Burrow has to play. And look how well McGuires playing with the extra space back at 6.

Yes we need some cover at Prop. JP will do well to recover from such a serious injury and the long layoff.

Kirke looked in a bit of discomfort in the last 10 mins. Twice the physio came on but he waved him away. No doubt about it Kirke would have been desperate to prove to Bluey he is worthy of a final spot. If he had gone off injured then it would have put serious thoughts in Blueys mind about Kirke been fit enough for the final and Kirke would have known this. If he did have a slight pull in a muscle he will praying its ok this morning. Food for thought, Kirke may not be fit.

I'm in full agreement with you. This cant be right!

Clarkson is my highlight of the whole year for the Rhinos so far.

I can't praise this lad enough.

His tank his huge and never dips inside game time.

Great work rate, execution and determination.

He sweats and bleeds for a Rhinos shirt. Enough said.

About what 73mins last night? Cracking effort from the lad.

I tend to agree with that. If kirke is fit i think he gets on the bench as we need front row options with no JP and Burgess. Eastwood and Kirke can cover interchange prop,Ablett can't.

im not sure about the size argument in favour of Kirke,

I would front row options of Ambler, Kylie, Bailey, Eastwood should be enough size in the 17, especially when Ablett, JJB, and Ali in the 2nd row are hardly small guys.

Another thing i would say was in Clarksons favour rather than Kirkes is the time he is actually on the field. I dont think we would get huge stints out of any of our forwards bar JJB, any of our forwards get a knock and we are forced to leave one of these guys on for a long time. I would be more comfortable asking Clarkson to put in a 70/80 minute stint that Ablett, Ali, Eastwood, Ambler, Kylie, Bailey or Kirke

Who are you putting Ambler in for Diskin ?

If Bluey thinks we have enough up front with Kylie and Bailey, with a stint from Eastwood, against Morley, Carvell and Wood then he will go with Ablett instead of Kirke.
I agree as regards the stamina, hot day on a big pitch at Wembley Clarkson should be a shoe in.

Scotty D wont be selected for Wembley

I would drop Diskin, this isnt a slight on him, we just need to play with what we have against whats in front of us

Wire are a big side, we will need to front up to stay in the game and without our pack leader we will need the numbers

with Sinfield able to play 7 and Burrow able to play 9, Clarkson and Ablett can fill in at 13 if you want to give Buderus a rest.

Wire will throw a lot of offloads and i dont think we will look strong with Bailey/Kylie/Eastwood having to try and make 2nd efforts on the likes of Harrison, Westwood and Anderson and Monaghan and Clarke running round the ruck towards the end of a 30 minute stint.

We need to win it upfront against wire, stop the offload and control the ruck and i think our back line will win it for us

If we win then it doesnt matter who bluey plays it will have been the right decision(s). Personally i would pick clarkson and burrow and leave out kirke and donald especially as Ambler seems to be out of favour for whatever reason as i think he has played well this season.

Couldn't agree more, excellent observation. The whole team looks better with the three playmakers back in their natural role. Burrow was man of the match last week at Cas and I thought he played very well Friday night. He frustrated the hell out of Carlaw in defence. Was funny to watch.

Not only has McGuire's game improved out of sight since Burrow's return but Senior looks a lot safe defensively. Much more cohesive with our number 7 back. He's a crucial player for us.

As for Clarkson, I simply don't see how you can leave out a lad who puts in 30+ tackles and 70 plus minutes each weeek.

I'm sure the Wire players would be over the moon if Burrow was omitted.

McGuire has been the stand out Rhinos player all year - Burrow or no Burrow, the quality of his performance has little to do with Burrow's inclusion it more about his own attitude and game opportunities.

I would play Burrow but the play leading up to the play when Catalans scored and the play for the try suggests Burrow wasn't quite as good or committed as you have suggested IMO

When you say "back line" you of course mean McGuire ...He more than any other (maybe Senior) is going to be our main strike weapon in the backs especially as it looks as though Donald might be just a 'reserve' now until the end of the season.

I do agree with you that Diskin has to make way for a big bench of Eastwood, Ali, Ablett and Kirke. Not sure that will happen though.