Team looks so much better and well balanced with Hardaker in the centres.

We really should have held on to Sarginson, he covered all of the back positions.

I'm not sure where the points come from in that side - have to hope we can fix the issues with kick defence in the friendly and win a low scoring one. I'd be shocked if we scored more than 2 tries, 3 at a push.

looks like a similar side that played against salford.......god help us

I'd go the same as you I think.

They showed his tackle on French last night on the preview show and I felt pretty gutted he’s not here anymore. It’s still beyond me how he got so much stick. Covered numerous positions and is an absolute competitor. The guy was and should’ve continued to be a valuable asset for us.

One thing I wouldn’t under play from that Friendly is that Salford have a very good side this year again and Leigh are certainly not in that class. Poor old skint Salford keep signing players and adding more and more depth to their squad (all whilst being poor and skint) and will have a very good season for my money. It’s very plausible we could get beat on Friday but I’d give Salford plenty of credit for that win and I actually think they may well turn Saints over in the first game.

Isn't this like the winger discussion though? How many good players can you have?

He's not in the same class as Hardaker, Gildart or French. He's too good to be a back up. No problem.

Not sure anyone tried harder than Sarginson but I think he got stick because he was prone to silly errors and wasn't especially good at anything. Might be harsh but Hardaker and Gildart are so much better to watch than when we had Sarge and Gelling and it was a matter of time before they did something stupid.

hes as good as hardaker for me, not pre ban but a current hardaker

1 Hardaker
2 Field
5 Hanley

How longs Gildart out for?

Unlike a winger though, you’re getting 3 players in one with Sarginson, so he can play centre, in his best position of fullback or even cover the wing. You might be pushing it to say he could even fill in at stand off but it is where he started his career.

I’m probably with Pieman as well and would have the current version of Sarginson pretty even stevens with the current version of Hardaker at centre. I think Zak is getting to grips with centre and can improve further but he certainly wasn’t terrorising teams from the position last year. The energy Sarginson brings to a side is unbelievable.