hock in for tuson deffinately for me. tuson didnt play much last night and im sure hock can do just as good as that! it will create alot more excitement with him being involved and im looking forward to seeing him back! i know people will point to what happened with finch but this is abit different. ok hes been out the game along time but it wasnt down to injury like finch was. hes kept himself fit and now for the last 6 weeks or so hes been back in full training and will be involved in all the contact stuff so all he will be missing really is full match fitness and giving him little spells against huddersfield wont do us any harm imo!

What and leave Farrell out







For me the 13 is right but not sure on the bench. IMO the best bench out of that would be Hock, Lima, Farrell, & Mossop- With Tuson, Mcllorum and Prec to rotate in reserve.

Shows what strength we have in the squad that when everyone is fit we can put out a bench like that!!! For me thats the strongest bench in Super League and theres not many in the NRL who can field a stronger bench.

We've done alright this season without ever having a full strength team and without ever playing our best rugby - Get everyone back and we're pretty much unstopable IMO.

Madge has been leaving him out for Tuson recently. I do think his form had dipped a bit in the last 2 or 3 games he played.


It's good to have the choices, but I like having McIlorum on the bench, I don't think Tommy is as effective when he has to play #9 for the full 80 mins. Faz will get plenty chances, he's still only a youngster.

? The only game recently Farrell has been left out was last night, and im not sure of the reasons. Tuson hasn't been great this season for me after having a cracker last year. Although Tuson did have a good game last night, and Farrell might not be playing as well recently, Farrell is still ahead of the pecking order for me.

IMO Farrell is a future England international whereas Tuson, while I think he will have a long and successful career at wigan, isnt on the same level IMO.

I think Madge is doing the same with Farrell as he was with Mossop last year, keeping him on his toes not picking him in every game and making sure he is at his absolute best whenever he plays, because he is playing to stay in the team. Its worked absolute wonders for Mossop this year, hopefully it will be the same for The Ginger Pearl!

Wire & Catalans home games.

Personally I agree that Faz is better, I'm only going off Madge's selections, but there have also been plenty comments on here recently agreeing that Faz's form is not what it was at the start of the season.
I still think our first choices are Hoff, Hock & HH though, for that position, which is a nice situation to be in!

Tuson was better last night in that he did nothing wrong but he didn't get through much work either (he wasn't on long enough in fairness).

For next week I'm happy to trust Maguire and Wane re. Hock. If they judge him to be ready to play in a high intensity SL game then I'd be delighted to see him in the side, and if that's the case, then it has to be Tuson he replaces. If not, then it's a shoot out in training between Farrell and Tuson.

[iIf[/i all of our forwards are fit at the same time then Madge will certainly have a few big calls to make. On current form (and experience), none of Mossop, Prescott, Lima, Coley, Hansen, Hoffman or O'Loughlin can be left out. If Fielden and Hock are fit and ready you'd want them in the side really.

A possible option to accomodate all nine would be to have four forwards on the bench. I'd certainly consider this against the more powerful packs (I'm thinking Wire in the cup semi). One of my main issues with playing Leuluai on the bench is that he is an 80 minute player, and as much as I rate McIlorum, I'd rather Tommy be on the field every time. Maybe leaving MM out of the 17 would be an option for certain games.

Still, a lot can (and probably will) change before Wire!

Think Madge picked the most physical pack against Stains. Farrell may get the nod this week against Huddersfield, as their danger comes from elsewhere on the pitch. I think selection is very much 'horses for courses" with the pack.
I would be interested to know how much of the salary cap Fielden has; if it were a choice between keeping 2 or 3 young props rather than him, I would be happy to see him secure his twilight years elsewhere.

i wouldnt dismiss fielden yet,
lets see how he comes back, we all know how good he can be,
im sure he will come good,
and im sure he took a massivly reduced contract this last round of renewals,

I think Huddersfield and us could give that bench a run for its money.....

Ours would be Wood, Cooper, Solomona, Grix/Higham if full strength.

The NRL comment is just odd.