Great point, Sheldon.

Agar knows that Briscoe will do a job at centre. Agar knows that Lyne can (and will) have to come in at some point on the wing. Agar has already had a look at the youngsters at different points.

Agar hasn't seen what other options we might need through the season with such a thin squad. We have very few backs with experience and tonnes of forwards. Moving one of them to centre could be a good back-up if it comes off and Agar wants to see if he has that option. I (and others) have said that Manu could be a good shout at centre. Running at the smaller backs and palming them off the way he does could see him make even more breaks and not get as tired, but it will limit his involvement.

This is what friendlies are for people!

But seriously, how many back rowers can we fit into out starting 13?

3. Turner
4. Manu
5. Whiting
6. Westerman
7. Washbrook
8. Lauaki
10. Radford
11. Burnett
12. Tickle
13. Fitzgibbon

David Waite in disguise?!

to be fair, whiting and turner are not forwards and burnett is out on loan but i take your general point, some genuine backs played in their correct positions would be nice

this just shows what an excellent coach agar is he couldn,t organise a p88s up in a brewery, banging on about the youth prospects then don,t play them its about time the hull board sacked him,for all of halls defensive inabilities his try scoring record speaks for its self another self inflicted cock up by agar

Manu's combination with his winger was the play of the game. Genius.

Got to agree, time and time again the players Agar has released has come back to bite us on our .

Name them.

Name one.

We wont score a better try than that all season



I actually thought Manu went quite well at centre today and as options are limited it wasn't a bad decision to give him a go there.

S. Arcasm.

Sorry - my sarcasm detector obviously needs a service.



Carry on.

Am I the only one who took a bit of encouragement from today? Castleford had all the ball, territory and penalties and played really well but we still managed to win. Most of the time we had the ball we were clearing our line so we were forced into a pretty basic game but when we got the ball in attacking areas I thought we used it quite well. Let's not forget that for most of those guys it was a first hit out wheras cas have met superleague opposition a couple of times already.

Both new guys showed up well, our pack had a great second half, Briscoe continues to be one of the most exciting players in league and seems to have worked on fielding kicks. We were scrappy at times but there were alot of positives to take IMO.

Well said...we would have had to have put at least 40 against them before most on here were remotely happy

This is a really good point.

On the other hand, it's a bit discouraging that Cas had all the ball and territory and players like Fozzard were winning the collision. That said there were some good bits. Thought Moa looks in the best shape and form I've seen. Turner can do a job at 6 but needs gametime with Long. Briscoe needs more ball, end of.

How was Long, anybody? Sounded bright in parts.

Since when have York (twice) and Batley become Super League opposition. This was our first test too against SL opposition.

So So.

Made one very good break but as usual nobody was backing it up. Kicking was hit and miss and in fact Whitings kicking was much better IMO. A few Passes went to ground but he did put in one peach of a pass in the build up for the Whiting Try. As a first run out it was pretty good tho and if we can keep him fit for most of the season he should improve and hopefully really start to build some combinations.

My apologies I thought you had played a superleague side already. Although my point still stands that as a first hit out it was okay.

Think it was more that your senior players had already had a run out, whereas ours hadn't.

No: we were scheduled to play Bradford on Boxing Day but that got cancelled so re-arranged to play against York.

First proper hit-out for us too, together collectively. Debuts for Isa and Aspinwall, Ferres, Jones, McGoldrick and Widders not played yet this season. Mathers played 15 mins prior to today.

Barely.

We've played mostly young kids in all of games so far. First half against York we had a few blow the cobwebs away but today was first time all full team together.

Manu showed a turn of pace for that try which was quite pleasing.

Looked good at centre for me, all the tricks and the strength n speed to boot

Cheers. Really think he could put us in the right direction if he stays on the field and gets the support play he needs. I often think he is one step ahead of some others in our team, once they get up to speed with him I feel confident he can be great this season.