So who is looking forward to this game i was on to a loser trying to sell the bradford game but surely there is more interest in this one. We are getting closer to the start of the season and need to hit the ground running the 2 friendly's will hopefully help with that. Also the tickets for the salford game are on sale for a reasonable price too even if traveling over the m62 on a Friday night might test the enthusiasm of some fans.

Yes more optimistic
The ticket prices are very realistic as well compared to odsal .

We've got our tickets for the Wakey match and at the Salford prices we will probably get over there. Can't wait to see the lads, old and new, even though it's only friendlies. Up The Fax!

Yes the old ting is starting tingle as we wake up for Wakey.

Wakey playing a decent squad too not full strength but stronger than played v leeds

Aye, it should be a really good run out for both teams. Just the sort of match we need in the lead up to our opener at Batley.

Very strong squad, knew Gee wouldn't be playing due to recovery from surgery - only glaring omission is J W H - I know its only a friendly but I hope he's not going to be messed about this season as his performances last year when he got a decent run in the side for the first time showed for me that he should our first choice fullback.

So looking at the 23 man squad there is no woody is he injured or maybe covid is keeping him out. Scott will be making a cameo appearance i wonder who will start at fullback. No Witten or Murray either but still a strong looking side. And will we be getting the long muted season long loan signings from huddersfield before the season starts.

Jouffret will likely be at 1 apart from Scott’s cameo and if that’s the case we’ll have a good chance to see how he compares to one our better performers in JWH and we have a bit more size in the centres to watch out for.
As will how one our new halves pairing options go together which I’m pretty excited about.
Same regarding Brandon and Kyle.
With the rest of the pack we have some new lads coming in both tough and young who will want to put a marker down, there’s no real size there so can they front up in the collision and get going forward using their mobility?
Loads of interest right across the park so really looking forward to this one.
Weather doesn’t look bad so it should be game on.

Roll on Sunday.

I saw the squad and noticed the three missing knew about gee , obviously surprised that jwh and Murray aren’t in the squad but they may feature against Salford or there could be covid or niggle complications. Another option at fullback could be walmsley and tibbs and salty on the wings , with it being a friendly there might be some jiggling around during the course of the game .

Why wouldn't we play Jouffret at hb? JWH should be fullback if fit. We need round pegs in round holes.

We might play Louis at half back but for whatever reason JWH is unavailable and Jouffret has a lot of experience playing at 1.
Aston has also played 1,6 and 7 so he might play fullback on Sunday.
In every case it’s the right peg in the right hole from who’s available.
Another option as posted is Walmsley at 1, Lachlan himself prefers playing there.
My thoughts for not doing this is Grix see’s JWH, when available as the first choice 1 and LW as one of the first choice wingers.
External factors such as injury, covid etc apart, like the rest of the team the halves will be picked on form and not on how any of us rate them and in the Kyle Wood interview when talking about combinations it was Keyes and Aston's names mentioned whether you can read anything into that?
SG recently stated he had about 9 pencilled in that he saw as initial first choice starters so another point of interest is seeing who Grix goes for.

Aye, it will be very interesting but with only two pre season games Sunday's first thirteen needs to be as near to the team that we put out against Batley as is possible. Up The Fax!

I'm sure SG will know this and it know doubt will be from who's available and not long to wait.
It would be nice to here from Grix on the game, squad and the ones missing, if not before the game then at least at some point.

No mention of injuries here , maybe more will be revealed in the pre match interview . https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/sport/ ... ld-3526862

No mention of injuries here , maybe more will be revealed in the pre match interview . https://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/sport/ ... ld-3526862

Anyway nice to see normality returning after 2 years of hell. Might even get on my holiday paid in jan 2020 this year !

First competitive run out for a few months for the lads and the first ever for this group of players.
Disappointed with conceding 50+ points so our D will know doubt be looked at and worked on.
Good showing in attack with halves and 9’s linking well from the whistle and improving as the game went on when we had the ball.
Aston, Keyes, Wood, Knowles showed up well as did Kav, McComb and Barber in the second half for me.

Entertaining game with plenty of promise shown by Fax - think Kyle Wood will make a massive difference this year with the speed and quality of service from dummy half - both half backs played well but it definitely helps them be creative if they get quick ball from the hooker. Saw JWH with strapping on his wrist which explains his absence - unfair to judge on brief cameo but on what I saw today would much prefer Walmsley on the wing than fullback.

I’m going to wait till I watch the video back for a full assessment, Ignoring constant penalties around the ruck which seemed harsh it was disappointing to see fax consistently conceding tries and obviously the defence needs some work . On individual performance I thought Keyes Aston and wood linked together well and it was those combinations that caused Wakefield some problems in the opening 20 mins of the 2nd half. All the pack looked fit , Morris , Kavanagh,and gwaze all played well , special mention to knowles who is definitely my type of player , some big hits and big metres made , with Murray and gee to add to that the pack is definitely an upgrade on last season. Arundal looks a handful and I can’t speak highly enough of McComb, he’s got that je me said quoi in attack and always looks a threat . Walmsley never got a clean break and looked a little shaky at times and got physically battered but things will get better for him I’m sure . Overall an entertaining game with things to work on defensively but we look threatening in attack . Just a special note congratulations to the ref on your testimonial really appreciate your contribution to the game , thanks for the memories.

Personally I was quite surprised at the gap between the two teams. The 1st half display from Fax was dreadful but in contrast the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half was excellent. Wood, Arundel and Keyes stood out for me and overall i came away from the game with the feeling we'd had a decent first runout with plenty more to come. Scott will be pleased with a good turnout and Simon will be looking forward to going a step further at Salford. Hopefully we didn't pick up any injuries and we get another good game under our belts next Friday. Up The Fax!

Added note on injuries ,I’ve heard jwh has a broken thumb and Walmsley looked to be strapping his fingers maybe a dislocation.

I too was disappointed with the gulf between the 2 sides i know they are a fulltime super league side but once they got on a roll it was like we could do nothing about it. Our middle defence could not cope with them at times even when there starting forwards went off we where still struggling to pull down there younger forwards. That area of our game still worries me for next season even though we wont be playing sides of that caliber. Jacob getting 10 minutes didn't help either but the spacing in our defence up the middle looked too wide and Wakefield had a field day there. And brandon going off in the opening 10 minutes looked worrying to me he seemed to be pointing to is bicep witch caused him a lot of problems last season. The positives where the halfbacks and wood at hooker for me i think we will score more points next season then the last and those players will be the reason why. I would also like to see louis get a run in the halves not that cory or joe did much wrong i just think that louis form last season for Whitehaven is something i would like to see in a panthers shirt.

Spot on with all comments.

Elland Craft & Tap, Summit for the Weekend 4.6% Mmm!

Pete only a friendly , don’t read to much into this game anything can happen when the season starts , our first friendly last year we beat Saints at Saints and we all know how the season panned out .

Ey-up Charlie. I was, like TS, surprised by the difference between the teams. But.. we showed more than enough to tell me we will go well this year. Testimonials/friendlies mean nowt as you say. I can't wait for the Batley match. See you in March hopefully. Magic Rock Tap, Ringmaster 3.9& Mmm! Up The Fax!