I'm sad to see Lineham go. Apart from the stupid brain farts where he ends up with a suspension he has been excellent. Safe under the high ball, good for an intercept. Has a great combination with King.

I'm really not taken by Ashton. I dont think he is particularly safe under the high ball. Is very lightweight in comparison to other wingers and every time he goes in to collision i think he is going to get snapped. Yes he is rapid, maybe Powell will utilise the wingers more next season. With ashtons injury record i'd prefer to keep Lineham although I can understand due to salary cap restrictions we cant keep everyone.

Phil Clarke raves about Ashton however he also raved about Dec Patton.....

When did Ashton drop a high ball?

A couple of times, his positioning ain't great

I mentioned it a few times last year

My guess is Lineham going is as much about cap management as anything, I would think he's on a decent salary and maybe Powell thinks he can get a similar impact for less money, freeing up space for elsewhere. He seems to have a decent record of turning average wingers in to try scorers and decent players. Eden scored a hatful, Solomona the same and Olpherts seems to be doing well, I wouldn't expect any of those to be on more than Lineham, but they've done a job.

It's exactly that, it's cap management and where you want your money to be spent. To be fair we have both Lineham and Charnley who i expect are on good money. Ashton comes in for Lineham and we use the kids as backup. Freeing up space in the cap for elsewhere in the team/squad.

Whether we agree with it or not i understand the rationale behind it.

well Ashton isn’t going to be fullback unless it’s a mid game force.
Josh Thewlis of it isn’t Ratchford.

As full back? Our current wingers have been caught out of position countless times. And does anyone remember Charnley's debut for Wigan?

Thewlis looks so assured. Real class last night.
One drop from a high bomb but his positioning meant the ball went backwards.
That display was impressive.

Thewlis was excellent last night. He's always looked confident, but even more so last night.

He looks very comfortable and very assured. Would like to see more link up play from him, but I'm sure that will come in time.

Justin (the tank on the flank) Carney was the one before Solomona and averaged a try per game.