Funnily enough I fancy us for Saints too. Holroyd should be raring to go - I don't know if he's been fully fit all year, and this enforced absence with concussion might have done him the world of good actually. A fit Holroyd makes our pack much stronger (if he can keep his discipline).

If Croft is back, he makes a huge difference to us too - said before but I think he's worth 1-2 tries every game just through his assists.

If Newman is back, again we have that extra strike in the back line and some physicality.

RS needs to get the selection right but we're a definite chance. We also have 2 weeks to prepare for this game with the CC being a distraction, and we have revenge in mind after them turning us over twice at HQ. I reckon we should go well.

I'm praying for Papali'i at the moment, I think he'd be a real good addition if we can land him.

I hope you're right. I think it's unlikely we'll come away with anything from Saints though. We've generally lifted ourselves against them, but their 80 minute high intensity approach is like kryptonite to our mistake ridden, play in spurts style. I just want to see us go there and not play soft, which in my book means not giving it to them on a plate with knock ons in every other set, suicidal kicking, and letting the opposition camp out in our half for long stretches of the game. That would be significant progress and proof that the coach and players alike had used the break to address fundamental failings. And Jim, Saints are not in the CC Cup.

Oh yes! Well... I still think we have an advantage there because of injury recoveries, and I think Makinson is banned for them too?

The week off is needed for us.

Mistakes seem to have been a systemic problem for years, over various coaches. I don't know if the pressure of playing for Leeds gets to players, or whether it's just as simple as the players we've signed aren't good enough.

Obviously we need to manage our expectations at the moment but I fancy us for Saints. I'm really positive about the quality of the young players coming through at the moment too, next year one or two will be surprised at the new names starting to show up around first grade. I think we have a tactical gap at prop for a couple more years, but other than that we have players coming through in most positions. I'm going to make a bold statement but in terms of potential, ages 16-19 is very reminiscent of the goldens coming through.

Makinson will be ‘playing’ in the reserves this weekend to serve his ban.

Terrible loophole that.

Well, fair enough in the context of the original offence, I don't think it warranted a ban or a sending off personally. The Wigan prop did deserve his.

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Croft and Newman returning would definitely strengthen us, but they have played in the majority of our games and we are amongst the lowest try scorers in the competition.
We have struggled to rack up decent scores all season and i dont see that changing against Saints whether Croft is back or not.

True, but so have Saints theyve only scored a lot against the bottom teams, unfortunately they don’t let many in either.

It’s a winable game though

For us to beat Saints at Saints, we need to score more points than they do. I don't really see that happening because they attack better than we do, and they defend better than we do. We would need at least one of those last statements to change for us to be successful there.

I'm not saying we can't win the game, just that it's very unlikely.

Saints don't appear to be in the best of form but our toothless aimless attack will need to improve a lot to beat them. There is only the bottom 3 who have scored less points than us this season.

Don’t get me wrong we’ll need to improve on recent showings that’s for sure.

It would be nice to get through a game without losing one or two through injury aswell

We're gonna nail them, keep the faith.

Fingers crossed

Corey Johnson, fresh from 80 seconds on the field last weekend, has joined Halifax Panthers on Dual Reg.

Nice trip to sunny france as a pat on the back from Rohan before he goes.

If previous rumours are true it might be the opposite: that Johnson is back in the frame as #2 hooker to Ackers for next year, and we're looking for him to play into some form in the Champ first.

We have another couple of hookers coming through the system but they're at least a couple more years off first grade I think.