after playing Brisbane Broncos
Do not compare 5 day to 12 day turnaround difference with that