Russell yes, Riley Nooooooooooo. Just thought I'd follow the rest. No too bothered about Riley. Hope Russell plays well on his debut.

This. Pretty sure Tony Smith said that Glenn Riley was due back next week.

For me I'd like to see Evans and Penny on the left edge but I doubt that will happen.

Ben Evans deserves to keep his place,played well on Sunday, with a well taken try on Sunday. Looks like last season at the bulls, has done him in good stead. Am all for Russell to be given a run out on Sunday. But to who's cost in the team.

Russell
Ormsby/Riley (Ormsby if fit)
Bridge
Evans
Joel
Ratchford
GOB

Pack pretty much chooses itself. Possibly Dwyer on bench and rest M.Monas. Myler and Atkins can have a run-out at Swinton and at least have an excuse to justify their sulky dispositions.

hmmm two players come in to the side


One is signed from the NRL where he just played reserve grade.
Warrington fans verdict: must be a superstar.

The other is a home grown player that came through our academy and has 100 odd SL tries to his name plus three Challenge Cup medals.
Warrington fans verdict: rubbish why would we want a player like this in the team?

Ormsby is terrible, get him out and get some first teamers in, the man cant catch a cold

Well we know Russel will add considerable attacking flair, and that seems to have been sadly lacking ATM, so his inclusion seems a given. The problem then is where to put Ratchford, and I suspect TS will replace Myler, even though it breaks up the half back partnership very early in the season. A this stage, we need a run of wins / good games to maintain morale. Only the criminally insane would drop GOB, the team needs direction and a kicker, plus he needs a decent run of games to see if he can cut it. But I think TS will stick with Atkins, that is his track record in the face of poor form, and I suspect the logic is that Atkins lacks confidence and that will not improve if he doesn't play.

In the forwards, Laithwaite out and Riley in. Gone are the past few seasons where we would have rested players and tried new blood. We need a settled team that is familiar playing together, and we need the win.

Myler has had a poor start to the season by his high standards. I think that they should stick with the same 6 + 7 as last week and give them time to gel. How will we know if they are the real deal together if we keep changing them. The direction and go forward was way better than the previous weeks and Myler didnt do anything wrong.
Why people think we are in meltdown cos we are not playing well is a joke, i would be be abit worried if we were ripping teams apart already after the change in players we have had, cos believe me saints wont play like this all year and they will crash at some point.
Stick with the half backs for a few more weeks and give them time.

If that's the case then Ratchford has to be moved in the centres, Stef has to play so possibly drop Atkins, seems logical but it won't happen.

But surely in your last sentence Charlie lies the problem.....TS hasn't blooded enough young players often enough ,that is why we are finding players not quite up to the mark & probably feeling out of their depth in superleague ,but a few more games to build confidence & there is no reason why a youth based Wire of the future shouldn't enjoy the same success that Saints & Wigan are at present. A big mistake was sticking with so many old stagers to try & win the League & that has stifled the younger players stepping up to the next level . That could be why several talented youngsters have moved on.

I don't know off the top of my head who these talented youngsters are and where they have gone, but, agree generally with the gist of what you're saying, one last go at winning the big pot with that team.

With the exception of perhaps Briers going a year early, we should have been planning for big changes as they were in the clubs recruitment strategy? Sure we've brought players in Asotosi England and Russell that should get plenty of game time, but, really should we still be wondering about whether the likes of Dwyer and O'Brien particularly can play at the required level as they've been around the first team for long enough surely?

By the end of this season, we should be in little doubt about these two and half a dozen others who are looking to break through into plenty of starting 17's next season

There must have been talent somewhere, they managed to hold their own in the competitions they were involved in.

When young players get involved with club level scholarships & youth teams they do so with the hope of one day playing professionally. If that goal is continually denied them by buying so called better players from overseas the player base of clubs will soon disappear as young hopefuls become disillusioned .

?? Behave yourself

I think you and Nine are right about TS not fully testing the youngsters. That may be due to a blind spot, or it could be that those short term contracts that he was on, firmly focussed his mind on short term gain. Perhaps he thought he would be off to Oz even ? As has been mentioned before, he has done very well with a largely imported set of players, but can he now do an Alex Fergusson and create a new cup winning side from the ashes of the old one ?

FWIW, I think we have not signed any mega stars because of the youngsters. We know our dear owner is keen that the club should be self-sustainable - and that ain't gonna happen if we keep buying in all the time. Add to that the fact that a lot of money and hype has gone into the youth system, hence the coaching team are probably under some pressure to demonstrate it is working. So my guess would be that like it or not we will see all the younger players given match time. And in some cases (e.g. GOB) it will be shape up or ship out.

At the end of the year I suspect perhaps around 5-6 of the ex U20's will either excel or do enough to be retained, we will see a young hooker moving over to us from SL, and Sally will suffer a paroxysm of ecstasy as we sign at least one top NRL player.