Same as Wire game unless injuries force changes. The only one I would consider is Lunt for Bouzebda, if only to give the lad a rest. It will depend if Lunt has his head on for playing.

I'd put Lunt on for ollett and tilse in for cox. Keep the rest the same unless someone has a knock

I'm broadly with you on this, Barham.

It's difficult to tinker with a winning team, but having watched the game again today on Hull KR TV, Larroyers starting place may be under threat. He may have led the team in tackles vs. Warrington, but he was culpable for being drawn out of his defensive marker position twice for both Wire tries and his 3.83 per carry is the worst of any of our forwards. His go forward is in freefall.

If Larroyer is dropped to the bench, Donaldson should start.

I would definitely have Donno starting, I have been impressed with him. Also if Lunt is fit get him in and rest Boudebza, Puletua will get Tuesday off, so he is a cert. maybe swap larroyer for Burke and cox for Tilse.

id drop walker for tilse not impressed with walker this season was very impressed with cox off bench on friday

Chester was praising Walker after Friday's match, but thinking back I am inclined to side with you on this one, his impact in the tackle was poor, turning and backing in looking for the offload every time, and rarely managing it.

Very impressed with Cox but not impressed with walker, Christ. Walkers led from the front this year after a very very difficult season for our props. Think everyone's noticed his crab like tactics going forward but he's not the biggest prop in the world and think it's more sensible going forward that way than just straight forward. Gets the opposition moving to tackle aswell rather than just have someone run straight at you.

According to Chris Chester the most difficult decision to make is going to be who to play at Fullback, he said on sports talk ....does he go with attack in mind or pick his best defender, he also said he think he knows already what his preference will be.
For me it has to be Dixon at fullback as he offers that x factor in attack with his pace, plus I believe his defensive game has improved since the beginning of the season,

His attempt to tackle a rampaging Chris Hill one on one for Wires opening try had me p**s**g myself. After you, Chris, let me know when you've put the ball down and thank me later, etc.etc.

But he has an X Factor in attack and could exploit space in Cats defensive line with his searing pace. Dixon at fb for me too.

Hi Jordan, I see they have let you near the laptop again.

what?

Cox should give Walker 80% of his wages each week as Walker does his job for him. Walker is outstanding and can match any prop he plays. Cox is a pudding who struggles to do 15 mins a game.
I feel for Larroyer. He's had to play like a 13 rather than a 2nd row due to our lack of front rows. He not shrieked anything and defended the middle manfully with little support other than Little John. He has no attacking plays he's involved with. He has to play for me Donaldson off the bench again and of course Dixon to start. The bigot makes as many if not more mistakes but doesn't have the miraculous threat with the ball Dixon has.

I also see cox as a pudding no matter how hard he runs onto the ball he makes no ground whereas walker sort of walks into the tackle but keeps going forward and always turns so there's a chance to offload

Walker will be starting prop people saying he's not to start must be watching a different game to me.

Agreed it's no coincidence walker has had 2 games back and we have won them both

There's not a fb in the league who'd have stopped hill from there, not sure what the tough decision is for Chester, it's not as if we have a fantastic defending fb. Cockayne drops as many bombs and is a slightly better defender but hardly that much better whereas Dixon offers so much more in attack. Save BC for the Salford match.

My heart is in my mouth when Dixon attempts to catch a bomb whereas with BC it doesn't. However BC seems to lose the ball in the tackle more that Dixon.

On a side note. Peoples dislike for BC at FB doesn't seem to be on his playing ability but his past. What he did in the past was wrong. However he has tried to turn his life around and is doing a good job at it. I for one am willing to give him a second chance but it looks as though some aren't. Maybe non rugby related opinions should be put to one side when looking at selection dilemmas.

TBH his past is in his past, he seems to have put that aside and we've not had a recurrence since his return. My opinion isn't a slight on his ability, I think he's great to have as a utility player and over then next few weeks will be invaluable. His positives along with versatilty are his enthusiasm and ability to lift the pace. His downsides are as you say he puts a lot of ball down and can make some bad options at times.

Ben polarises opinion from the ones who want him hung drawn and quartered to those who ignore all his faults, certainly early in the season Dixon was getting slaughtered for mistakes that Ben was getting overlooked for.

I know what you mean about holding breath when the ball is in the air but I'd like to see some stats between the two to see who does drop the most. KD usually has one a game, I would reckon BC is the same. I just think Dixon offers us more in attack, he scares defenders with ball in hand and against a big team that is invaluable. KD will hopefully be our full back for the future so he needs to be first choice.

Stats I believe, would prove that Kevin Dixons errors when catching a high ball are no worse than Ben Cockayne, in fact he has taken quite a few of late and if my memory serves me correctly has only dropped a couple, the latter against Warrington when it bounced off his chest.
I realize that when he first began playing for rovers he looked a little shaky under some high balls but that was to be expected given his lack of experience at that time, however, as I said in a previous post, the defensive side of his game appears to improve with every game he plays imo and his attacking abilities have been there for everyone to see and admire .
I would certainly have him in my team against Catalans this Thursday, then only if really necessary, rest him again Salford.
Like the old saying goes....... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Dixon is great when we're in control and like against Warrington - dominant. You saw how effective he can be later in the game when Warrington's kicking game became a bit desperate and they were just hoping he'd drop one. Against a tiring team and broken line, Dixon can be devastating. As a comparison in catching the high ball. I think Dixon has better hands, but BC has learned to take the ball in a way that allows him to control it backwards in case of a fumble/drop. Whilst Dixon is 100% catch and run forwards, with no room for error. I have less faith in Dixon when we're up against it - defending. Be it, organising the line, marshaling attacking kicks, chopping down line breaks or just utilising a bit of brains. After last week, Dixon @ FB is a no brainer you'd like to think.

The big decision is Lunt. If Lunt really is day to day and has almost been ready now for last few weeks, but failed each time. I see no reason to expect that you can guarantee he'll be ready this week. It would have to be a gamble to pick him. Is it a gamble we need to take?

I think that depends on how Boudebza is feeling, I don't think we can expect 80 out of him and we certainly lose something with Ollett at 9. He does a job but no more and I think in a cup game we need players playing the position they are best at. Lunt would only need to play 20 mins a half in rotation with JB so I'd go for it.

Obviously not all from high balls but BC had made 27 errors to KD 19. Dixons has scored 7 more tries, 27 more tackle busts. managed 200 more metres and gains an extra metre on average for every carry. KD has also managed 5 more clean breaks. On the downside to playing KD BC has made an extra 120 tackles missing 29. It's massive that Dixon has made 43 tackles and missed 33.

The stats show two completely different fullbacks a defensive FB and an attacking FB. Horses for courses maybe?

You're up there with Stan as our number one forum Statto on this evidence, Easty!

So Dixon has missed 75% of his tackles, that's shameful. The good news is that he's made fewer tackles all season than Boudebza, McCarthy and Larroyer have made in some single games. Reliance on the defensive element of his game has been minimised thankfully.

Fortunately fullback is one of those positions nowadays which is regarded more as a strike position than a defensive linchpin. Catalans have given us space in both SL games this season, they gave Wakefield a load of space last weekend and for me Kieran Dixon will exploit it better than Ben Cockayne. Teams like Huddersfield and Saints don't give you this luxury.

I would pick Dixon against Cats, Salford and Hull and Cockayne against Huddersfield and Saints.

Is this Keiran's brother we've aquired?