You would imagine with Clough back it's going to give us a stronger bench than last week.

We should not experience as big a drop in intensity when TP and Sia go off.

I feel sorry for Makinson and Gaskell. The pair of them are just picked up and dropped at will, especially Gaskell. But why Makinson has been dropped, yet the ever ridiculous Meli retained no matter what crap he produces each week, I will never know and needless to say I am disappointed by Saints once again (but not remotely surprised).

I can see Leeds' game plan already. It's their old favourite: kick Meli to death. With Jones on his inside - not exactly a staunch defender himself - then I can see Leeds having so much fun at our expense without really doing very much.

Probably Mr Brown looking at options in the early part of the season, its a test for Makinson and Gaskell temperament to come back with good performances when they get the chance to. Brown needs to look at the whole squad in depth, nothing wrong with that.

Blummin predictive text on my phone!

Maybe because everyone else can see that all he can do is barge. He offers us nothing else whatsoever. He can't do acrobatic try scoring, for instance, like Makinson can. He rarely catches a bomb and can never deal with a bouncing ball. He shies away from tackling or doing any work really. He loves to pass the ball on rather than take it up. Did you not notice how shiny and white his shirt was at the end of the Hull match? Everyone around me was commenting on it. He is a lazy git and he knows he can be because he is picked regardless. I can't wait for him to leave.


I don't think he has been poor. He has wandered in a couple of times but he is playing outside a different centre this year and so that is bound to have an impact on his own game. However, perish the thought that a young winger should be given time to adjust to a new centre partner! Crikey.


Gaskell is dropped because it is easy to drop Gaskell. We do need an organiser on the field and clearly Lomax is incapable of organising anything so I can appreciate why Wilkin has been stuck in the halves again (and he has said in the past that he doesn't particularly want to play there). Based on previous form though Wilkin will not be able to maintain high performance there although obviously since that is once more the way we are going - because I suppose coaching two young halves would be too much like hard work - we will have to put up with any inconsistencies in Wilkin's performances. Wheeler I'm happy to give a chance to but I doubt he'll be in the halves for long given his injury record.

Wilkin and Wheeler played against a crap Bradford. I'll be interested to see how they go against Warrington.

Maybe if Saints style of play now and for the past few years wasnt based around only scoring from 20-30 m out then he wouldnt " just barge " but the fact is we lack pace and only score from close and those " just barge " tries actually take some strength and skill to score.If your going to say he can just barge then why not say Foster could only place the ball down as most of his tries where just that,walk ins.This could be his last season then people can move on and find another scapegoat.

Makinson has been average and using the new centre excuse is poor,a good player will adapt,they have had lots of time in training and several games to get it right,its now up to him to prove he is good enough and force his way back.Brown also likes to rotate players so i wouldnt be at all surprised to see him back soon.

Gaskell has been left out as like Makinson he has been average and average wont do at 6 and 7. I do feel somewhat sorry for him as last year was bad for him,but as above its up to him to prove he is good enough and force his way back in.

Bottom line is performances ( and im talking about the whole team here ) have been poor and the coach has done what we pay him for and made changes.Funny thing isnt it,people are not happy when we lose and now people are not happy now we have won,its a time will tell thing.

My God - Wheeler not injured shock!

2012 Stats
Meli Makinson

Number of Games 27 22
Tries 14 10
Try Assists 4 1
Tackles 113 102
Missed Tackles 5 8
Tackle Busts 52 27
Carries 278 230
Average gain230 155
Total Metres 2580 1756
Average gain per carry 9.3 7.6
Clean Breaks 16 11
DH runs 22 47
Errors 14 20
Penalties 13 4
Offloads 13 5

Its a mystery alright - even without taking into account things that aren't represented by these stats, such as finding the front when tackled etc.

[iAll these stats were gathered from the SL website, with the exception of the "Number of Games", which I had to get from from the saints heritage website.
I'm not sure how the SL website would clarify "Average Gain", its certainly not "metres"/"number of games" [/i

I think Av gain is calculated on metres / carries.

As a Wigan fan I'd much us rather face Makinson than Meli.

That's the average gain per carry, which I actually did the maths for. Its the figures of 250 and 155 that I'm not sure of the exact reasoning.

Meli offers more going forward, both close to the line and getting out of trouble. I think that's the main reason he's ahead of Makinson in the pecking order. With Gardner and Meli both probably leaving at the end of the season, Makinson will be first choice next year with Swift/new signing on the other. Makinson's still young and got years ahead of him, no need in making a big deal about it.

If Gardner and meli are our best wingers, it wouldn't make sense to release them both in favour of players who aren't good enough for the team now. I think at least one will be retained, depending how much their wage demands are. Clearly there are significant doubts anoint the ability of both Gaskell and Makinson who have plenty of experience and game time behind them. Makinson I think will survive, but gaskells days are coming to an end.