He gives us a little experience at half back as Theo Fages is still only 20 and doesn't have the experience in guiding the team around the pitch. The only other options are playing people out of position and in a season in which teams can't really afford to lose many games, we need all the chances of winning as we can get. Playing Watson in order to direct the team around the field gives us slightly more of a chance. Plus we only have maximum 17 available players, so if someone were to pull up in training or the warm-up, we won't have enough players full stop.

God help whoever were playing when Rangi comes back! hes our talisman and we will have bodies back, expect magic!!

In some kind of RL utopia this would be acceptable. But we don't live in that world.

Our U19's are simply not ready. Throwing a young lad into the deep end is more likely to end their career than give it a leg-up. We've done it in the past and seen young lads take massive steps backwards after their confidence is shot to pieces. To even suggest that it would be a good idea is simply ridiculous and shows you have little understanding of how coaching, man-management, and the game in general works off the pitch.

The only shortsightedness here is from yourself.

I’m talking about halfbacks, you know the two players that take you around a field. Do we have young halfback that’s been playing well enough in the U19’s and is capable of playing super league? The answer is no, we don’t. I don’t recall a young halfback (apart from Theo) playing in any of the friendlies?

The young lads that came in did well, but were out of their depth against Dewsbury. With the current injury crisis now isn’t the time to bring in the youngsters, they need to be introduced gradually when the team is playing well to protect them. The U’19s have won one game against a poor London team so far this season, not knocking them, but the fact is they are not ready for the step up, a lot of the lads playing are only 16 FFS.

As far as I can tell we have loaned Gildart because our current centres are out on loan and can’t be recalled. This is the problem with the current set up as soon as they get over 19 they have no where to go so the club need to loan them out to keep them match fit. No body expected the current injury/suspension list so the coaching staff cannot be blamed for loaning players who normally wouldn’t get a game out.

Perhaps `Nankivell` could give us his view of the position.

Perhaps it is time to bring back the reserve 'A' teams. Run properly, squad players, players returning from injury, suspension, blooding u19s and promising lads older than 19, plus tralists. Keeps them all available to the mother club

I wonder if Alex Murphy thought the same about Shaun Edwards !!

Of course A Team rugby is the answer, it should never have been dissolved anyway. But to operate it correctly the RL funding would need to be spread on a fairer basis and SL teams won't agree to funding cuts.

Totally different kettle of fish. They were special players that don't come around everyday, we just don't have the quality in our junior ranks at this current time if we did I'm sure we'd be playing them.

Are these players worst than Ian Watson who is 38, retired and lets be honest a very average player in his prime?

Obviously they are at this moment in time otherwise they would have been offered a full time contract and selected to play. They haven't been so they obviously aren't quite ready. That's not to say in 6 months, 12 months, 18 months or 24 months they won't be, but as it currently stands they aren't quite there.

Plus Ian Watson is old enough and experienced enough not to let the crowd/occasion get on top of him as much as a young 16 year old playing in front of fans who expect their team to win and expect them to perform would. It would IMO be catastrophic to throw a kid into a super league game with minimal experience of playing against 19/20 year olds never mind international rugby league football players.

Sorry, let me make myself absolutely clear that I'm all for throwing kids in, but only at the right time. Throwing a youngster into a squad with 15 first team players unavailable isn't the right time.

I've heard BJB could be fit to play! If so that would be a god send and i'd expect to line up like so

Evalds
Johnson
MCB
Gildart
BJB
Locke
Fages
Moz
Godwin
Taylor
Hansen
G.Griffin
Forster

Greenwood
Tasi
Hood
Gee

Great strength in depth if you ask me!