Stop Mikey Lewis and put pressure on his kicks and we’ll go along way to stopping them.

Now The Wire.

Crowther is in the 17 tonight. Musgrove has been dropped.

Wow that's a bit of a surprise, I thought Sam would go with the same 17.

One of the things I was impressed with last week was the "shielding" of the players that were lined up to take the St Helens kicks. There were usually 2 or 3 people dropped back. ((I appreciate the Dufty one went wrong but we had plenty of players in the frame)
To go a step further it would be even better if we didn't end up in a situation where the kicks could be challenged. That is easier said than done when you have players like Hall, Burgess and Hiku carting the ball up on those early plays. I don't think it is their pack that makes the yards when we are going set for set. We need to put a lot of energy into stopping those early carries from gaining momentum. We know in play offs we are allowed to stay on in the tackle a bit longer and it is a fine line to tread but we need to contain them.

KR are a different beast, so I guess Burgess wants a bit of longevity of work rate in his forwards. I guess we'll also be a bit fatigued against their fresh legs, so it makes more sense to have the option of Crowther-type 80 minutes player than an impact one.

Deserves his place. Gives his all every time.

I thought that he'd had a couple of half decent games whilst Vaughan was out, but last week's 4 carries for 24 meters was almost Dudsonesque.

14 minutes

Quite happy with Crowther. Good work rate especially in defence & tough as hell. Must have been difficult to leave out vs. Saints.

I must admit to being quite pleased with Musgrove's recent performances more by impression than backed up statistically.

Crowther being picked is fine, he's a grafter that's for sure and the more Sam instils the idea that we are operating a meritocracy has got to motivate all involved to get their names on the next team sheet, hopefully in a week's time.

NTW

On Wednesday I asked was there a case for Crowther to come into the 17. I did not mention names but I did ask on the Saints thread was there a reason why Musgrove never came back on, there was no mention of injury. Anyway this is going to be an intense match and I much prefer Crowther’s energy for this.

Off-side penalty then gave a 6 again for not being square that led to their first try on Saturday. Cant afford the same again tonight.

Interesting decision, and on balance a good one.