It looks like Dobbo’s going to be out for at least 1-2 weeks – subject to scan results – so the question is: What do Rovers do to cover his loss?

(1) Reshuffle the squad and play Withers/Murrell/Mika?

(2) Give youth a chance – Jordan Lee or Matty Beherrall?

(3) Bring in a loan signing if it turns out to be long term?

My immediate reaction is under no circumstances play Murrell at scrum half.

If Sandercock has watched last seasons playbacks then he will surely have noticed the nine video nasties when Murrell deputised for Dobbo.

Short term i think we will reshuffle with Withers going to 7. If the injury turns into something medium to long term then we will need to look at the loan market. Mellor, Powell, Mcnally?
Young Beharrell is not ready. Jordan Lee will never be ready. Bell isnt far off but i shudder at the prospect of Craig Hall being his calming influence in the halves!!!

Withers to 7, and let Keal Carlile interchange with Josh. It's not the most creative option, but we looked solid without Dobbo. Slug it out until he's fixed up.

Agree.

It's who you put at 6/13 that's the harder choice.

Do you help the halfs out by putting Murrell at 13 for his kicking? Or stick with an extra prop-type runner there (Lovegrove), to give 'em a platform? Do you keep Hall coming in from the wing to play 6 in attack - it was one thing with Dobson, but makeshift [iand[/i unconventional?


Not seen the Wakefield game yet, but switching down the team - FB to SO (like roopy said K. Gidley does), [isounds[/i better than across the backline, wing to stand-off, to me at least. Hall as FB/SO, with McDonnell on the wing looks more natural if we're going with a runner at 13.
Or bring in Latus and play Withers and Hall as a normal, straight forward hb pair.

lets wait until the scan results are known.......dobbo didn't seem to concerned yesterday when he was on the touchline....fingers crossed it's a short term injury

Looks like 3 months for dobbo

If Jordan Lee will never be ready then why is he at the club, but more to the point why did the club send him on the Oz Academy tour?

I listen and read people commenting that none of the academy half backs are ready. I even asked Justin last season ‘why aren’t these guys ready?’ I told Justin to his face he was wrong to persist with Murrell instead of giving one of these lads a chance. He went along with the general consensus of - its their age, their size, too early in their development, lack of maturity, they’ll get roughed up, they’ll burn out, they’ll make mistakes, they’ll lose confidence, they need nursemaiding, blah blah!

I watched these guys regularly last season and they are the best we have in reserve. To me that makes them next choice. The thing is, the coaching staff will never know if these guys are ready if they aren’t given a chance.

Those all sound like legitimate concerns to me. The coaching staff see them in training and academy games - they'll have a good idea how ready they are. I'm not saying the staff are infallible - but they are professionals. One day Bell may be better than Murrell. Is he now? Doubtful IMO.

briers ???

Didn't the majority have concerns over the size of Burrows and Tomkins when they broke into first grade?

I'm in no position to comment about the youth - but I do realise that not every player we have on the books will 'make it' - hell, I doubt even 80% would make it. Even the top teams will have a high proportion of 'drop outs' too. If we binned them all - we simply wouldn't be able to field a team.

Plays for Warrington. I know its difficult to comprehend.

Justin Morgan was spot on. He was criticised for having an over cautious approach with our youngsters like Taylor and Cox but looking at their performances now he was clearly spot on. They get their chance when they are physically and mentally ready, not before.
I watched every home Reserve game last season and a few of the away ones. Jordan Lee will never be a Super League player. I dont like to sound harsh and everybody who reads my posts knows that i like to praise our young players but on this occasion i think im right.
Matty Behharrel is a really good player and i think stands a chance of making it. However, anybody who watched him play in the friendly against Featherstone (his first game against men) and would still play him against Saints and Wire clearly have no regard for the kids well being and future. He would be physically and mentally smashed.
Our best young half is Matty Marsh who played for the Scholarship last season and featured briefly at the end of the Academy season. After half a dozen Academy games this season i fully expect fans to be clamouring for the 16 year old to be in the first team...

And scored twice for them yesterday plus would require more salary than we probably have available on the cap.

Nailed on.

6/8weeks for Dobbo from a players mouth today.

Cant see how we can go into the loan market, were running at full cap apparently, and its only a couple of injuries we still have people in our fulltime squad that can play there so wont get any dispensation.

For me its got to be Withers with either Hall or Murrell - my personal option would be Withers at 7, Hall at 2, Murrell at 6 and Lovegrove at 13.

6: Hall
7: Withers
9: Josh

Interchange hooker: Carlile

No need to =#FF0000mess-Clement VII about getting complicated.

Signed for FC about 7 years ago, we are just keeping it hush hush still.

give bell a go whats the worst that can happen you never know if there ready unless you play them

Do you mean we keep naming hall at 2 but play him at 6 as we have been doing or are you advocating having hall named and playing at 6 with presumably latus on the wing

There were quite a few on here calling for Bell to be given a run last year when Dobson was injured.

Usually even less than 80%, normally only 1 player from a team of under 18s make it, if lucky 2 at SL level, a fair amount go on to NL1 though.

sydney area based aussie, one of last years stars thats fallen down the pecking order slightly? strong rumour from a good source.

Absolutely spot on - totally agree.

When looking at a replacement it depends what our priorities are. Even though Withers would probably be the best option I'd prefer to keep him at dummy-half interchanging with Hodgson to capitalise on our front-row strength.

Our main priority IMO is ensuring we have another kicking option other than Hall so would that would have to be Murrell for me. There'd also be pluses for putting Murrell there from a defensive point of view because with Lovegrove & Murrell defending in the half-back positions there'd be no easy holes for the opposition to run at. He's also got experience and can put people through gaps. Of course if Murrell played 7 then we could put another front-rower @ 13 like Watts etc.

The game is far more physical than it ever has been and it would be irresponsible to throw a youngster in who isn't ready.

Craig Sandercock has an exemplary record of developing youngsters so I trust he knows best.

Is he called Richie Storr?