Quote: BackrowSaint "snip.'"
That's a fair argument, and justifiable. Where I'd differ is that I think Ferres has more to offer, but is being used badly at present out of his normal channel. Farrell looked fine in the first half today, but the second half I didn't think he offered enough. Joel Tomkins' inclusion remains a mystery to me, and certainly Whitehead must be wondering why he's being kept out of the team by Tomkins.
I absolutely agree that Hardaker needs to be brought in, and the obvious place to do that is at fullback where he was almost unmanageable for Leeds this year. However, Hardaker has also played centre, and it's in the centre with Watkins where I think we currently have our closest thing to another passenger. Sarginson certainly did enough to keep the shirt, so I wouldn't be unhappy if Hardaker replaced Watkins in a one for one swap. I also agree with a Burgess for Charnley swap. Burgess looked scary for me when playing against Wigan, whereas Charnley looks out of form.
Failing that, do we move Tomkins to the halves ? If so, I would put him there instead of Widdop rather than Smith. Smith may not be fast or tricky, but he is an organiser, and you could see his influence on the shape of the team. I'd keep him just for that. Widdop, on the other hand, has disappointed me in these two matches. He just doesn't seem to do a lot with the position he has. Our forwards do get on top and make many yards, so you'd expect a top stand-off to be exploiting that, but Widdop seems far too much of a catch-and-pass player, rather than taking the line on himself. Tomkins, given the same space and a back-pedalling defence, could make hay at second receiver. Widdop can sit on the bench to be used as and where gaps appear, as he can fill in anywhere in the back 7.
Hodgson offers nothing. If Clarke plays, he needs to either do the full 80, or - wildcard - have Ratchford as his interchange. I'm a huge fan of Ratchford, who offers some creativity we currently lack.
So I think I'd go :
1. Hardaker
2. Hall
3. Watkins
4. Sarginson
5. Burgess (J)
6. Tomkins (S)
7. Smith
8. Hill
9. Clark
10. Graham
11. Whitehead
12. Ferres
13 O'Loughlin
14. Burgess (G)
15. Burgess (T)
16. Ratchford
17. Widdop