I find this, "we need to get a bit of mongrel", attitude a little bemusing and unpleasant. Let's take the league leaders winnders Saints, as a good example. Who is their "enforcer", their "mongrel" ?

Mose Masoe? Nope, too knackered most of the time to throw a punch
Walmsley? Only if you're a halfback
LMS? Don't be silly

They don't have one, but what they do have are several extremely [ivocal[/i players. Players who are not afraid to point out, in loud terms, to a colleague that they've made rather a hash of a certain play, get in the refs ear, scream defiance at the opposition, rouse faltering colleagues and generally rally the troops.

Wellens is a prime example. As a speccy, I hate watching him. His mouth flaps like a windsock in a force 10 gale, he has a look of permanent disdain and dissatisfaction on his face but ........... he's the kind of player you need in the trenches.

We don't need someone to clip the opposition round the heads. We need someone to clip their colleagues around the heads and tell them to focus and tighten up.

^You need to read the Saints forum. They're crying they don't have "mongrel" in their pack as well. Other than Amor and sometimes Roby, they are soft as hell and go missing when faced by a physical side.

Michael Monaghan does this well.

He does, but it's the kind of telling off I get from my mother if my socks don't match. There were a few times in the first half where the captain should have been screaming at certain individuals demanding to know what they were playing at.

It's probably part of this culture of back-slapping players when they've just made a mistake. Load of nonsense, probably part of some EU directive saying you can't upset your colleagues but Les Boyd wouldn't have indulged.

Biff? Yes please. Bullocking charges into opposition territory? Bring it on. Mouthy, Yorkshire Terrier-esque players berating their colleagues? You bet. Nasty, unpleasant, vindictive, spiteful ploys in the name of enforcement? Count me out.

I don't think any person on here calling for "mongrel" is calling for any of that. "Mongrel" to me (and I hope everyone else on here) means players willing to take it to the opposition in the form of big, clean hits.

Currently (save for a few from Harrison) I don't think we have players running in to make those big, hard (and I'll say again: clean) hits to put a marker down saying "we will not be bullied" when things are getting heated or we're getting roughed up a bit.

You can see M Monas getting wound up by it in every game, the game is a farce at the moment and nobody seems to be trying to sort it out!

So is Russell going to be back for the game at the weekend against Cas? The initial reports suggested a very serious injury including broken nose, jaw, cheek etc. But from Twitter it seems he's fine bar a bust lip and a couple of teeth and that the scans came back all clear?

I've been very impressed with Russell. I think him being around will be the difference between you winning the GF this year.

He'll have to sit this one out I think, he was out cold wasn't he? So misses 1 match, will be back next week if we win on Thurs I imagine.

I've never ever heard any rugby league player complain post game. It's just not the done thing. It's considered a sign of weakness.

It was a bad tackle, simply becuase he should not have made it. Russell didn't have the ball and was completely defenceless.

Should have been a red card & should get a few games.

Definite red by the laws of the game, just feel sorry for Matty as he was playing well and developing well!

Concussion is a one game sit out isn't it, I would imagine IF we beat Cas he'd be back in the team.

Not quite, though I think it should be. It is dependent on the congnitive test results.

For those harping on about illegal tackles or otherwise, it is the tackler's responsibility to avoid contact with the head and neck. It doesn't matter if the arm is swirling like a windmill, contact around the head and neck is illegal, regardless of how it comes about.

Think it's 7 days, which would mean his season's over unless we beat Cas.

He looks more like Ryan Atkins!!!