I think Wigan will be heavy favourites to finish top, especially with the amount of home games they have left. We still have to play them twice plus Warrington twice and Leigh away.

Moreover for the 12th July game, we will still be missing Walmsley, Batchelor, Whitley and Wingfield who would all get into our first choice 17.

I'm presuming that Lomax and Knowles will be back by then.

EDIT- That fixture is causing all sorts of issues. Its my youngest lads leaving party from primary school. Bearing in mind we live in Wigan and his school is in Wigan, the majority of Dads are Wigan fans and mostly ST holders for the ones who like RL. Some have said they are not missing the game so are going and dealing with their wives at a later date

I can't miss his leaving do so my mate is taking my eldest lad for me. The party was organised a long time ago so its just unlucky that its fallen on this fixture.

All fair points. I'd add though that whilst we've got loads of home games left, we tend to be playing better teams in those games than we have at the start of the year.

We have yourselves twice, Catalans away, we have still to play Wire who will be a different proposition to either of the games in the last fortnight. We haven't played Leeds yet, etc.

I'd say if we win on the 12th then we're well and truly in the driving seat for top spot, but should we not then I'd say it's about 50/50.

Whitley would definitely be in the 17 (I'd start him on the bench as Sironen and Matautia would be my starting back rowers) Batchelor to be in the 17 too with probably Bell and Mbye as the other two subs.

Yeah to be fair if everyone was fit then Wingfield wouldn't make the first choice 17.

NB- This actually gives me a bit more optimism because if we ever get a fully fit side this season then that's Delaney, Wingfield and Stephens not even making the 17 so more strength in depth than I remembered.

Interesting shout Stu. I'm not sure I'd ever advocate 2 back rowers on the bench myself. I don't think the strength of your full squad has ever been in doubt. I think the doubts are more geared towards you ever getting close to it as there are a number who are towards the back end of their careers and aren't showing any robustness to counter it. There's a possibility that it could fall well for you with so many coming back at the tail end of the season though, provided they come back and get up to speed quickly. Paasi has done well so far given his long lay off but I'm not sure Walmsley, for example, transitions from injury quite so seamlessly. Could be an interesting end to the season this year I feel.

They are interchageable though. Whitley or Batchelor coming on would mean Matuatia may play at prop. Knowles has moved to prop this season when Bell has come on occasionally.

The back end of the season relies on some luck too. If say Wigan lost French and Smith at the same time then that's a massive blow regardless of how well the forwards are playing. Conversely if we lose Welsby I dread to think where we would be with how he has been playing lately, he's been looking like the Welsby of old, scoring and assisting lots again.

I agree about Walmsley, I actually think the new contract we've given him may come back to bite us, he's picking up inuries quite regularly now. Paasi is a huge bonus and the continued development of Delaney. Stephens has been the surprise and may feature more than we first envisaged. Took it to Catlans and showed some great feet for a couple of breaks.

Just my opinion of course but I'm not a big fan of that sort of rotation. It's good to have as an option in case of in game injuries etc. but I don't think it's ideal as a first port of call. Having only one genuine prop and then rotating back rowers to make up the shortfall doesn't strike me as a title winning option. As I say, just my opinion though.

Injuries will undoubtedly play a part which is why I think your returnees only coming back at the business end could count in your favour. They can't get injured from the stands. That said, it equally could count against you in that there's an extra burden on the senior players still there and, of course, players coming back could be offset by different ones getting injured. I genuinely think this is where our advantage lies this season. We've been able to rest and rotate our pack without too much drop off. I know that's no guarantee in itself, but it's a good place to be.

There's no doubt that Wigan are now very strong in the forwards, an area where they had been powder puff for some time. The fact that Walters (someone who I would've loved us to sign) couldn't make the 17 for the Final is indicative of this. They have size, athelticism and some aggression now in defence. Havard, O Neill and Nsemba all still very young too.

Interesting question Stu, following the England Academy squad announcement. Both Wigan and Saints have 5 each. Much is being made of the 'golden generation' at Saints. Is Wigan's actually as strong? I understand Stephens, Vaughn and Sambou aren't included but Eckersley, Douglas and Nsemba more than counter that. What's your take?

I expected Wigan to have a decent number of selections as their Academy has always been strong. I don't know much about them apart from obviously Farrimond and Keith Mason's lad. I do believe though that Nathan Lowe is very highly rated within the club- a classy centre who needs to work on his defence but is a good player.

I expected Dagnall, Whitby and Robertson from Saints but I don't know as much about the other two. It seems like Davies has had a good season and from the tries I see each week, he looks a decent back rower.

Nathan needs a few games in the pack to develop his tackling technique. Having said that you can coach defensive skills not so much attacking flair.

Very true. The description I was given was he is similar to Newlove in style and class. That's obviously a huge shout.

Bennison is their worst player since Jack Owens. Owens was probably better. They are very weak on both edges, something we should be exploiting as much as possible in a few weeks.

Whoooooops

Tbf, Salford are a very good side atm

First side in any sort of form that Saints have played for a while, so it was a game I was interested to watch. Salford are a really good side.