after tonight I would like to see these 2 get a run, move micheals to centre and maybe rankin to the halfs as abdull is really a looseforward and gonna be good one at that, just think those 2 would bring a bit of pace to our game

Since there's not a lot to lose now it might be worth having a look at Naughton at full back. He was signed as one but hasn't been given a chance yet. It won't change the way we play very much though. Our attack is down mostly to poor organisation and structure. You could put GI at fullback and Shaun Johnson in the halves and not much would change other than a few more bits of individual brilliance.

Radford is obviously going to see his contract out now. So we need a top attack coach who can come in (ideally now) rip the playbook into 1,000,000 pieces, and start building it from scratch looking towards next season.

Knee jerk! We'd won 3 from 3, to change it after just one defeat would be silly.

Bringing in these two would not have changed last night's result and moving other players to accommodate them would not improve the team.

Rankin has been excellent at full back but was poop at half back and Michaels' best games this season have been on the wing.

Rankin's average and gets away on the odd bit of decent play and enthusiasm. We've not got a decent FB at the club.

Rankin was immaculate against Rovers.

Both he and Shaul are more than decent.

Shaul got a 5 year contract only a year or so ago. Surely the coaching staff must rate him for that to have happened, or has something changed since then?

Nope, nothing's changed. Rankin's still average and Shaul can't pass. Neither are, nor will they ever be, top class.

Then you'll no doubt be disappointed to hear that according to Pearson last night Shaul is 'huge for this club' and has a 'big, big future'.

Heard last night Rankin staying for another year .

Maybe we should have kept McDonnell then instead of sacking him off in favour of Shaul?

After all, he seems to be good enough for Saints.

Respect your opinion but it's turd.

Shaul has a massive future in the game.

McDonnell's been a stop gap for Saints, if you think he's good enough for them long term then that's up to you. I don't think he is. Pretty sure they don't think he is either.

He'd be my preference, but he's not top class. You're kidding yourself if you think he is or could be. He'll never be as good as Hardaker or Tomkins, they're top class.
Tbf, there's not many in the league that are, but I'd rather have Bowen, Hardaker, Tomkins, Dorn, Lomax, Grix and Escare over Shaul.

I'd have Shaul before Bowen, Grix, and Escare, plus Lomax is never fit.

I think he is a better around FB than all of these, needs to work on his passing for sure, but should be playing before Rankin, who should play 6, Abdul at LF and Westy in the backrow.

I'm not sure I can take this post seriously.

I could maybe debate the Grix one, but better than Escare & Bowen?



Rankin ain't a 6, he's proven that many a time, Abdull's nowhere near ready enough to play in the middle and i'm not sure taking Westy away from his best position will help anything.

Bowen error prone and is slow, his positioning is also questionable as pointed out on sky last night.

Escare is a runner who cannot tackle one on one.

Rankin has never played with Sneyd or any other or organising half, he has always played with another runner. Abdul is too slow to play at halfback, needs to be at LF. I personally prefer Westernsn out wide. Luckily I didn't take your post seriously when you stated Hadley was going to be a superstar!

What would your team be for the next game then.

You are uncharacteristically downbeat today 1865. What's up?

Yet he was still in a different league to our FB,



Neither can Shaul, but Escare can pass, is quicker and is better in support. Far better than Shaul.



He's not going to suddenly become better at passing, decision making and kicking because he's playing outside Sneyd.



He's not fit enough to play LF, better for now wider where a decent centre & second row can help out. Can't afford to carry passengers in the pack.



That may be the case, but he's undoubtedly enjoyed his best form at 13, he was called up to rep duty because of it.



He's been injured for 85% of the season, but you feel free to bag off one of our young players to try and have a dig.



As it was last night.

We had nearly 50 put on us last night, for a start!

Can't help but agree with the points 1865 makes about Shaul but we don't have a specialist for him to learn from, McDonnell would have being ideal and yes SM is the better all round FB by far. As I pointed out last season Shaul had a habit of pulling out or not bothering with tackling on the line, that's a mindset issue not one about bravery, his passing can be improved as can positioning but that needs a coaching team to be able to identify it it and a coach to actually implement modifications & improvements, again, that's not something we currently possess as a club.
All that said, Shaul isn't the worst by any stretch, probably could be a top 6 FB with work/experience, he's still young but we do need to get him under the wing of someone that knows what's what, that could be applied to quite a few in the squad though tbh.

Sure the result and the scoreline were disappointing but the performance was probably better than the Good Friday derby, the second half of the home league match v Leeds, the cup match v Leeds, Salford away, Huddersfield at home and Wakey away.

Don't agree with you at all so will to agree to disagree.

For the record, I have never bagged Hadley (Please show me where I have), but he will never be a superstar that you claim.

I agree, i'm far more frustrated than them games though. There seemed to be an attitude of 'we've done what we set out to do this year' for 70 minutes of the game.

I never said anything about how I rated Shaul. Just pointing out what our owner said about him last night. As it happens I don't rate him all that highly myself ATM but he has time to improve. And frankly I'd have him over Escare and possibly Dorn even now.

Shaul aint that bad at all. Jeez. His link play needs work. Thats all. His 1on 1 aint to bad. His instinctive support play is top notch. Has some x factor about him and been really good under the high ball
bowen has been in the most part terrible at wigan. He even had errors last night in a coasting game.