We're 2 points off relegation, and one of the two teams below us is Leeds, who will definitely start picking up wins at some point. The Saints game is a lost cause, they are too good for us right now, and will obviously be well motivated. That Salford game will likely give us the chance to leapfrog them and boost our chances of staying up.

The last thing we want is to finish the Easter period with two respectable losses and more injuries. I'd take a bad loss for a weakened team against Saints, a scruffy win for our best team against Salford, and no more injuries

Even when we were winning everything in the 90s there is 1 game you don't lose and it's this one.

I think we will, but I'm not arrogant enough to assume that being 10th after 10 games isn't cause for concern because of our name. I want to beat Saints just like you do, but I recognise we have almost no chance due to injuries/form, and don't want to do anything to harm our chances of victory in a far more winnable (but still tough) game three days later away at Salford. If that means taking a heavy loss in Good Friday, then so be it. I'm far more bothered about staying in Super League this year than I am about them getting to lord it over us for the next three months till we face them again (hopefully with more bodies and in better form).

So we have never beaten them with a poor team or when we have been in poor form?

Of course we have. However, once again, it's highly unlikely that we'll beat them. Our better strategy for getting points (and thus staying in Super League) is mitigating our chances of getting injuries to key players, and focusing on the Salford game on Easter Monday.

Play your best side available, see how we go. This is almost as daft as the should we have cancelled the WCC thread?

There are 2 points available Friday and Monday. We should be all out to get 4 so we are looking at the top 5 rather than bottom. If we rest players and accept a tonking we deserve to be in a relegation battle for a total lack of ambition.

Always play your best side available...

Its not about resting players, its about prioritising and being as smart as we can with what we have. If O'Loughlin, Flower etc can only manage one game over the weekend I think its best if that game is Salford.

I doubt Greenwood will be back as it was a bad head knock and its his second one this year.

We’re not in a position where we can simply throw 2 points away. We have to go 100% balls out to win both Easter fixtures with the strongest 17 available. If we play our strongest available 17 against Saints and lose, so be it. We then go with our strongest 17 available against Salford and so on through the season.

^^this

I agree with this. We can't be arrogant enough in the position we're in to think that we will not need the two points available on friday at the end of the season. Even if we do lose as expected on friday the level of defeat could have an impact. Our points difference has been the only thing at times keeping us off bottom in recent weeks and we can't rule out it also being important come season's end. There is also the morale factor, better for the strongest possible squad to go down to a plucky defeat as we did at the HJ a few weeks ago (or even an unexpected win) than for a bunch of fringe players to be given a pasting.

There is also the consequence of doing Ian Watson's team talk for him if we left players out on friday and then brought them back on monday. Nothing would motivate Salford more than a squad aelection that said we're terrified of Saints but we can walk all over you.