He was moving to Wigan this off-season apparently, didn’t seem to come about.

I think we should do the best we have, with the best we have. If we turn Hardaker in to the best FB in the world and lose him, we lose him, at least we will have had him.

I opted for Ward on the bench (instead of in place of Sutcliffe or JJB) taking into account the length of his absence. He hasn't yet played since last April and his pre-season last year was spent recovering from the GF shoulder injury. By the time the season kicks off he'll have only played 11 competitive games in 16 months for Leeds.

Considering how much people kick off on here when more senior players are brought back from injury, it's surprising no one has batted an eyelid about Ward possibly slotting straight back in.

If you want your 13 to carry the ball and defend in the middle, which seems to be the way of the modern game, then it's Ward over Sutcliffe every time in that role for me.

if you want an extra playmaker then Sutcliffe have the edge, but I'm not sure that's the way McDermott wants to go.

Didn't Sutfliffe play in the same academy side as Ward? Wasn't Ward the main playmaker of that side?

Look, I am not denigrating Ward. I'm excited for the day that he and Sutcliffe are in the team together.

But, IMO, Ward showed glimpses of looking like a first team player when in the team. Sutcliffe looked more than comfortable straight away and looked more 1st team ready. I also think he's shown himself to be more of a linebreaker than Ward.

Sutcliffe is not yet the finished article. As a half back he drifted out of games too often (to be expetced at his age). I actually think he looked very accomplished running lines where one might expect a centre to play.

I was just surprised, with Ward's lengthy injuries and Sutcliffe's form, that so many thought Ward should slot staright back in and found no place for Sutcliffe.

Still, finding room for them both is a decent problem to have, if McDemortt handles that prpoerly which is a whole different discussion.

Both players will be in the 17 as the season goes on IMO if they stay fit. Sutcliffe is the better playmaker IMO, and is more suited to playing at 6 or 13. I think Ward will end up in the back row and will make a terrific 2nd rower as he develops, the comparison to Greg Bird above is a good one I think, because that's how I see him too.

Is his frame built for that role?

I think he will eventually play 6.

Only issue I have is that up until his injury last season, his stats (and performances on the eye, stats to back it up) were matching that of Delaney. Delaney the same player that many were creaming at saying how good he was playing. It has already been mentioned by another poster the impact he had in the game at Catalans, which was the season before last. But you are using the word "glimpses" of looking a first team player?

As I said a couple of posts back, wasn't Ward the playmaker of the academy team before coming into first team, a team that Sutcliffe as part of? I think the comparison is unfair, as one is asked to do the dirty work highlighting other parts of his game, and not given the freedom to play a role showing his playmaking ability, where the other is given the oppossite role.

Assuming a fit again Ward, as you pointed out, he would certainly be much more important to our current squad IMO.

Not at the moment, but at 6'2 and 14 and half stone he will be.

Hardaker
Briscoe
Watkins
Moon
Hall
Sutcliffe/Sinfield
Burrow
JP
Aiton
Singleton
Ablett
Delaney
Sinfield/Sutcliffe

Bailey/Kylie
Jjb
Ward/Achurch
Mcguire

I quite like this one

Ward and Sutcliffe would be in my 17 week in week out if fit and I would have Ablett, Delaney in the second row with Achurch on the bench and no JJB, he has been a great servant but his tackling is awful, misses too many crucial tackles IMO, sad because he is still great going forward.

The 17 is looking very good but if you really can't resolve the Ward v Sutcliffe debate, we'd be happy to give one a home at Wakefield for a while.
Both great players. My preferance is Sutcliffe but probably only because I have seen him more recently.
McDermott is going to have a (good) problem keeping everyone happy.

He misses those crucial tackles beacause of the amount of work he is expected to do, not because he has gone backwards in that regard. Far too much is expected of him from carries and tackles, that his yards per carry are small, and the tackles he misses are often game breaking. It's not a new thing.

JJB shouldn't be out of the 17, the work load should be shared around, and he should be the impact sub, that way you get the benefit of the work rate, without the fatigue errors.

I'd also add that Aiton imho should start.
His defense is punishing and will ease the way for Burrow when he comes on for impact.
Aiton coming on would be good, as he has skills, but you will see a difference in the middle field defense when he is there.