I only saw a bit of Achurch last year, and he was very dynamic against the Broncos - ironically making one great break right through the middle of the defence. It seems odd if Leeds have tried to turn him into a hard-working prop, when he was a damaging second row probably more suited to shorter spells from what I saw.

Wrt to Achurch he is better suited to be a wide running SR imo rather than a bit part Prop.
I think he has shown some decent potential to kick on and is in the 13 on merit long may it continue.

As I have stated before I really do hope McDermott will continue to select Hardaker at FB where he is continuing to progress nicely into the best all round FB I have seen in a long time. He is one that should now be cemented as a first choice on the team sheet ( above the likes of other so called "senior players" ) ..

I would rather see Sutcliffe or Ward at stand off for this one

Maybe BJB on the bench knowing that Sutcliffe and Ward can be switched into the pack ( at LF please ). Moon to SO

Then again if Hardaker IS selected at SO it would be nice to say to G1 " I told you so ".

Would opt for Sutcliffe to start in the halves but wouldn't mind the other option of Hardaker with BJB to FB either. Said previously I wouldn't want to shift Hardaker away from FB, but that was in relation to him going to centre, to 6 could be interesting.

Its good that we still have selection headaches with 3 major players out. LOng term thinking should see Sutcliffe at SO. If BJB's form is demanding to be selected, then we would likely see Hardaker or Moon there. Hardaker played there in preseason IIRC, I would imagine that was in preparation for this sort of scenario

Think he played there on Boxing Day basically because there was nobody else - other candidates weren't back in training because they had either been involved in the World Cup or were injured.

looking forward to this one now.

we have wigan x2, cas away, Wire away and hull until we play cup quarter final.will be a tough test for us without both regular choice hookers available.

Well that's one option we didn't think of....

Ablett in the halves

Clarkson starts 2nd row, Sutcliffe (and Bailey) on the bench.

Also, no O'Loughlin for Wigan

Jumbo formation

I think you will still win tonight but Ablett won't help you being in the halves can't understand that at all. Sutcliffe looks like a good half back for his age why isn't he playing there?

moon will play there with ablett in the centre. still odd as you say. why disrupt the best backline in the league when sutcliffe can play there.
perhaps when the game has calmed then it will go back to normal

Awesome display by you guys. Fabulous rugby - best team in the league at the moment by far.

So Ablett was no where near halfs.

Thought Clarkson did an excellent job in his first 30mins. Good ball from dummy half, and plenty of tackles. Was just never going to make a run.