If these stats continue in this vein for certain players it must be time to give Max Wood and Bullock a chance I reckon. I cannot believe Burgess will be content with some performances.


Vaughan
Carrying our pack again.
5 missed tackles

I think Musgrove's stats are off a relatively short on field period so gets a pass too. Wood & Bullock for Dudson and Philbin for me but will wait and see.

Yes I think Musgrove only did one stint.

Dudson is taking the and Philbin hasn't been effective since 2019 in truth.

If Vaughan and Harrison are injured we are screwed.

Dufty needs dropping for bottling the high kick.. made no attempt at all, not the first he’s bottled his defensive duties..

It's a real shame he is not a better defensive player as his attacking play is lethal at times.

The worry is that other than an Ashton interception and the occasional flash of brilliance from Williams, who other than Dufty looks like scoring (or even creating anything?)

I thought Musgrove did ok, why he didn't come back on in the second half I'm not sure? If we could add a Mikaele level prop back in to the squad I think we would look ok.

Vaughan
Musgrove
Harrison
New Prop

With Philbin, Bullock, Wood, Thomas & Green covering.

Nicholson and Crowther at 13 with Powell covering when needed.

This is true. Our opponents would feel better with Dufty out of the side rather than in it.

Our main attacking flair players (who can make opportunities for others)

Williams
Dufty
Ratchford
Wrench (it's early days)

Wood must have been vey close to getting in the squad after his early season form. It's good to see that we have some options on the selection front & I'm a bit more patient than some & am pleased that we have a new Coach to make the big decisions. I think Dufty is out best attacking player & though I can see his faults I wouldn't dream of leaving him out.
Not convinced that Wrench & Hayes are the answer at the moment but hope I am missing something that others see.
When we play Cats I always wish we had one of their wingers Davies, Johnson or Yaha to bring the ball back. Ryan Hall would be handy too ... but you can't have everything.

Harsh, normally it's our wingers that take those kicks, and Lindop moved towards and backed out, Dufty mopped up for a Lindop spill earlier. If its Thewlis or Ashton they take them all day, Dufty has copped a couple of high ones in the game. So I don't think he lacks bottle.

As others had said above he's in for his strike not necessarily his defence, but I think his defence isn't as bad as others make out, I think as the senior pro he should have claimed but it isn't what we would normally do in those situations with starting wingers.

With Crowther likely getting a ban we might see Wood starting at 13 if Nicholson isn't back. I'd like to see Bullock come straight in for Dudson, last year before he injured his thumb he looked really good, fair enough it was in the 8 games we won but he still did a ton more than Dudson has. He's a big unit and when his heads in the game he can be very handy.
It's a big shame we still don't have Mikaele as i think he would add so much to us this year. But again it's down to what Burgess wants and he might not want him at all.

Wood in for Crowther, Bullock for Dudson and Thewlis for Lindop I guess. Powell can spell the 9 & 13 roles from the bench. Pressure is then on Philbin to perform as Crowther will be back the following week.

The game this week is a perfect opportunity for Wood or Holroyd.
Hull FC likely to be without Houghton, Ese-ese, Pele, Sao, Fash, Cator, Truman, Carlos and Sutcliffe.

In other news I see Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is leaving the Roosters at the end of 2024.

If Sam is really playing/dropping on form then Dudson does not get in the 17.

In an update today Sam Burgess says Bullock isn't ready amd wont be playing for us this week but declined to go in to details.

Looks like we get another dozen tackles and 10m of yardage gains that we have become accustomed to from Dudson. Thewlis will be back though, lindop didn't train today because he had college today and that will keep him out this week.