I thought it was great to see Max Wood making ground against Cas & he's got the bulk that makes him difficult to be tackled. Our version of Hurrell & Paasi & if he gets tired of RL he could fit right in as a darts player.

100K for winning? surely thats like a spit in a bucket. I bet the team costs and staying in London + bonuses probably outweigh that figure. 

Crowther is simply crap. He has been awful this season. Wood played out of his skin last Friday and deserves a place in the 17. Jordy Crowther wouldn't get into any other 17 in SL barring Salford. I have no idea why he is Burgess' love child.

I'm not saying he is crap, but he has not played as well as he did in 2024 for sure and I agree he wouldn't make any other SL side. Crowther AND Holroyd on at the same time is too limiting in my opinion. 

This season Crowther has an average gain of 4.88, and missed 12% of the tackles he attempted. In comparison Max Wood has an average gain of 7.69 and has missed 3 tackles in 86  (3.3%). 

Wood appears in form, is fit, and desperate to break into the 17. He would get my vote. 

But I suspect Wood will only get the call if Crowther doesn't recover from injury, but to me that's us fielding another player recovering from injury to add to Williams, Fitzgibbon, King.   Actually, maybe Crowther is the insurance policy for when Fitzgibbon comes off injured as he more than likely will. 

With Morgue cup-tied, HKR will prob move Broadbent to FB and then have a hole to fill in centre.


If they put Batchelor there, I see that as a weakness to exploit either one on one or with kicks behind him to exploit his lack of pace.


Course we won't but dreams are all we have - at least according to SKY & HKR.

I see a lot of confidence on Facebook, many citing 2019. So who is loading on a Wire win at 5/2?

I think Crowthers performances this season are a result of the overall team performance. He looked pretty good last season when we were all performing to a high standard. No denying he has gone backwards this season but so have some others.


What Crowther brings, as someone else mentioned is his defensive pressure most of all. Especially kick pressure. He does it better than anyone else in the squad and frankly most of the time is the only one who does do it. We're going to need that Saturday on the likes of May and Lewis. Not necessarily from Crowther but someone needs to step into that bit.

He’d be up against Tai, so we are as hampered with lack of agility as they are. That said,you’re right, if we can find a way to get Dufty out the back 2 vs 2 it is shelling peas really. It has to be an area we look at. 

I do like Broadbent though, he’s really versatile, but with Davies and Burgess on the wings I’d be picking out Broadbent to deal with high kicks

I would think Wood will play if one of Vaughan, Yates, Philbin or Harrison is injured, I don't see a spot for him otherwise. None of our 4 props (or Wood) can play the 13 role in the way Burgess wants them to and having three props on the bench seems a waste given Vaughan, Yates & Harrison are all comfortable playing 60 minutes.


Wood is a better player than Crowther, but Crowther can play 13 (a bit).  If Walker was fit then Powell could cover 13 & 9 from the bench, but we don't have that luxury.  Ratchford could play a 9/13 role, but not sure his defence is aggressive enough.  Whitehead would be ideal, but Burgess seems reluctant to play him.

Well, I don't bet (apart from an annual flutter on the Grand National) but I certainly give Wire a chance. HKR are obviously favourites, but Wire look a different team in cup games. Much depends on how George Williams goes, but the noises from within the club seem positive, so fingers crossed. It's a blow not having Matty Ashton available, but we still have enough weapons to hurt them, especially if Dufty is at his best. We just need to conjure up one of those displays where we hit hard, scramble like mad, and basically defend as though our lives depend on it.

A half fit Williams will have to be rested at some time as I would be surprised if he could play the full 80 minutes and the Robins know so will bide their time waiting for the inevitable to happen and fully exploit it.