Do we need to get the landed gentry involved in playing & running the game ? At least they play their cards close to their chests & manage to avoid or cover up spoken or other indiscretions.

If Kasiano and makiele are both on the bench, after the first one comes on I hope the other then comes on later to replace him. Having them both on the field at the same time is asking for trouble. Vaughan and Harrison can luckily do big minutes for us.

Yes, it’s a bit of a concern isn’t it? And I doubt Rohan Smith will have missed it either.

Harrison will almost certainly be playing 13, until Philbin and sadly much later McGuire will play there.

Bullock will be our 4th prop until Dudson is available to play again.

During the close season I pointed out that having Kasiano and Mikaele on the pitch at the same time could be a major defensive issue for Wire. The try that Leigh scored against us demonstrated that.

Mikaele didn`t look any fitter than last season during the Leigh game and needs to show that he is good enough to play Super League. I hope he can.

2 things …
If we go on to win the next seven games without him…does he walk straight back in?

Isn’t it better to lose him now than hole he learns a lesson?

Realistically, today and next week are the big losses. We need a fast start after last season, and he undoubtedly adds grunt and experience. After that though, we will have Dudson back then Philbin for round 5 or 6 and will be playing against teams that are expected to be in the lower half. If, having signed a whole new squad, we can’t beat those teams in round 3 to round 7 because of one player, then the problems run deeper.

Hoping tonight, with a decent crowd behind them, we can get the job done.

Philbin was ineffective for the majority of 2022 bar the last game or so prior to injury and perhaps since 2019.

Clean slate....

Amazingly, or ironically, Philbin was back to his best in the game where he got injured.

Please. My New Year’s resolution is to be positive, I can’t fail after 47 days!

Philbin is an internationally recognised prop, selected by two different England/GB coaches. Theres a player there, if we use him right.

Last year, and much of 2020/2021, are now archived with the late 90’s, early 2000’s. What doesn’t kill you….

just on the mcguire thing, has anyone else read the transcript on the rfl site?

its pretty comprehensive, and very difficult to argue with their reasonings

He denied saying the word, and even though there is only one independent witness I can see why the balance of probability fell against him. He probably would have been better just owning up and saying he screwed up in the heat of the moment.

HoweverThe Tribunal adopted the reasoning of the RFL as to why the offence should be treated so seriously.'"