that's if he plays which i think he will.

provided we compeat with there pack i think we will come away with the spoils, dont think its vital to dominate that battle. nor is it likely. in fact its hard to think of any opposition our current pack would dominate until Watts Ticks n Ellis are in the mix

we need to improve the kicking game to help us out over our own half

sorry, my pc just reposted a post from 2009

And every year since!!

actually i think i wanna take back what i said when i implied hulls pack was light weight. if Ogre gets fired up n lynch gets on a roll. Jonhson, Pitts n Green can up the slack. maybe, just maybe.

McDonnell
Crookes
Arundel
Yeaman
Briscoe
Holdsworth
Seymour
Lynch
Houghton
Johnson
Whiting
Westerman
Galea

O'Meley
Pitts
Green
Heremaia (prefer his impact from the bench)

I'd prefer to start Heremaia and hopefully get on the front foot early on with his better pace and distribution. Then bring Houghton on to exploit tiring defences with his scoots.

Id go with that too

McDonnell
Crookes
Arundel (if he doesn't get dropped)
Yeaman
Briscoe
Holdsworth
Seymour
Lynch
Houghton
Johnson
Whiting
Westerman
Galea

O'Meley
Pitts
Green
Azza (although I'd have him starting)

why would arundel be dropped

Because he played equally as badly as Seymour did? There's no point having a really big squad if you're not going to replace the players that play badly. I doubt he'd have another shocker v Bradford, but it's about the message to the team - if you don't perform, then there's someone waiting in the wings that will!

Going off the Houghton story in todays HDM I reckon he'll definitely be starting, especially as theyre referring to him as captain.

to be fair to arundel imo he did ok, they where far worse on the night, saying all that we where in the game for 60 min, am hoping for better this fri , think arundel will be a good signing just needs time, any news on ellis yet

Youve got to let Arundel have a good run. Granted he was poor but after a few games he might improve, if not then start looking at dropping him

Dropping Arundel after one game would be ridiculous, there has to be some continuity of selection and every player will have a bad game. That said I thought he did ok.

you can't drop a player after one bad game, especially the first game of the season against a settled side like L**ds

He didn't do too bad in my opinion. I wouldn't have played him in the first place. It was a big ask for someone to play their 1st competitive game in 10 months against the champions. I would have sent him to York for the first couple of games for experience. Crooks to play tomorrow.

Arundel went really well I thought first 60mins for someone who hasn't played for nearly a year. Fatigue and no support around him made him look bad last 20. He did well 1st half when Leeds were absolutely peppering that right side. Joel moon in a great Leeds side being supplied by sinfield Maguire etc will undo better centres than Arundel many times this yr.
I'd stick this week, in all positions. Personal preference is Houghton off bench but don't think it will happen. If nothing improves maybe look to change then, but I can't imagine Houghton whiting westy n galea being as poor again so instant improvement, holdsworth n McDonnell get bit more tuned into the attacking play and think we'll be ok. Bradford are solid but not amazing at the minute while Gale n Bateman are out especially. Biggest threat to us is Samutt. I was at the game on Sunday and he looks ready for a big year! Looked like a slightly bigger faster stronger more dynamic rob burrows! Could of been the opposition making him look good but still be a danger.

I agree Arundel should eb given time,but anyone who thinks he had a good game needs their eyes testing, 7 missed tackles, 2 of which led to trys and out of position for Moons. Very little impact (like many) with the ball in hand also.

Looking at the stats from the last game, Green deserves a starting place and move Pitts to 13.

McDonnell
Crookes
Arundel
Yeaman
Briscoe
Holdsworth
Seymour
O'Meley
Houghton
Lynch
Galea
Westerman
Pitts
Subs
Whiting
Heremaia
Johnson
Green

Just had a look at the stats. I said on another thread that I thought Green and Johnson were our 2 best forwards and both of them do show up well. My team earlier in the thread had Johnson starting with Pitts at 13, but either way I agree that at least one of them deserves a start.

Also whilst on stats, Westerman comes out a lot better than I think many would expect. Top tackler, completion of about 92%, joint 2nd marker tackles (with Seymour, interestingly), top offloads, top assists (obviously), 5th average metres if you take off the roundings, and no penalties.

Can't be right. Westerman is a useless, overpriced penalty machine. You must have confused his stats with someone else.

I was as surprised as you. He also made the 3rd highest metres if you don't include our back 3, the 2nd highest of the forwards.

Westerman for MOS