I'm not sure we do need Fa'asavalau, though obviously he'd be a benefit. After this match it is sudden death, would part of one match be enough for him to gain match fitness?

I'm looking at it as we could have Maurie with 2/3 games under his belt by the GF (touch wood), and Soliola with 3/4.

From memory, Maurie has played some very good rugby 2 or 3 games after returning from injury - fresh and free of niggles - he'd be a big plus for us if we can get him up to speed quickly enough.

I agree it's a pretty tough judgement call though, but I'd be tempted to go with it and assume that Maurie with a couple of games would offer more than Emmitt can.

Matty may not be in the 19 man squad but that doesn't mean he won't play. Soliola wasn't in the squad announced last week but made an unexpected appearance. At the very least I would be surprised if he wasn't on the bench!

i think we should give Maurie some game time this week, in the big scheme of things this game means little, so its perfect for a run out

I believe the club have up to an hour or two before the game starts to decide whether Smith will be playing on Friday and I'm sure it will all depend on how fit Lomax is. I think we can safely say Eastmond will not be seen and we already know Pryce is out. I think Smith and Lomax would make a tasty combo though because Smith is a good organiser while Lomax has a bit of flash. Love those dancing feet of his! But my guess would be that if Lomax is fit, he will play in the halves with Moore and Smith won't play.

As for Maurie, we can lose this match and still be in with a chance in the playoffs (although I really would rather NOT lose to Wire at KR at this stage!) so I would say play him and see how he goes. His very size could help us out along with Tony P and Jammer and Clough. Not to mention Soliola and Meli. Hit em with all the muscle while we actually have it to put on the field is what I say!

your deluded i'm afraid, I watch smith every week for Salford and the guy can only pass one way, poor distribution and considering he was on the books at Everton his kicking game is very average. However he does poses some pace and Shaun must have seen something in him for the future, I for one cannot and feel Ratchford is a hell of a lot better.

good luck for the playoffs hope you win it and beat the pies in the final!!

However, your team is rubbish overall so he isn't going to get much in the way of opportunity to do anything much is he? He was at least two years younger when at Saints and looked just fine; his kicking game especially was good. So maybe he'll do better with a better team.

Either way, he's an experienced organising halfback which can only be a step up from a second rower.

As Kyle is out,Matty should definitely start on Friday.We need a bona fide scrum half out there,not a makeshift replacement.He could make a big difference to how far we go in the playoffs.
I think a big thank you is in order to both the man himself and to Salford RLFC and I hope he gets a great welcome back.

Good news but people are going OTT. Matty Smith wasent good enough get a new contract at Saints. We have better players at the club. With the Experiance his got it will help us out for the play offs but people crying because he wasent signed on a long term deal are clearly deluded/

All year I've been berating anyone who would listen that we shouldn't have let Matty go.

The club initially offered a 12 months contract to Longy so obviously the intention was to go through the season with three half backs, Longy turned it down so for me the logical step was to keep Matty instead.

I'm not saying he's a superstar or he is going to be some kind of saviour, but it is often quite rightly stated that the modern game is a squad game and Matty is a good lad to have in your squad.

Obviously I hope he gets his chance and does well for us and I hope he proves me right.

But he's good enough to help us out at playoff time? What's changed then?

Do you think Saints would recall Ste Tyrer if we were short of a winger or centre?

No, because we have Wingers in the U20's that could do a better job. Lee Gaskell and Ellis are not ready for Super League so it makes sense to recall Matty and i have every faith he'll do a decent job for us.

Lets not kid ourselves here this is a guy who was very lucky to earn a two year deal at Salford according to their supporters who watch him ever week. People who say he would make a better Hooker than Scott Moore are clearly deluded and know nothing about the game of rugby league. Scott works overtime in defence which is something you will not get with Smith.

We have backs against the wall for this play off series and at this minute, every little helps.

You also say 'Whats changed ?

Well the fact that 4 of our halfbacks who are all better than Matty are out injured. Wheeler, Lomax, Pryce and Eastmond are all twice the player Matty is.

I feel as if im slating the lad (im honestly no) i'm just being realistic here. People need to calm down.

It's faster than wilins so that thats an improvement.
His legs are faster as well and he can kick.

Matty looks a better player when he partners Daniel Holdsworth (Class), unfortunately for us Holdsworth has missed a lot of games with injury. I think the problem he's had at Salford is he's playing behind a beaten pack most weeks that don't make enough metres (Rarely capable of getting a roll on).
Fortunately we have already signed 8 better quality players for next year and I think Matty will improve in a better team. His best game for us was undoubtedly the match v Saints at the Willows where he looked like he had a real point to prove.