*If* BJB is showing anything positive in training I'd certainly put him in for this one, given what he's done to Richards last season. Watkins/BJB vs Carmont/Richards would be a huge pace mismatch.

Yes "only". The least of the 4 props as in 9 out of 75 tackles made by the props. Of course bald stats don't tell the whole story as game time etc comes into it and Leuluai had impressive go forward figures. However if he had equal game time to the other props "only" is a fair desciption of 9 tackles out of 75. Had it been Kirke that only made 9 tackles the knives would have been out.



Totally Irrelevant

I don't know weather I should watch it at home in the warmth of my front room or get myself along to the DW.....

Few making the trip across?

It's more appealing with it being a Saturday game.

As neither of us are privy to the coach's game plan you can equally say that if he had similar game time to the other props then maybe 9 out of 75 tackles made by the props is just plain lazy or maybe he was not fit enough to put in a fair tackling stint on top of his very good go forward effort.

I disagree that the missed tackles is a more reliable indicator. Firstly not all missed tackles are crucial one on one affairs. Sometimes the missed tackle acutally slows up the attacker to allow other defenders to complete the tackle, thereby having a positive value. Sometimes the missed tackle is registered by a player who goes out of his way to try and make a tackle that others wouldn't even attempt often on a kick chase.

If you miss say 2 or 3 tackles but have made 25+ in a match it shows a high work rate and effort. If you miss say 0 tackles or 1 tackle but only make 9 in total (like Leuluai on this occassion) then you could say it shows a low work rate.

So missed tackles can be viewed in both a negative and positive way. As to which way depends on the particular set of circumstances. So I would say that missed tackles is not such a reliable indicator as you seem to think.

NB: Kirke made 11 fewer missed tackles last season than Leuluai at an average of 0.7 per game and played 2 more games than Kylie.

Me + 3

Wouldn't miss Wigan away for anything - Love it. Proper big away game feel, we're outnumbered and the team's up against it so getting a win feels awesome.

Plus it's the first opportunity we've had to salute Tomkins since he kindly saluted us at Wembley...

I know what you mean Dave over the past few years I have enjoyed going to the JJB or DW as it's no known.

Money is a bit tight though at the moment but it's the first away of the season.

Decisions Decisions Decisions.

'Maybe' is the operative word, which is why I did not presume to make an authoritative statement. We simply don't know and are therefore in a position to comment, but not to judge.

Webb;
Smith, Watkins, Hardaker, Hall;
McGuire, Burrow;
Bailey, McShane, Peacock;
Ablett, Hauraki;
Clarkson.

Hood, Moore, Griffin, Delaney.

If the injuries to Jones-Buchanan, Sinfield and Leuluai are bad enough for them to miss the match.
If Hood is still injured, Id be tempted to start Ward with McGuire, and Burrow off the bench.

The pairing of Watkins and BJB worked a treat last time round, funnily enough against the pairing of Carmont and Richards.

Didn't BJB make Richards looks a fool on a couple of occasions by stepping him and leaving him for dead?

Got to say, BJB looked happy after the game on Friday but wouldn't you when Smith just put in that performance?

So you've gone from dropping Hauraki totally to putting him straight in the run on side when his impact worked so well off the the bench last week? Then in turn, have taken Delaney, our leading meter maker last week who goes through a hell of a lot of work, and put him on the bench?

I sometimes wonder about you when you pick these teams

So if you accept your use of the word 'only' has to be set alongside game-time played you presumably must have the count of the relevant minutes the props played to justify making such a comment. Do you?



Props defend in the middle third. If they are introduced from the bench at a time that coincides with the ball being spread away from the centre field it becomes very relevant to the amount of defence they can be expected to get involved with.

The criticism of Kirke (as you mention him) I believe stems from his inability to get hold of the ball often enough and take it forward far enough with real determination.

Defensively would you rather run at Leuluai or Kirke?

The BJB comment was more tounge in cheek

But I'm not sure Smith has the speed or skill level to go around Richards like that. And thinking about it now, smith will be attacked all night with the kick when there's that height advantage.