With the expected weather and the pathetic sheadingley pitch I could see it being Horne and Whiting to miss out with the preference being for Green and Johnson in the front row with Pitts to come on at loose.

McDonnell
Crookes
Arundel
Yeaman
Briscoe
Holdsworth
Seymour
O'Meley
Heremaia (better at getting the forwards moving IMO)
Lynch
Ellis
Galea
Westerman

Houghton
Green
Johnson
Pitts

We've just spent 1m on that pitch and its like a carpet also Burrow at 9 and Mcshane on the bench is hardly weak there dont know which side you've watched when we've been weak at 9.

I'd go with this, with Heremaia instead of Galea.

Keep Westerman away from lock.

I thought RU trashed it the other week?

It looks decent to be fair.

was just repeating what I read on the L**ds board a few weeks ago, players having to replace divots during games etc.

hopefully the pitch, conditions or idiot with the whistle won't ruin what should be a good game tomorrow night.

I honestly think and hope I am wrong (wont be the first time) that Gentle has made a error picking Crookes instead of Lineham, like others I really worry about our right hand defence.

Also like others I would play Whting or Pitts at 13, to play through the middle, start Pitts as he has earnt the start with his pre-season.

Our pack on paper is a good, if not slightly stronger than Leeds IMO, but their backs and halfbacks are stronger than ours, with this and home advantage I think Leeds will win (again hope I'm wrong).

Very excited though about the season starting, really missed my rugby this off season.

1. McDonnell
2. Crookes
3. Arundel
4. Yeaman
5. Briscoe
6. Holdsworth
7. Seymour
8. Ogre
9. Houghton
10. Lynch
11. Ellis
12. Westerman
13. Galea

14. Green
15. Johnson
16. Pitts
17. Heremaia

It's about time you did something with that pitch, it's been truly awful. Oh, and McShane's . The reason you're weak at 9 is that your front row is weaker than ours and neither of your hookers are very good at moving them around.

Hopefully its just a case of Gentle giving the more experienced player first chance at grabbing the job. I expect if Crooks doesn't earn it Tommy will get a go.

Dont know what everyones onsession with Lineham is. Granted he can attack but he's still very green and from what i can see cannot defend as yet. In this game choosing Crookes is the right decision though i must admit having both him and Arundel playing together could be a potential nightmare

I don't really get all of the defensive concerns over Arundel, TBH. Always looked pretty decent in defence for a youngster to me, and I'm sure Ellis will be a big help to him, too.

Nah it was the RU drama queens moaning because of the movement in it at scrums where it wasnt quite fully bedded down enough for 400stone to push each other about.

Ellis (along with the other senior players) will have them all fired up against L**ds, I'd rather make comment once we've seen a competitive game, friendlies count for nothing.

ah right, thanks for that, knew I had read something about the pitch and RU.

I agree, and from what I've seen of him for Cas rather than in friendlies for us after a year out injured I think his defence will be much better than we've had at right centre for the past couple of years.

Surely Brett starts at 7....Just hope he has a solid game and starts to feel comfortable...Last thing we need are the boo-boys on his back at season start.

Leeds look pretty lightweight in the front row without Leuluaibut their backs are, on paper, streets ahead.
If the Hull forwards take it to Leeds it could be a very good game.

Too right. Possibly four or five games before the relative merits of players and their performances can begin to be judged by the fans. Peter Gentle works with the players most days so is in the best position at this stage to know the possibilities.

A lot of people worrying about Arundels defence. He's known for being a great defensive player. He's played 1n a half games after a yr out nearly and shoulder surgery. 1it takes a few games to get confidence back into broken body parts and 2 will have been a little rusty to say the least.
I've probably seen 70% of all the games lineham has played in hull colours. He's raw and can get caught out defensively, and has fairly regular at 20s level. He's no doubt improving and last yrs 1st team run will have helped, but remember we were playing decent as a team so he got a fairly easy ride against mostly lower end opposition.
Don't get me wrong he's gonna be a superstar I think, physically most gifted winger in the league probably but no need to rush. Peter Gentle obviously sees it the same and has near enough said so on a few occasions.
Crookes will no doubt get destroyed in a blacklock hall n sharp kinda way though because it's not people's preference, and if he has 1 bad game the moron element of our fan base will try destroying n undermining him!
I personally think crookes could go well for us.

well said airlie bird

Just out of interest, who knows Arundel for being a great defensive SL player?

Why are folk considering Pitts/Johnson for the central role? It seems to me every season Whiting's performances are wiped out by a large number on here! On all known form, Whiting starts before either of these in this role. How anybody can even contemplate not doing this is beyond me.

Think gentle said it himself a couple of times, plus from talking to a few couple of players about him.

I don't rate his defence at all but I was meaning more with the ball you never see him taking a straight hit up to take some of the workload off of the props which is why Lynch and O'Meley looked out on their feet against Rovers as they didn't have any support from the 13.