Games on SKY obviously being a Monday Night game and will kick off 7:45. I reckon we should stick with pretty much the same team next week, Id go with this being that Smith, Aiton and Ali are ready to go;
1. Mathers
2. Fox
3. Collis
4. Smith
5. Cockayne
6. Wood
7. Smith
8. Poore
9. Wildie
10. Wilkes
11. Washbrook
12. Kirmond
13. Tautai

14. Amor
15. Lauitiiti
16. Aiton
17. Annakin

18th Man: Raleigh (Give him some extra rest)
Walshaw going back to Dewsbury this is the team I would have but if players are still carrying little knocks I would rest them such as Aiton.

This really is a must win game for us.
Unless we can pick up points at Salford and against London, we will be left playing to avoid the wooden spoon.
I don't think you are far off with that 17 though.
L.Smith has to be in for his kicking ability either at 6 or centre and then its whether we start with Aiton or Wilde at 9.

nice balance to that team - I still say Cas and Wakey are better than 3 of the teams above them.

Been so let down thus far this season.

Could be an interesting weekend; Leeds and Wigan can do us a favour by towelling those teams in our vicinity and we can do ourselves a lot of good by taking the 2 off Salford - as has been said, a must-win game.

How does "Pretty much the same team" convert to bringing back Ali, Smith and Aiton and dropping three that played against Wigan? As much as that performance on Sunday was a valiant effort against a team that we couldn't beat it seems to me that those that played on Sunday deserve the chance to put the team back on a winning track against far easier opposition next time out barring injuries considering how poor the previous performances containing your three returnees have been.

If there is going to be any chance of this squad picking its self up and getting back on track then players need to either earn or lose their shirts and not just walk back into the team on name or reputation, it seems to me that no one that played on Sunday did enough to lose their shirt to anyone that didn't.

Might not be a towelling at the Widnes with the team already ruled out of the wigan team.

Walshaw will go back on loan, Reece Lyne & Molloy have a break. Don't you agree that the squad would be alot stronger?

No I don't agree that dropping players that have earned another shot will make us stronger because it tells players that however you play if your face fits your in, if it doesn't your out, no effort required by some players.
Here's a question for you, out of the games that Wood has started recently do you think he has played better with Smith or without him?
It seems to me that he took on the challenge and the responsibility on Sunday and thrived on it, which leaves a couple of questions to be answered next week, if Smith plays will he be the passenger that he's been for most of this season and will Wood go back to being a bit part half back dominated by Smith leaving us in a situation once again where we don't have an effective half on the field.
Last season Agar stumbled onto the winning team selection that made the run that got us into the playoffs because of injuries, he may have got lucky again if he perseveres with the team that played against Wigan in what are two easier tasks, but he'll need to show some b******s and leave players out for the greater good.

Yes but will he? No. These players are very good when they're on form. Like I said if they are fit play them, if they are still carrying minor knocks then dont. This game is a must win. Walshaw I believe won't be available for selection. Wood has learnt alot of Timmy, he has had a good game with Timmy against the Catalans and also had a good game against Wigan.

Totally agree!

I can't recall Smith kicking on the fifth tackle very much this season unless it was on the opposition line which he hasn't been very effective at either, the last tackle plays have been embarrassing and very frustrating for most of it and it seems to me the the reason has been that Smith hasn't been fit enough to kick because they seem to have been throwing the ball to anyone but him and no one has known what the hell was going on, I can't see that one week off is going to make him fit enough to be taking 30/40 effective kicks at the end of sets. On Sunday for the first time in ages there seemed to be a plan, and players capable of executing it, why change it?

Like I said if they're not 100% don't play any of them. Wood has got a decent kicking game and if they both do play why can't wood take over kicking duties? Me nor you don't pick the team so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

For me it would be same again those players that put so much effort in against Wigan deserve better than to be left out.Those players that were out injured certainly aint set the house on fire.Aiton had only just started to up the anti but playing the full 80 the way he does is taking too much out of him.Wood has shown against Catalan and Wigan that he has something in him and giving Smith another week or so rest could be a good thing.It gives Wood more game time to show more of what he can do and Smith more time to recover.If you do a good enough job one week then you should get that chance to do the same the week after.

