Anyone else think there is a real chance we could lose this game? I know if it were a SL team we were playing we might as well not bother turning up. Are Fev capable of turning us over? They have always looked very solid to me on Sky and seem to be at the better end of the Championship scale.

Or is it just me being cautious as usual? Royston is on about one or two more debutants this week and that there are no players returning from injury. That leaves us very weak IMO. Down TP, Perry, Clough, Moore and Flannery from the pack and down Pryce, Eastmond, Lomax, Gaskell from the halves. Hale to start at second row with Karalius coming in?

Seems to be uncertainty about Ashe's fitness as well.

it will be close imo but dont fev have a few out aswell which will probably end up with a 10 point gap and no more

Yes. If we defend like we did last week and with only Robes and Wilkin as our attacking threats then there is every possibility IMO. Featherstone are in a battle for top spot with Leigh, only a point or two difference I think. We are so weak player wise in the important areas that there can be no taking this lightly.


There has been all along as he was recovering from a knee injury. It was tough for him to be thrown in at the deep end with the first team having only just returned to the u20s. He needs to get fit really so I'm hoping someone else will take his place - if there is anyone left, obviously!

We've still got large enough players in the pack to ensure field position, imo. This will dictate the result.

We should win by 20+

We have enough in our squad to take out Fev even with our current injuries.

Stranger things have happened though.

Um, who? We've got James Graham. But who else in the pack to play on Sunday is big? I can't think of anyone! Most of the team looked about 12 years old when compared to Hudds on Saturday!

LMS and Soliola.

Featherstone will have big rugged forwards as well. Dickens probably weighs as much as those two combined. They are no mugs, there are several former SL players in their squad and quite a few who are capable of playing at SL level.

They won't be used to coming up against the combination of size and athleticism that we'll still have in the pack, despite injuries. I still suspect we'll win reasonably comfortably, but there's no doubt it's as good a chance as any for a Championship club to get the scalp of a big SL club.

I reckon its an 80% chance of a Saints win, but it's sport and your head and your players have to be right for the game. If we are mean in defence for the first 40 then that should exhaust any Championship side to take the sting out of the initial on slaught.

But if it's competitive from the first 10 minutes then it could be as close as the halifax bradford game.

I hope you are right. But with only Jammer and LMS as props for the game, it's hard to see how any rotation policy is going to work.

We had Ade Gardner rotating into the second row in that game and we're going to be 1 or 2 men down from that. I just hope the academy debutants Royce is talking about will be physically up to playing against the rough and ready skullduggery of the Championship players.

Indeed. I'd be tempted to use Soliola as a rotation prop for this game. That would at least give us a bit of physical presence coming off the bench. We can only hope that the Gardner-in-the-back-row thing was purely down to the fact that we lost a man in the warm-up and were restricted in our options. Presumably we'll be able to dip into our reservoir of unspectacular yet reasonably dependable young back rowers to get us through this one. Or perhaps Ben Karalius will get a game, allowing Wilkin to move back into the pack.

Have we seen a 19 man squad yet?
To be fair, it might be a good day to get Karalius involved.

Should be released by the end of the day. They are up to 15 names now, hopefully be a couple more once the triage nurse has done her rounds.

2pm