I'd stick with keinhorst at LC and put Ablett in the BR with Jjb on the bench for Kirke.
I also agree that Bailey should be at Prop when he comes on.

i'd have to agree with everything here, But we all know it's not going to happen what with BMD's strange selection policies.

I'll eat my hat if he went with this side!

The thinking behind Bailey playing second row is that during his time at loose forward he looked quite good attacking nearer the fringes and second row would allow him to go further out than at prop. Plus Kirke has been going well at prop recently so why change that.

I would agree here as well.... we really need the pack depth to be stronger, that platform gives the space and time for our backs to perform. Keinhorst I think is better at LC than Ablett anyway.

Oh agreed, the chances of Leuluai and Burrow starting on the bench are practically zero. The interesting part will be,
....HOPEFUL......RECENT
4 - Ablett.......Keinhorst
13 - Ward.......Ablett
17 - Bailey.......Ward
Not Picked - Keinhorst......Bailey

Will probably look more like the recent list than the hopeful one unfortunately. I'm thinking he will stick with Keinhorst, who nothing against the lad has done ok in his few appearances and could well be a future regular starter but ATM for me he's not the stronger option.

But surely the pack depth would suffer if you drop a prop/second row in Ian Kirke and play Keinhorst at centre instead of picking Ablett there who could still run the ball in like a forward and taking some of the workload off the starting forwards.

Not too sure about that, 3 forwards on the bench is good depth, just need to be at same standard or as close to the same standard as the starting pack to maintain the depth. I think Leeds' issue is not depth in terms of number of forwards, but the depth in quality, replacing like for like to keep the same level of intensity and go forward...for example Morley off the bench for warrington or Graham off the bench for the Bulldogs, thats the depth you need quality not numbers. You want to have a utility back on the bench also.

Regarding Kirke....in has played well recently, I would put him in over Griffin, Kirke seems more of a handful for defence. Plus is Kirk 100% fit after the hit last week? Must have suffered from Concussion

Pack
JP SL KL
BD JJB
CB

Subs
RB
IK
DG

Interchange some shorter stints for KL, JP, DG, IK

But we don't have that type of quality off the bench (Morley, Graham) no matter how the team is selected so we can't really pretend that we have. Leeds' best recent successes like the Wigan CC Semi have come from a team effort in the forwards and sharing the workload, Kirke and Griffin not of the same standard as Peacock on paper but on that day they put their hands up and were counted. Also on recent form Kirke has been one of our better forwards TBF.

You need a utility half back/hooker on the bench and Burrow gives you that option if picked there, i'm not keen on seeing a 1-5 back on the bench, if you don't get injuries it usually ends up feeling like a forced subsitution instead of one based on how the game is going.

kirke has easily been our best forward for the back end of the year, shame its taken him 4 & half years to show up.

I believe that come play off time that you need your 17 best players in the squad and also playing in the best role that suits the side

This might sound like an obvious statement to make, but we have had probably every permutation of sides throughout the season thus far and with players swapping roles and positions too

FWIW i think that the printer has got it pretty much bang on, although i would be tempted to go for some more impact off the bench and swap Bailey with Moore for this tie against Wakey

Of course we don't have that level, hoepfully a one or two additions to come from GH, but just saying that playing Ablett in the pack is more even than other interchanges....it is a tough call. i think on their day all the usually forwards as you say can play a great game, however Ablett is consistent and at 13 can offer some handling skills as well...will wait and see and see how Kirke responds to last weeks clash. Any news on delaney as he also went off last week.

When you look at actual performances of our forwards as opposed to past glories, its not hard to see why we're struggling when it counts. We do have depth, just very ordinary depth.

There's no doubt in any event that Hetherington is looking to the Play Offs before deciding some player futures - I especially think Lunt needs to turn in some big games if he wants GH to make a move for him on a permanent basis.

Isn't McShane available again now Widnes' season is over ? Presumably everybody is already writing him off as a Leeds player.

A, He probably is available now that Widnes' season has finished.
B, For the 2013 season and onwards no I haven't written his chances off. To be brought back into the fold for this Playoff series yes i have written that chance off.

Strongest 17 for the play-offs? Warringtons. __________ ThePrinters 17 is similar to the one I was advocating the other day on the McGuire back thread : viewtopic.php?f=17&t=536662&tsmp=1347532379&start=12 so he get the coaching reigns this week.

Strongest 17 for the play-offs? Warringtons. __________ ThePrinters 17 is similar to the one I was advocating the other day on the McGuire back thread : viewtopic.php?f=17&t=536662&tsmp=1347532379&start=12 so he get the coaching reigns this week.