Why anyone would even contemplate messing with the best halfback partnership we have had since 2001 is beyond me.
Its like Good cop / Bad cop. Gidley cool thinking workhorse with plenty of tricks in the box with the Maverick that is Sandow.
Someone tell me where putting Ratchford in place of either one of these guys is gonna lead.
Let him fight it out for that other centre spot with Atkins , Jullien and Currie and leave the halves as they are .

What was wrong with Ratchford and Sandow when they finally got paired up at the very back end of the season when we had nothing left but dead rubbers?

Gidz and Sandow in the halves, Russell at fullback, Ratch to fight it out with Atkins for centre. 1, 6 and 7 look spot on so far, don't change it.

Atkins had operations to fix long-standing injuries end of last season, he may come back better but until he proves otherwise he's the weak link in the team for me.

Ratchford played right centre on the last day of last season and looked dangerous. It will no doubt give Lineham plenty of ball. Atkins is a good athlete but the flaws of Atkins (poor passing and doesn't create space) doesn't benefit picking Penny, so I guess the choice is Atkins or Penny.

If it's Atkins, pick a solid defender on the wing and a good kick returner, maybe Evans.

If it's Penny, then he needs a genuine centre, which would suggest Evans.

My choice would be:

Russell, Lineham, Ratchford, Evans, Penny, Gidley, Sandow, Hill, Clark, Sims, Hughes, Currie, Westerman

Dwyer, Dodds, Cox, Westwood

They played one game as 6/7 the hull fc game at home. the rest of the time ratch was at fullback or after this centre.

He played there against Wigan at home last year when we beat them, one of his best games last season I thought

He played halfback when Myler was eventually dropped and Patton back to reserves if my mind served me well.

We would all agree that Lineham must have good service so for me it's between Evans and Ratchford, It's been mentioned that for some games Gidley could be rested giving Ratchford another shot at six but if he's doing well at centre then leave well alone giving Patton a chance, the permutations keep on growing.

It is my view that Ratchford is actually falling into one of two positions ,either a centre or a rangey loose forward ....i also think he would make a good stand off if only he would pass more to his team mates & keep both hands on the ball, where possible, when running. He reminds me of another Wire great with his reluctance to pass, Willy Aspinall, & there is no reason why Ratch couldn't become one of the games great players ,but can he do that as a utility player?

You mean like Ellery Handley, Paul Sculthorpe and to lesser likes of Jamie Lyons and Jiffy?
These players were shoehorned in at any position that would allow them to get there hands on the ball in a team.
Jiffy was put in at GB fullback even though he had only played mainly at right centre for us.
Great players can play anywhere.

Big problem is that ratchford isn't GREAT, certainly not fit to lace the boots of those players you've just mentioned. Comparing him to jiffy is making my teeth itch

With Ratchford, it is hand (singular) on the ball, unfortunately. And he hardly ever passes. The four you mention are top quality, I'm don't think Ratchford belongs in that bracket.

Nobody is comparing Ratch and Jiffy???

Utility players can play anywhere. GREAT players(hanley, sculthorpe, lyon) play GREAT anywhere.

Ratchford remains an enigma, but on his day is a wonderful, wildcard player who can scatter defences in a way that few others can.

The problem we have is Sandow is another wildcard, off-the-cuff player and we can't pair two players of this nature in the halves. All my favourite halfback partnerships have had a straight man/funny man/good cop/bad cop element and the Gidley-Sandow combination is a good example of that. And, to be blunt, Ratchford's kicking and passing game isn't up to snuff for a half-back.

However, I'd agree we have to find a place for Ratch in the 17. Full-back gives him space, but he scares the willies out of me returning the ball in one hand, and is sometimes more laid-back than Perry Como in both attack and defence. Maybe loose-forward one day, but not yet, and our back-row options are looking very tasty at the moment anyway.

So, for me, he gets the centre spot vacated by Mr Atkins. And no, this isn't me induldging in some Ryan bashing, simply an acknowledgement that if we want all our gamebreakers on the pitch, someone has to make way.