Wire squad: Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Josh Charnley, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, Oliver Holmes, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Peter Mata'utia, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Ellis Robson, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop, George Williams, Connor Wrench

Ratchford
Charnley
Mata'autia
King
Ashton
Williams
Widdop
Cooper
Walker
Mulhern
Longstaff
Currie
J. Clark

Davis
Bullock
Philbin
Hughes

Harsh on wrench I know, he would be 18th man or maybe shading the last bench spot.

That is assuming holmes' ban isn't overturned after appeal. In which case I'd put Holmes in the starting 13 and move longstaff to the bench instead of Hughes. The other option would be to bring thewlis in and let ratchford spell walker or cover 9 in case of injury but I doubt that will come in to consideration.

I'm hoping we have worked on the defensive line this week and have some line speed, I think we would look totally different with that sorted. We allowed Leeds far too much uncontested territory on their sets so too much of the game was played in our half and we started our sets too deep.

Surprised Hughes is in there, Powell has seemed to suggest it's a week too early for him.

I'm torn on whether to drop Wrench or not, King was hardly ripping up trees 2nd half of last year so I'd be tempted to leave Wrench in there, but I guess players will start with a clean slate with Powell and he's likely to pick his strongest 17, which would be King ahead of Wrench for the time being.

Assuming Holmes will fail his appeal, Longstaff to backrow, Davis to continue at 13, spelling Walker a little I guess as teh game goes on. Last bench spot between Wrench and Robson - I don;t think Hughes will be fit.

I like the fact that Riley Dean is under consideration. I think when he eventually gets a chance he'll thrive under Powell's tutelage. Maybe Powell is happy with what he's seen so far and feels Dean will replace Widdop next year.

I'm surprised we're contesting the Holmes ban in the current climate. Won't we just end up losing him for two matches instead of the one?

In terms of lack of line speed and penetration in the forwards, I thought we looked undercooked last week compared to Leeds. I don't think we'll be that weak in every game, and I'm hoping the improvement starts this Thursday. At times our scrambling defence was pretty good, and our sliding defence coped when Leeds moved the ball wide.

I hope our line speed improves, otherwise it will be a very long season. Not sure how good our defence was, given we had a numerical advantage for most of the game.

I'd be surprised if Powell did that. It says all the wrong things if Wrench is dropped after a performance like that, both for him and also for King if he just strolls back in after a poor end to last season.

It depends what type of game and tactics DP wants to employ.

King to start if fully fit. If hes not then wholst I'd like Wrench to be in the 17, he could miss out completely if DP is thinking of more of a forward battle)
I doubt we'll get Holmes back - so as Hughes maybe out, Longstaff and Clark probably to start with Davis as interchange hooker (Davis had a good game and I'd like him to start at 13, but whether he could then switch to 9 in an 80 minute display, I'm not sure).
Bench - Philbin, Bullock, Davis and Robson (Harsh on both Wrench - but depends on tactics).

Maybe King will start in the second row if Holmes fails with his appeal. I'm not saying it's what I would do - I rate Longstaff and would like to see him given a go. I guess it remains to be seen if Powell regards King as someone who can fill in at second row, or if that was just a Steve Price thing.

i'm in two minds, as much as i like longstaff, he'll be going up against kenny edwards, who ripped us a couple of times for the giants last year, granted that right side is a bit bigger now overall, maybe its not as much of a worry.

totally against king as a back row, as i was last year.

dean might be coming in as bench hooker

King has looked good when he's played second row. He will probably do a cullen/Darbyshire and switch there permanently in a few years when he loses a yard of pace(especially when he's not got express pace to start with!). I still want to see longstaff playing this week though. I'm a massive fan and he'd be in my 17 every single week even if everyone is fit.

did you see the games where he played there last year and was naff, moe?

Yes I did, and he wasn't naff. He was pretty poor at centre though for the entire second half of the season.

Slight off topic, but regarding King’s pace, he’s pretty fast just not from a standing start. Once he’s into his stride though he’s fine.

he was pretty naff, a lot of bods were clamouring for him to play right second row after filling in one time in 19 or 20, and having a good game.

Every time he's filled in since he was pap.

Not all that confident for this one. After our woeful performance against Salford (we were bad) and the fact its Powell im predicting a big wire win. Hoping I'm wrong mind.