On team selection I think we saw what was pretty much Kear's first team vs Batley apart from a couple of possible areas. His main conundrums for me are as follows.

Who does he pick in the centres? Webster is the big name and had looked decent - he seems to be the choice to be paired with Ryan but where does this leave Ross Oakes who always plays on the left and has looked sharper than ever this pre season? On the right I'd say Evans is first choice now that Gibson is injured.

Halfback. I think Lilley has probably got himself a starting spot but the other is between Keyes, who's had a few back problems and Chisholm who was a bit off the pace versus Hudders. I think Milnes will be backup after he got subbed on Sunday.

Second row - Who plays alongside Minchella? Storton or Farrell?

As you say a few nice headaches for him. The biggest decision as you say for me is Oakes. Had a very impressive pre season and back to the player we were all delighted resigned upon relegation

Oakes is like a different player compared with this time last year. Seems much sharper. Centre is a really difficult position defensively and he was a bit at sea a year ago. Not now. He’s got great hands and is a real winger’s centre. Good to know that if Webster isn’t up to it for whatever reason he can come straight in.

Off pace but was involved in all our points against hudd and probs the best kicker tactically we have

I think Chisholm needs another game to get back into the swing. I’ve a feeling he’ll play this weekend. In some ways he was unfortunate to get picked for the Huddersfield game rather than the YC games as he was in a weaker side and played a SL side. As a half you don’t get much chance to shine if the side is going backwards. He may have been involved in all our points but then we didn't score that many.

I agree his kicking, especially to Ryan’s wing is very important. He showed signs at the back end of the season that he was coming back to what he was capable of. However I was impressed with how Keyes and Lilley combined versus Halifax. Kear seems to be very keen on players that stick to the gameplan and don’t go too maverick so it’ll be interesting to see how Chisholm can reign in his more adventurous side. He can do it – like he showed against Oldham in the play offs. He was disciplined and then found the space he needed later on when the opposition tired. That could be key against better teams with us being down to 8 subs. But not if he goes awol in defence or runs down blind alleys in attack.

Think kear will be delighted with his 'conundrum', to be honest. Coach's dream!

I did see on Chisholm’s Twitter that he felt he was finally back to his physical best following his injury during pre-season. So hopefully he’s good to good come the game against Fev

Right centre will be shared for you, Evans will miss 50% min

There is also last years tactic of playing Lilley off the bench as a dummmy half to consider.
Not my favourite option to be honest buy JK seemd to like it at the back end if last year

Centres, halves, 1 second row, and 2 bench spots seem up for grabs to me.

Great position to be in. Wasnt too long ago we were playing centres on the wing, full backs and hookers in the halves, loose forwards at hooker, stand offs at full back.
I know we are a long way of where we were but i think its the most balanced squad we have had in years

Any danger of Wildie dropping to SH when Flannagan comes on?

Ross Oakes played most of his academy days at right centre before being moved to the left in the first team, also had a good few games in the second row last year which drew praise from Kear in the after match interview in the Southbank from the workload he put in.

Great position to be in. Never thought at the start of last season we would be in this position now.

Makes the days of playing Danny Addy in every position we were short in, seem like a distant memory, eh?

It's looking like Keyesy's back problem is a bit more problematic than first thought, since it's apparently still not properly diagnosed. According to the T&A. Fortunate we seem to have plenty of options in the halves and for goalkicking. https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ ... -his-back/

It's looking like Keyesy's back problem is a bit more problematic than first thought, since it's apparently still not properly diagnosed. According to the T&A. Fortunate we seem to have plenty of options in the halves and for goalkicking. https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ ... -his-back/

I said Kear was your man. He knows RL but he especially knows it locally. He knows who to keep and who to get rid of. It won’t be fancy but it will work.

He might get you up sooner than I thought. The comp looks fairly weak this season so you’ve every chance.