Dupree injured in today’s academy game which doesn’t look like a good one so he wouldn’t be involved.

If we were to win st HKR, and other results go our way, we could be in 8th place at the end of next weekend.

Can Muizz or Trout be recalled? I didn't think you could recall a loan deal during the 1st month.

Sure we will be fine anyway. Put Tui or Walters on the bench if need be. Can always move Sutty back into the pack then.

This is a must win game for both teams IMO

It certainly is, despite the win we are still bottom of the table after playing 1/3 of our league games.

Nah we've already lost 6 must win games so we must have been relegated weeks ago???

It’s 1/3 of the way through the season, we’re rock bottom in 12th and playing a side 2 points ahead of us in the league.

And???

Its not must win, but we're in a fairly delicate position - win a couple on the bounce and we'll be right amongst the pack, but lose a couple and the whole rest of the season starts to look mighty difficult.

Last year we were miles ahead of where we are at this stage of the season - we won 6 and drew 1 of our first 9 league games, with one loss vs Widnes being the week after the WCC and the other a 1 point loss to Cas. Its incredible how badly the wheels fell off last year, as after a good start we won only 1 of the next 9 league games - ironically against KR.

This year is so far more like 2016, when we also had 2 wins from the first 9 games. Hopefully the upturn started last week - in 2016 we didn't turn the corner until the last third of the season.

Any win on Thursday will lift us off the bottom of the table and the upwards climb can begin.
Lose on Thursday and the gap between us and the rest grows.
We need to build a three game winning run against Cas, HKR and Huddersfield to lift us away from the basement.
Then we can re-assess our expectations for the rest of the campaign.

I expect us to win this one but depends on injuries and suspensions.

I'd like to see some news on Crosby soon, because I think the front row needs someone to take the weight off Peteru and Oledski a bit. Singleton went OK last week, hopefully Holroyd will be about there if required too, but overall and with Cuthbo injured again we're looking light. That then sucks in Merrin, which unbalances the back row and causes other issues.

I guess the big selection question this week is about Tui. I think it was the right call for Furner to drop him, but if he isn't going to pick him again there's an obvious outcome to the situation. I thought Tui looked quite sharp against the top sides to be honest in attack, his passing game is good and his bombs are ridiculous - he certainly has a strong skillset. In a struggling side though he absolutely must sort his defence out because his team mates won't stand for a turnstile in the ranks, never mind the coach and fans.

Whether that is possible, we'll see - it will help for him to come in to a more structured and settled defensive pattern though, and especially Kallum sorting his D out from the first few games where I thought he was well off.

The biggest thing I'd like to see from this game is for us not to put the cue on the rack and relax once we've established a lead, give stupid penalties away and invite the opposition to begin a rousing comeback. No side in SL is going to roll over to have its tummy tickled, we really have got to stop switching off and undoing the hard work early on.

Where would you pick Lolohea though? Sutcliffe did ok at 6, and whilst he might not be the long-term solution he probably deserves to stay there for a few games. For now at least picking up points is all that matters.

I think Tui needs to force his way back in.

We do look very workmanlike with Sutcliffe in there and we lose the undoubted flair of Tui with his kicks and passing but I'm with you, lets grind it out for now, get some confidence back and push on, it gives Tui a bit of time to adapt and improve his woeful D.

I imagine the injury situation will dictate his inclusion - we're another couple of troops down potentially, I could see Sutcliffe being brought back into the pack although he's 10-20kgs off playing weight for a forward IMO.

I would like to see more of Tui in the first team to form a considered view but Furner has to go with whoever is providing Ws at the moment (and the foreseeable).

If that's the case you could play Lolohea alongside Sutcliffe and you get the defence of Sutcliffe and the creativity of Tui job done.