From that team I’d go:

1. Walker
2. Briscoe
3. Watkins
4. Hurrell
5. Handley
6. Lolohea
7. Myler
8. Cuthbertson
9. Parcell
10. Oledzki
11. Merrin
12. Ferres
13. Ward

14. Dwyer
15. Singleton
16. Peteru
17. Donaldson

I'm with you Marty, Cam Smith should be in the 17. His defence might be a little suspect but Sutcliffe isn't stellar in this area either, and I think Smith is the better player (in the back row certainly). Although to be fair Sutcliffe went OK against Warrington.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hurrell misses a game or two - it's hard with big money players because you want them out on the field, but I'm sure the club will do the right thing by him if he's not fit.

We really could do with having Crosby available.

I am worried if we sit back and give Wigan the space we gave Warrington, this one could be painful. Neither of our halves look great in defence. I think our pack has more to give; Oledzki had very little go-forward against Warrington, we need him to be making impact at the defensive line, he can't be going missing. I'd fancy my own chances of averaging 5m per carry, although I'd need a stint in hospital afterwards.

I'm hoping more Tuigamala than Carroll but we'll see! TC was great when he was fit but yes you can see the similarities.

Yep i think most of us are disapointed Smith is not getting a gig , we need to find out if he is good enough , we already know others are not ( Ferris , Sutty and Peteru )

Think Ferres will be in his last year this year, Sutcliffe and Peteru have this season to show they’re worth a spot.
Furner is probably deciding between Sutcliffe and Smith and going for Sutcliffe for now; not sure you’d have them both in the pack at the same time when we have lots of senior back rowers including new marquee.

Let’s be honest here, Koni isn’t playing is he?

Another tonking on the cards with young Newman getting absolutely brayed down that side.

I like the look of Smith, and i know it is only Furners 2nd game as coach, but Smith seems to keep getting overlooked. McDermott got stick for not giving him much chance but when Sinfield took over he was not a regular then either. Makes you wonder if they all think he is still not ready for 1st team.

i am fearing the same and wondering if Hurrell will be pulled out at the 11th hour

We need Hurrell fit for the games we have a better chance in. No point playing him injured. He’ll cause some damage when the weather improves.

He can’t be far off, but you might prefer Sutty to him given the difference in experience, if there’s only room for one of them. Sutcliffe played quite well against Wire.

I'd add that the quality of our home grown talent has, overall, not been good enough. Too many of those inadequate players are ones we've produced.

A positive start would be to have 2 props in the starting front row instead of back rowers (I don't consider Cuthbertson a prop by any definition) then see how they go from there. The game will always be based around it being the main priority to dominate this area, I'm not sure where the thinking of sending that front row up against Hill, Cooper and Clarke came from.

Ferres is absolute garbage, has been for 3 year, still gets an undeserved start last week, garbage yet again. if squad was selected on form he'd be on duel reg at fev, if theyd even want him. Cam Smith does pretty well whenever he gets a chance, but cant get look in, we'l end up losing him at this rate.

It's easy to focus on the negatives after the season we've just had, a big opening defeat, and difficult games to come. The forum breeds pessimism in these circumstances.

For the sake of saying something a bit different... Games are not won on paper (as we've discovered countless times in the past coming up against teams with injuries), Leeds are due to produce a response after last week (if not necessarily a result), this is very much a different team to last year, and playing Wigan usually brings out the best in us. Bring it on!

Yes but you would be up for the first game of the season surely? How much of a response can we really expect?
We can win the game against Wigan, but with the front row issues we have, we cannot afford to play slack, drop off tackles etc. High completion rates, high skill and good kicking game would help.