I think when we signed Ellis he was going to be 1st choice hooker for us, however the opportunity arose to sign Aiton who is an experienced International hooker and he is now 1st choice for us (and rightly so I would say).

Ellis will have to fight it out with Wood for the interchange spot and for this week Wood won, but as others have said I expect Ellis will get the nod for some games and Wood for others depending on the opposition. I guess he just needs to grab the chance when it comes and prove he deserves the spot ahead of Wood.

you know best.....bless

Nope I don't know anything that goes on in the team - difference is I don't pretend I do - you on the other hand as far as I can tell are a fake me old sugar lump.

If friday nights team was divided, lacking moral and without leadership then great, long may it continue.

Wood edged it with his performances pre-season, simple as that. Ellis will get his chance as I think overall he is a better hooker, but Wood isn't far behind and offers good spark off the bench. On softer ground than Friday maybe Ellis will get the nod.

He does have a point wwildcat48?

3 into 2 won't go so someone has to miss out unfortunately. As Vastman says he was in the 19 so maybe will get the nod next time. Who knows what Agar has up his sleeve, it'll be fascinating watching him pick the side in relation to the opposition and of course healthy competition for places in the side can only be good for the team.

Like what, I'm willing to listen.

He has a dodgy leg at the moment.

Andy Ellis got a dead leg agains`t Batley and it did not respond to treatment .

Having watched game again, i think its fair to say that any hooker would have looked good against that tired widnes defence late on. My major worry with aiton will be his ultra aggressive tackling getting him suspensions, thus wood and ellis might both get alot of game time.

So long as he tackles below the head and neck, it won't be a problem.

I hope your right but chances are he will get done at some stage this season.

Both Aiton and Southern are very aggressive tacklers, but I didn't see anything untoward - what do you mean exactly?

Didn't see anything wrong with his technique on Friday. Nothing wrong with aggression in the tackle.

Heard he had dead leg. It's a squad game after all.

Aiton and Bluey were awsome, aggressive but within the rules.

Aiton hit one big lump, i think it was pickersgill, third man in, in the ribs and he was bent over for about five minutes afterwards.
Good solid stuff!!!!

As a Wigan Fan I am not sure why Ellis wasn't in the team. Last season he was one of the best hookers in the league up with Roby, Ian Henderson, Danny Houghton, Michael Monaghan and Mike Mcllorum.

He deserves first team rugby in my opinion. I was shocked to not see him in the team, but that Aiton is a good one he played really well.

I think Wakefield will do well this season with the signings they have made and new coach. Good luck to you guys.

Cheers - it was because he had a dead leg. Nice to finally have some creativity in our ranks and a bit of depth in key positions.

I was pointing out to ww that you had a point not him/her/it had one.

Fine, not the first time I've lost it of late

bah!

agar out.

What you mean?

Just breath easy and feel the love vasty, I have a lot of love to give!

I think this thread needs locking now!!!! Lol

Bren- I agree they did nothing wrong on friday and it was a pleasure to see such tackling, but with the aggresive style theyve got, all it will take is picking the man up like he did and a fellow tackler comming in at the wrong time and the attacker getting flipped the bloke going above the horizontal and its a ban. Hopefully its not going to happen but with the way the disciplinary commitee are getting involved on a weekly basis now with players most clubs will have a number of suspensions to deal with in the season imo.