Think Ratchford should be first name on the bench everytime, paul hes definately seemed to have lost the edge.
I dont know how much paul is on but I guess hes at the top end of the pay scale and they might wanna justify his wages????

I'm willing to bet that McRae doesn't give a damn about players' wages - he picks the side that he thinks will do the best job in each game. You may disagree with his choices, but surely you don't really think that he would pick a second-rate player to "justify his wages"? Do you?

Well give a reason why Paul is being picked over Ratchford based on pre-season performances.
Can you?

And if they do then good riddance to them...if they cant bide their time or be bothered waiting and fighting for a place in the team then they arent what we need...no-one's bigger than the club.

DD - Paul is being picked a a second hooker, Ratchford may be able to "play-the ball" but he should not be in the No.9 position in defence!

Paul is NOT replacing Ratchford but Alker.

You'll be asking why Myler and Ratcford aren't replacing Stapleton and Cashmere !

Ratchford will get back in on his efforts and probably more when the pitches firm up.

good reply orsdal red good riddance to them you fool these boys are the future.stop living in the past they can see the performances robbie puts in do you not think they must feel a little fed up when when they see him underperform.i and few of my mates think mcrae has a problem with these 2 because they peformed really well in friendlies and then cant get in the 17 because off a has been

FFS.

I'm sick of reading about people moaning with regards to Shaun Mc's team selection. He is an experienced coach, who came up against Celtic 3 times last season and so therefore he picked a 17 who he thought would could a job. I am sure after 20 minutes when we were 18-0 up the last thought on everyones mind was "Why isnt Ratchford or Turner playing"?

As many people have said on here both Turner and Ratchford will get there chance throughout the season and both will hopefully be part of Salford RLFC for many years to come. They are exciting talents however a coach can only pick 17 players to do a job and that's what he did on Friday evening.

I am looking forward to seeing both play in Super League this year, but lets not forget their age, inexperience and imaturity (i.e this was a big game for us and in our last big game vs Celtic, Ratchford perhaps had his worst game in a Salford shirt).

I was a bit sharp in the above answer.

However I feel we need to realise that, for the second week, we play a team whose pack should be dominated by ours. The Wakey defence is great but they need to go wide in attack. Consider this and think about team selection.

We need to match their defence and also cut out the moves and kicks to the flanks - areas we were exposed in against Celtic when going back. We also need NOT to let off any pressure.

A lot of responsibility that could make or break these talents.

Yes they are the future but if they cant be bothered waiting and being patient for their chance in the team then are they really the kind of players we want in the squad? I could understand if they were being constantly overlooked but its only one game and as Sheddy has mentioned, in his last game against Celtic Ratchford had a poor game.

Are we going to get this argument before every game when he doesnt get picked?
You could argue that Sidlow and Jewitt arent getting any game time because of various overseas players and they are the future blah blah blah, but it appears its a different matter for Ratchford...why???

The Coach picked the team and we won - I can live with that. I feel lucky and excited that we have some really cracking young players and when the Coach feels the time is right to play them, I am sure he will. Let's be straight about it? We need to make a decent start to build confidence this year and a game against the Crusaders HAD to be won. I think our younger players will get games throughout the season and Ratchford, Turner, Jewitt and Sidlow (to name four) will come into their own when we, as a new squad, have gelled more cohesively than can be estimated after a few meaningless friendlies? These lads are the future for our Club but what's the rush? Surely it will be better them coming into a team that is settled and playing with some confidence in each other?

Good reply "theredshed".On GMr last week, Shaun was asked the same questions re Stefan, he said, he would pick the best team for the game against Celtic, & as said, we had played them plenty of times last season which he would have duly taken notes of. He also said we have got a squad of 28 & he can only pick 17 for the game ahead so obviously, some squad members are going to be disappointed, & he will look at the opposition every week & judge which squad members will hopefully provide us with the effort to win against that team. Just because certain players have not been picked for the Celtic game doesn't mean they won't be in the team for the next game, he said he may change 4/5 players for the next game if he deems they will play better than the last team.
We have played one league game, I think we need to wait & see, if someone is consistently playing badly & stays in the team, THEN have a moan about it.

Oh by the way, can't remember when we last had this dilemma of having too many decent players

Lets all remember why we are here ..... in Engage SL XIV

1) A 3 year franchise prime motivation and show acceptable team performance over those 3 yrs, Tricky

But no use ragging him after game 1


At least wait til game 5

It's not really 3 years is it.
If the application timetable is like last year's the applications have to be early in the third year for decision mid way through year three.
So it's only this year and next that we've got to prove we are worthy of retaining our place.