Not seen much of Smith this season, but he appears to have lost his edge/fitness and gained a few pounds since his spell in the other game? Having said that, I would prefer him not to play, simply becasue of the way he has done for Saints in the last couple of GFs, he certainly seems to have the "X" factor in our games.

Whats the point, we won't win.

Oh yeah, great attitude that is

I'll be shocked if we keep them under 40 and we register more than 2 points.

Sibbs Rhino-Whats the point, we won't win.
what a plonker.
If we contain them in the middle and stop the offload to running support we will win, see no reason why not.

Our team is past it and the coach is clueless. I for one won't be even bothering watching as there is no point.

Singling out Webb is a bit harsh....and Smith hasn't exactly grabbed his chance of regularly claiming that FB position after some recent lacklustre performances. However, I do think he should be part of the 17 on Saturday. Not sure where though.

Delaney IMO is a concern on attack - not really quick enough and doesn't look enough to get his winger away (when he does [ia la Salford recently[/i it is a pleasure to see). Donald is still an asset on attack if we can actually utilise his pace by releasing him into that much needed space.

Maybe then a back line of 2/Hall (who doesn't need the same space to run in as Donald ...and who has played successfully on the right), 3/Delaney, 4/Senior, 5/Donald (who does need the space ....and where Senior is more likely to give him it as we know from the past) ...with Smith then to come off the bench as a game changer/to replace the worse incumbent starting performer from 1 to 5.

McGuire and Burrow to start in the halves; Sinfield back at LF with possibly Clarkson in the 2nd row to replace the highly likely suspended Ablett (not off the bench ...would rather see Ambler for that).
Depends if Ali makes it for bench, but wouldn't like to see Diskin there if Smith fills one of those bench spots (becomes too lightweight).
However I do think Diskin will be sharp eager and up for this so....who knows. I give in. It's a tough call.

Lets face it, we cant go lightweight against Stains. Our bench should consist of 3 props/2nd rows and Diskin if available.
So we cant exactly have Smith on the bench. Imo its either he misses out or someone is dropped. If anyone is to be dropped, i think it should be Donald. His kick collection looked poor on Friday. But who knows.

My Team:

1. Webb
2. Donald
3. Smith
4. Senior
5. Hall
6. McGuire
7. Burrow
8. Leuleui
9. Buderus
10. Peacock
11. JJB
12. Delaney
13. Sinfield

14. Diskin
15. Bailey
16. Ambler
17. Clarkson

Obviously Eastwood and Kirke injured. Ali is not fit enough to be playing at the moment and Ablett shall receive a ban.

They'll win by 2 scores.

Our defence is too leaky.

I was reluctant to put Clarkson on the bench but I prefer him to Burgess. Clarkson for me is similar to Ablett and can cause defences some problems. You maybe right about Delaney/Meli, but i was keen to bring Smith in and I didn't want to lose Senior's attacking ability.

A fully fit Ali playing at his best is a nailed on pick......however the Ali of this last year would be a big risk. Clearly not fit and definitely not match fit and if he is selected in the 17 and breaks down yet again in a game of this magnitude then questions will be asked in parliament

I'd want to go with 4 big forwards on the bench if we have 4 available given injuries to Kirke,Eastwood and Ali and likely loss of Ablett but I suspect we will have Disko on the bench this weekend regardless of who is available.

What we wouldn't have given for a fully fit and performing Ali and Eastwood off the bench on Saturday