Foster was injured against Wigan. Probably half our team were. We don't know who was carrying what knocks in the GF. But one big difference was that Leeds suffered no injuries during the match and we suffered two, in quick succession and to two of our best defenders. Killer.

Incidentally, an achilles injury isn't a 'knock'.

I don't care about Meli having flashbacks, the whole bloody West Stand was having nightmares!

Why move him there?

To the West Stand? Would have loved to have done that. It would have meant he was safely away from the wing.

For some reason you've failed to answer the question?

On one of your posts today you posted something along the lines of, anyone with half of brain knows he's got to be kept of the wing.

So why did our coach put him on the wing?

I was being facetious (look it up).


I have many talents but mind reading is not one of them. However, it could be that he was running out of bodies and Meli had played on the wing before. It's logical to assume, therefore, that a player with experience on the wing should play on the wing when the winger had to play at fullback. Likewise with Soliola and the centre position. He's played there before. Therefore, it's logical to move him to that spot when the centre was lost to injury. Unfortunately, what Simmons probably didn't realise, was that Meli is capable of spectacular GF brainfarts of the highest order and Soliola having his worst game in months was not going to end with him playing at centre.

Aside from that, of course, they'd been playing and training for their other positions all season and to ask two players to slip back into previous positions in a GF for the most crucial part of the game was a big ask. An unavoidable one, but a big one nonetheless. Meli was never going to rise to that occasion.

In fact I think Scott Moore was defending on that side too wasn't he? So we had Meli (GF liability), Soliola (worst game in months), Moore (liability) and a limping Lomax. That was a tryfest waiting to happen.

Who else could he put there? Wheeler? Soliola? Lomax? If we moved Lomax out there you end up throwing Wheeler in at stand off when he's hardly played. I know Wheeler has quality but is it really in that much abundance that it overcomes the fluidity with which Lomax and Gaskell had combined? Don't you think, prior to the event, we would have lost less in attack by keeping Lomax in the middle on this occasion?

Wheeler could have gone on the wing. Could have put tommy on wing, Gaskell to fullback(he can play there) and wheeler to 6. Lomax could have gone there.

Anyone other than meli! I'd put Graham there before meli.

Sure, yes. Stick Gaskell at fullback and who would play 6? Wilkin? So we lose another forward, bearing in mind we had lost one forward already because he was covering centre. So put Meli in at right centre (when he has been playing left centre all season) and Lomax on the wing when he has been playing halfback all season? We confuse the fook out of Meli (not hard) and take away a strike threat in Lomax (such as it was). Can't see it myself. The fact that Meli is useless is not Simmons' fault. He did the best he could, and the most logical thing he could, with the resources he had available.

I wasn't saying who i thought should have gone to the wing, i was answering the question of what options Royce had.

Lucky Royce came up with the better idea of putting serial grand final cock up king meli on the wing. It paid off.

Oh shut the feck up Pete.

Chill out out di, you know I'm messing with you.

You should know me by now, I'm not being serious.

Do you still love me?