Taylor was never going to be playing for England, as you say, no national coach would pick anyone from a team that had lost 11 on the bounce.

He looked injured for a lot of back end of season when I saw him? He and Houghton both looked cream crackered? Asking a lot of them to do big minutes again this season when will Connors eligibility be confirmed? No ref appointnent yet and squads will be Wednesday so it's just hot air and gut feelings at moment.

Jake Connor???

Apparently KR are fully fit for Friday and that's the only reason it will be close with Hull missing raft of stars? Some interesting views over the road .Garbutt no better than Huby? Some straws being clutched already

Connor was a special case tbf in that he had already stolen the show in Denver. Had he not performed well in that game then our form might have been an issue for him, but I think Bennett had him pencilled in for a while. It would indeed be a big call to give someone a debut from a team who were playing so poorly. That said Connor was injured for a good few of those losses, including the 2 big hammerings.

Maybe I'm wrong about Taylor, maybe he got the op because he wasn't picked rather than the other way around. But he was certainly struggling for a lot of last season and yet still pretty much carried our pack.

Thaler is the ref... One things for sure he will card anyone for backchat whatever tonight's outome on Connor

Is Jake the Snake banned or not then?

Certainly is...

Connors appeal unsuccessful,teach him to keep his big gob shut.

He's a good player nothing more nothing less. You'd think he was Wally Lewis the way the Unwashed are carrying on? So probably Sneyd and Kelly in the halves which is decent enough although fitness must be a doubt. The only positive I can see from an FC perspective is Jake the Snake will be frothing at mouth come the Cas game.He owes his teammates massively after missing this through a very avoidable act of Jakery

Earlier on I said I didn't expect Kelly to play, but given Radfords comments and the fact no time frame was ever put on his injury I reckon you might be right. Now that Connor is definitely banned I reckon we will roll the dice and throw him out there. How fit he is going to be is is a different matter, but even a 50% Kelly can be a match winner.

19s announced tomorrow I believe. We will have a better idea then.

Even if Kelly isn't named in the 19 he will probably play.Think if he is named tomorrow it may help fans morale a bit? We've had it last few Derby with McGuire and Lunt and when they don't make it the fans deflate a bit. Been a strange build up so far

neither side will be 100%, a derby as a season opener is far from ideal.

Looking at the squads, cannot see anything other than a HKR win. No pace, no creativity in the Hull side, very forward orientated - and an under strength forward pack at that!

On paper, I think we look a little better, looking at those 19s.

With home advantage, i’m hopeful. It’s not like some recent seasons when i knew deep down that we were probably going to get metaphorically kerb stomped. Not just against Hull, either. And not knowing it doesn’t mean it definitely won’t happen!

That said, first game of the season it is likely to be even scrappier than most derbies. Depends as much as anything on where the teams are in terms of preparation. It’ll be a few weeks until either properly finds their feet, I reckon - but who is closest currently? Looking forward to finding out.

We wI’ll all know by 10pm Friday night (unless we get golden point). I just hope the weather is ok for running & handling with no injuries for either side. Our squad looks good but non of us will really know until we get a few games in. Looking forward to it.

If there are no curveballs and Kelly/Milodi/Rat. Don't play then looking at that squad we won't have to worry about gameplans as it's obvious they going straight down the middle and aim for brute force and high completion that has served Radford well. Trouble is their pack is not the one with Ellis Watts Pritchard and Manu and Chello in pomp.We could/should have enough to meet them head on and
prevail. Radders tactics are helped by probable weather and it may turn into a grind which is what he wants. I'm confident as you can be as a fan but reckon there will be yellows and reds flying around and it wouldn't be the first time iv seen us bodge up a golden opportunity

. Yes and I do not think it will be the last time we bodge it up but I hope not come on you reds

Gameplans? You're implying we have more than 1.
Even if those players were playing we would still employ those tactics you mentioned.

That 1 plan is pretty hard to stop when you have a top notch pack.

But we no longer have and even the most ardent of Hull fans see it, even if our coaching staff don't.

The current exclusion of Miloudi from the squad is testament to that with Radford prefering the steady approach of Washbrook or Dawson Jones over a maverick.

All told both squads look pretty even. It'll come down to game plans, home advantage and how much desire Hull have to right the wrongs of the last 11 league games.

I think on the day you guys will just sneak this 1.

I think we look a fair bit stronger tbh especially on the bench. Plenty of speed behind what we are hoping will be a powerful pack.McGuire and Drinkwater should have a bit more time on the ball in theory?
No coincidence Sneyd looked a world beater behind a pack that was running riot.

Weather report for tomorrow has given possible heavy snow showers coming in off the east coast, so I hope they've got the pitch covered and plenty of sand at the ready for the surrounding walkways.
Ground is solid at the moment.

[urlhttps://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/rugby-league-news/hull-kr-fc-cold-weather-2490236[/url

It has been covered all week according to that HDM article.

Cheers for that info, that's good to know. I've been away for most of the week, just got back this morning and trying to catch up on what's happening. In that case the pitch should be ok, it also looks like the club have plans at the ready to deal with snow on the surrounding areas of the pitch and ground in general. Reminds me a little of the Old craven park when the club used to ask us to volunteer to clear the pitch of straw after a hard frost or snow event. How times have changed, for the better thank goodness, at least we now have proper covers instead of something out of a stable.