Unless Cooper had an injury, think McCarthy kept him out of the 17, Tyrone had a blinder yesterday!

Nice problem to have, Cooper, Tyke and Harrison, all in a bit of form, all competing to get in the pack. Throw in Grix waiting to come back from injury, Big Dave trying to regain some fitness, and Ben Currie waiting in the wings, things don't look bad in terms of depth.

Cheers Dave, Carvell has been great for us overall and after an iffy start this year, (he's not on his own there by any means), he is back to his best and at his best there arent many better in SL.

Regarding Chris Hill you are right to be impressed with him, he's top drawer. We are and I for one think he has exceeded expectations. I also think that we got him at the right time for us and Hilly after a decent apprenticeship at Leigh. Any earlier in SL might have been a burden and not good long term for the lad.

Definate international honours looming and hopefully a few winners medals with us.

What makes it all the more impressive with chilly, there's been other props that have come up from the NL's and really struggled.

Stuart Dickens
Dom Maloney
Tony Tonks

all big players at that level, never even finished their seasons off at teh same club, tonks has only played half a game for the giants, and they're screamingout for props.

Have to agree with comments about Hilly, he's been superb all season and can only get better with age, a revelation. Thought the whole pack yesterday were outstanding.

The whole pack recently have been outstanding...

Carvel and hill have been unbelievable, always breaking the line and getting there heads through!
Westwood is his usual self.
Waterhouse and harrison are doing all the hard graft tht goes un noticed but its defiantly invaluable for the team.
Tyke has really stepped it up this year and I,m glad smith has kept him in.
Morley however has been way off all year... Still does a job but no whe near as effective as the others.
Woody and coops solid but hit and miss sometimes, hopefully being dropped coops will react like woody did last week

Plus Grix to come bk and big dave there or there abouts.
Fantastic time to be a wire but a don't envy tony come the final

Smith has given Hill plenty of games though where as the others were never really given a chance. Hill though was head and shoulders above the above mentioned players though, he has been the best player in the championship for the last few years.

I though carvell and chris Hill was immense for you guys , think hes got all the credentials to carry on where Adrian has hung up his boots speed strength and a cool head which Adrian lacked with sometimes severe consiquences !

Don't know if other fans would agree because there are lots of teams with very good props (Wigan have Mossop who i think it excellent, for example) but i think Gaz is the best prop in SL. He's got everything: pace (he's rapid for a big man), power, tackling technique and force, ball carrying, metres made in the tackle, offload game. I think he's got more pace and power than James Graham but doesn't quite have the passing game that Graham has. But i think he has as much impact on a game than any other English prop can.

Great player. Probably his best years have been his most recent years in his 30's. Just shows that the 30+ age bracket shouldn't and doesn't mean that a player is 'losing it' because Gaz certainly isn't.

I notice when the "19 man squad for xxx" threads come up on here that Tyke usually misses out on the 17 in numerous fans choices, but i think he's a very underrated player. He's not that big but seems to hit hard in the tackle and busts tackles really well. He was excellent off the bench in the semi.

I think Cooper has been struggling with his discipline recently. It's like he can't help have the second bite on the floor or just lets his arms stray a bit high. I do also like him though.

Carvs and Hill were absolute class yesterday....and McCarthy really suprised me, awsome feet for a prop, what a top top game. Hopefully he will kick on again from such a top performance. I prefer him to Cooper, iv never liked Cooper (not slating him, just my opinion).

I think that is TS being clever again. He ensures Tyke plays the last 20 min of a game when the opposition are tired and gaps start to appear. Tyke has good acceleration and a sidestep as well. He is getting more confident about exploiting these opportunities as well.

carvell and hill our number 8 and 10 for next year!

Best prop in the league. I've always rated him but seems to be getting better and better. Should have had more GB/England caps but Peacock kept him out some how. Glad he's not playing on Sunday, it will be bad enough without him for us.

missing this weekend www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... orward-duo

missing this weekend www.sportinglife.com/rugby-leagu ... orward-duo