I actually agree with both of you.

Play your best side and win the game.

HOWEVER in a comp that is about how you finish as opposed to a first past the post where every result matters, I also see the advantage in resting players where you can (see Lockers for about 4 seasons) and giving other players experience they may need at a later date to ensure you have your best side available when it counts.

We have to win the game, the fact it’s knockout makes it the biggest game we’ll play so far this season and other than rotating two props I’d stick with the strongest side. They’re not a bad side by any stretch and whilst a defeat is unlikely, it’s not unthinkable if we turn up with a rotten attitude and a team with numerous changes. The games a great opportunity for young Hanley to build some confidence and I’d probably look at playing Clubb and Clark in place of Byrne and Bullock and tell them they have to absolutely smash the door down if they want to keep a place in the next league game.

I’d go-

Hardaker
Bibby Isa Farrell Hanley
Hastings Leuluai
Singleton Powell Havard
Bateman Smithies Partington

Subs
Clark Clubb Shorrocks Smith

Sick of hearing the Jack Murphy argument

He had a decent game, he dropped a ball, yeah it was crucial but it was also very difficult that half the FB's in the league wouldn't have got anywhere near and that's before the argument that Brett F*** Finch (It still rankles 9 years later) couldn't put a ball in touch on the last with a minute or so to go and kill the game!!!

Anyway - Back on the Murphy topic, there is also an alternative than to blame him being thrown in and that costing us the game and it ruining his career & continually using this argument over and over again, it's quite possible that he just wasn't good enough?

Anyway - Your not impressing me, Conroy isn't impressing me and I'm disappointed in the responses within our Clique!!!
Not good enough - Must Try Harder

9/10 opportunities will arise naturally through Suspensions, injuries

And whilst agreeing with the other side of the argument you don't do it in the first game, you don't do it in knock out games especially when you already have 4/5 injuries anyway
I'm all for giving blokes a week here and there when they have niggles mid season (League table dependant etc.) when you've built the platform for the season.

That's the tough part. Managing it.

And of course in a cup game we go 100% regardless of the opposition.

exactly pal

Cats out the bag now.

I’d go with the same as last week
We cannot afford to lose this one and playing Clubb and Clark for me increases that possibility on a grand scale

Clubb managed I think 15 minutes in the GF and totally ineffective. I would only play him in an emergency and possibly Leigh HKR and Wakey in the future. I still don’t know how he got a deal until 2022.

Clark blows out of his arris after his first tackle or run. Just don’t see anything good about him. Byrne is twice the player even on a bad day.

Bullock does need to improve and complete more minutes
You can set your watch on him. Guaranteed to play 15 minutes then off he goes.
I was really hoping that he would kick on this season but so far very very disappointing

Bloody hell there’s a character I’ve not seen in years! Dirty Latics mon

My thoughts were that we’d really get to see if they have the desire to try and earn a place in the first choice team on a regular basis. A way of trying to drive competition but let them know they’d have to play out of their skin to displace Byrne, Bullock or any of the other forwards and you may well get a bit more out of those two in this game than you would out of a first choice forward who thinks his place is safe. I want the strongest spine and a real core of the players who have started these first two games but I just think there’s lots to gain going forward from trying to drive competition in the prop position. There’s a lot of them but none are at the very top of the tree when it comes to superleague props, so I’d like to just see us try and force everything we can out of them. If we lose against York with that side I named, it won’t be because we picked Clubb and Clark IMO.

Clarke especially deserves a shot imo. The Salford game was only a friendly, but he showed up well. Outside of that Bullock and Singleton have been average/good since the start of the season. For me, you need to let players who probably aren't playing as well as they could know there's other options.

Like you said, front row is our weakest spot, but we're stacked for options. Unless a top prop drops in our lap we need to make the most out of our current pool.

Who knows, we might see a 2nd season bounce from Clarke? I'm not confident, but how else do you find out?

Yep, I think a fringe player getting a rare opportunity is a lot less likely to be complacent against York than a regular starter too. Even if Clark is going to be poor, I'd rather find out now in a game we can carry him in and still win comfortably.

My worry is that, if we don't change the team for anything other than injuries, the starting players could get too comfortable.

A raft of changes would be wrong, but swapping out a couple of lads for experience in Clubb & a 27/28 year guy like Clarke isn't taking the pi$$.