Did we have the ball in attack whilst Ashurst was on the pitch????

He dropped it on Wigan's try line after being flattened by Coley. Don't think he touched it again after that

I think it was cruel to put him out there, actually! But we had no choice given our lack of Moore and Perry.

Why? He's far more experienced than, say, Chris Tuson who played for Wigan. I'd assume Ashurst has made double Tuson's SL appearances.

Ashurst has probably made as many as Mossop.

That doesn't make him up to the job. Or big enough for it.

Precisely. He's never going to be good enough for Saints.

I still see it as Magennis > Dixon > Ashurst but I'm not confident any will be anything other than average at best. I still have reasonably high hopes for Magennis though.

Mossop, on the other hand, could go on to be on of GB's best in my opinion.

He's the same size as Jon Wilkin and bigger than Liam Farrell, they're both far better players.

His size isn't the main issue, the main issue is that he lacks the aggression to play in the pack.

True. Either way, I don't think he's up to it. I'm not one to jump to that kind of conclusion about young players but I think he's been around long enough now to be showing us what he's made of. I don't think Ashurst, Dixon or Magennis are up to it although Magennis is probably the best of the three, his tendency to drop the ball at important times aside.

I think it's time to start trying out some new youngsters in the position to see if they don't have more to offer.

Joe Greenwood was superb for Saints in their U20 game v Wigan at Orrell in April. He looked a very good prospect.

He's been given a first team shirt in recent weeks, as has Jordan Hand and Warren Thompson. Only Warren Thompson got a debut during our injury crisis period though. However, we shouldn't need to wait for injuries to give debuts.

A run by Tuson and a run by Ashurst summed up the night.
Tuson, who I've never thought of anything more than a good club youngster, came on and took the ball up with real bite, making decent yards and landing on his front.
Shortly after it was Ashurst's turn and he jogged, slowly, onto the ball and got dumped right next to the previous PTB.

Magennis does seem to have some capability for good offloads and good lines, but he gets dominated a lot in contact.
I've always been very positve about the 3 of the young back rows, but seeing the difference in strength when flanders (who's no star) is taking the ball up shows they're way behind where you want.

That said, I remember thinking Paul Clough was too small when I first saw him. So even I'm wrong sometimes.

Wire will definitely look to dominate in the same way the goons did, exploiting the act that we have zero impact from the bench. I think the only player that has offered any form of impact this season is Scott Moore - brain explosions aside.

Dixon/Ashurst/Magennis - at the moment average with potential

TP quiet since new contract signed

Graham - still our best forward in terms of effort and contribution

LMS - Not as much impact as we would have hoped for - but appears enthusiastic

Perry - lacking match fitness but we could do with seeing some form sooner rather than later

On the plus side we can have had excellent seasons so far from Roby & Wilkin

Soliola improving & Flannery has had a promising return from injury.

I still personally wouldn't swap any of the above for Sean (swinging arms ninny) O'loughlin thank you very much

Go on then, I'll bite. You were doing OK until the above