Just because the team did well doesn't mean every player deserves his spot. I still don't think Lyne was good enough and if available I would bring Tim Smith back to replace him (via Lee Smith going to centre)
Molloy I am torn. He tackled well against Wigan and was worth his shirt. Ali brings something different so it is not a like for like swap.
Walshaw goes back anyway.

and it's ironic that you single out Wood because he had a good game followed by a poor game and loads on here were saying he was useless, yet he now has a good game and he deserves his place. So you can see why Agar doesn't always do what is asked for on this forum.

Shouldn't keeping the shirt be the first rule of having a strong competitive squad or do we just accept that every player outside the so called first choice 17 is a stand by, thus leaving the elite players of the squad to please themselves when they choose to perform, as they seem to have done for most of this season, and what Ali brings to the game that is different was left at Headingley a season and half ago.

As for arguing that Molloy only tackled well, it's about time someone did, I've lost count of the number of times that posters on here have argued that we couldn't drop Aiton because he was half of the defence, haven't seen many saying we missed him on Sunday.

Isn't that because Wildie tackled his nadgies off in his stead?

Wasn't it 35 tackles in the game and none missed?

I disagree. He has been magnificent in some games for us. So whether right now he is able, he has not been a waste at Wakefield.



I mean that as a positive about Molloy. I specifically watched him and he didn't miss a tackle so was implying that he shouldn't be just an extra man as has been suggested before.

Yes your right, but I was making the point that despite all the Aiton lovers fearing our weak defence when he was missing, which incidently is all that he was giving us at one point, Wildie proved that there are other players in the squad that are capable given the chance and being made to do it rather than standing back and letting someone else do it., and the same can be said for other players in the team that some consider to be irreplacable.

I don't disagree that Ali has been magnificent all season, I just dispute your claim that he gives us something that Molloy doesn't unless you mean a bit more grunt because he left his offload game at Leeds, whether that was his or Agars doing it is a fact that he has become no more than a run of the mill bulldozing second rower.

So just out of interest
If you have a player who has performed well all season but gets injured for a game, and his replacement plays equally well.
Would you alwasy have the guy who played last time keep the shirt?

Yes, injuries are part of the game, and to quote John Kear, one man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, to do otherwise would make that man go through the motions when called on, and if Ali was a true squad man he would be the frist to say that the man that replaced him should keep the shirt if he'd done the job.
Maybe part of our problem this season is that there hasn't been enough of that attitude in the club, if there is no real incentive for the players with the shirts to perform then they are likely to get complacent and go through the motions, and have we seen some going through the motions this season.

This is about putting the best team possible out, they are paid to play. If they're told to play they play (unless injuries). I doubt Ali saying he can play instead of him will make Agar happy at all. EDIT- I could understand if he did something amazing, but he hasn't.

This, IMO, is about creating a culture in the club where every player goes out and puts everything into every game they play for our club, and if you think that has happened all season then you are either naive or blind. I wasn't suggesting for one minute that Ali should go to Agar and tell him to pick Molloy instead of him and I really can't believe that someone thought I did.
As for performance, based on the last four games that team that played on Sunday is the best possible team that we can currently put out because in the previous three games we suffered bigger defeats against poorer teams.

I blame that for turning up to the game in the wrong attitude. If you didn't suggest it then why did you say it? At the end of the day I picked the team that I thought would of been the best to play against Salford theres 3 changes thats all and they are 3 quality players when they're on their game.

So surely if they turn up with the wrong attitude then the best way to change that attitude is to replace them with another player, and when that player turns up with the right attitude and does the job let him keep the shirt, and those three players haven't been quality for nearly enough time this season otherwise we would have won more games.