Bulls' 19-man squad: Danny Addy, Cain Southernwood, Rikki Sheriffe, Craig Kopczak, Andy Lynch, Nick Scruton, Steve Menzies, Joe Wardle, Wayne Godwin, Heath L’Estrange, Dave Halley, Chris Nero, James Donaldson, Paul Sykes, Glenn Hall, Michael Platt, Michael Worrincy, Elliott Whitehead, Matt Orford.

Only 1 out of them 3 fit then?

according to the t&a, langley and kearney are at least 1 week away from full fitness and orford faces a late fitness test.

we've got southernwood in the team, i think it might be an idea to give him a crack of the whip as we need a better kicking game that the one we had against leeds if we've any hope of getting a result on sunday

Are they good for info? nothing on your site yet.

Wire 19 man squad

Louis Anderson, Vinnie Anderson, Ryan Atkins, Chris Bridge, Lee Briers, Mike Cooper, Simon Grix, Ben Harrison, Chris Hicks, Mickey Higham, Matt King, Richie Mathers, Lee Mitchell, Michael Monaghan, Adrian Morley, Chris Riley, David Solomona, Ben Westwood, Paul Wood.

Halley
Sheriffe
Menzies
Nero
Platt
Sykes
Orford/Southernwood
Lynch
L'Estrange
Scruton
Hall
Whitehead
Donaldson

Addy
Kopczak
Godwin
Worrincy

How weak does our bench look?

It's going to take a mighty effort.

Realistically, Wire need a bad day at the office.

If Orford is fit :


Sykes
Sheriffe
Platt
Nero
Halley
Southernwood
Orford
Lynch
L'Estrange
Scruton
Whitehead
Worrincy
Menzies

Godwin
Kopzcak
Hall
Addy/Donaldson


If Orford isn't:

Sykes
Sheriffe
Platt
Nero
Halley
Addy
Southernwood
Lynch
L'Estrange
Scruton
Whitehead
Worrincy
Menzies

Godwin
Hall
Kopzcak
Donaldson

We may see Wardle get a shot at centre though, or Beaver at 6 or in the centres. Will be interesting.

If Orford isn't fit then I'd rather see Addy or Southernwood in the halves than Beaver because we need a kicking game. L'Estrange may also be a contender.

It will take a big effort, but it's not impossible.

It's going to take a massive performance from 1-17 from Bradford this weekend.

The odds are stacked against us but I still believe we can do it!

If Orford is unfit then we wont be able to create squat and the game is a waste of time. We'll be bent over.

Is the above statement a bit "cup half empty" would you say?

Most definitely. If I were being realistic I'd say we could possibly be on the end of a serious tonking if the Wire squad that played the Giants in the previous round turns up.

But that's not going to happen.... is it?

think halley has to move to wing as only recognised winger in squad after sheriffe. Given that its then a decision as which of platt or sykes drops back to fullback. If Platt drops back then menzies/wardle to the berth. If sykes drops back then southernwood/addy into halves.

Notice orford is also facing another late fitness test. If he doesnt play then we have no option but to play southernwood as we need a kicking game which neither addy,l'estrange or addy showed any signs of last week in the halves.

I think that given available players we dont really have a realistic chance of a win unless wire have a very bad day at office. So I'd be brave with the team selection and use game to blood some of youngsters. If we do win its a massive confidence boost for them, If lose, given that seems likely anyway, then at least we have an idea how close to 1st team they are and can plan rest of season accordingly.

I'd go with

Sykes
Halley
Nero
Platt
Sheriffe
Southernwood
Orford ( Addy at SO and Southernwood HB if Orford not fit)
Scruton
L'Estrange
Lynch
Whitehead
Worrincy
Menzies

Godwin
Hall
Donaldson
Kopczak

theirs arguments for including Addy or Wardle too but dont think we should have too many debuts at once. We've got an idea what Addy can do from leigh and leeds games. Leaving Wardle out is a tough call given his performances in U20's but think we need the size of platt and nero to try and counter wire out wide.

I think it's a fair assessment that Wire will win if they play to the high standard they've shown so far in almost every match this season. However, the cup is too valuable to use it to 'blood youngsters'. Bulls will put out their strongest available side.

normally I'd agree with you but in this instance I tend to think, given the injuries, our strongest team has to involve debuting at least one youngster. Either sykes to FB and southernwood debuts or platt to FB and wardle debuts. On balance though think its better to gamble in halves and keep our strong to try and counter atkins and king.
Other option is to drop platt to FB and menzies into but then we're left weak in pack with either donaldson or addy playing LF. Whilst I think one of those two is likely to be our LF longterm going forward I dont think they have the physical size to do it at the moment.

I may be being harsh on addy but I didnt feel he created anything in halves last week and had no kicking game to speak off. He may be a totally different player alongside orford, but my feeling is southernwood has been going well in u20s and brings a kicking game to the table, which will be essential if orford doesnt make it, so I'd give him the chance this week.