St.Helens

Too much is being made and will continue to be made about the loss of Cunningham, i can already hear Eddie & Steve harp on about this ahead of Saturdays match.

Whilst Cunningham has been a great player for St.Helens i don't think he was the same player in 2010 as what he has been previousley and Saints have a number of other players who are more than capable of filling the void imo.

I do think that a lot will rest on both Pryce and Eastmond to really show what they can do in 2011 and behind a better pack than last season they have every reason to do that.

Saints have recruited well, Josh Perry will make a huge difference to them and his expierience will help to develop LMS too and will provide some support to Graham who has had to do far too much on his own in recent seasons.

I like the centre Shenton too, he will make Saints more of an attackong threat out wide and our centres will need to keep him under wraps on Saturday.

If Simmons can improve them further in 2011 then they will be serious title contendors.

There's always one.

I'd be tempted to say Warrington but there's just something telling me that they ain't quite ready yet. Mind you, everyone said that about Wigan this time last season.

Besides Wire, it's got to be Saints IMO. They may of lost KC but they still have an incredible team.

I actually think winning the CC was the nail in the coffin for Wire regards winning the GF, i even discussed with my brother that if we win the CC we'll do nothing after that but if we lose we'll get to Old Trafford.

I'm not saying winning the double isn't possible but it is a massive ask mentally nowadays with a few teams so evenly matched.

So much will depend on injuries - or lack of them. The team amongst the recognised top 6 that suffers the least will probably challenge Wigan the most.

Several teams ( Saints, Wire, Huddersfield and Leeds) have a team of 13/17 that may well match Wigan. Where Wigan currently have a big advantage is that we could have half a dozen or even more injuries and still not significantly weaken the team - hence all the discussion about who to leave out at MM, despite already having a few key players out injured ( Richards, Finch - maybe a couple of others, Gleeson, Fielden, Hansen).

If Eastmond or Pryce is injured Saints will struggle as they did in the GF. If the other teams lose more than a a few players, as they inevitably will in the course of a season, they will also struggle.

Fingers crossed, but Wigan seem to have an even stronger squad than last year - Lima, Hoffmann and Finch instead of Feka, Bailey and Ainscough/Phelps. Plus, our youngsters are a year older/better - Faz, Tuson, Goulding, Charnley, Micky Mac. Losing Riddell is the unknown factor and hopefully we will find the right solution with a combination of MM, Tommy, Deacon or Logan.

....and since when was Hodgson a good enough kicker to put 90% over? He kicked 72% last year. Interestingly Westwood kicked 80% so I really don't think it would have made that much difference.

Warrington - This is the best shot they have ever had at winning the league IMO, quality from 1-17 and good depth. I reckon they will finish 2nd then choke in the play offs as usual.

Saints - They're bound to be up there, they will miss Cunningham but they are a young squad so I expect them to improve overall. A lot depends on whether they can keep hold of Eastmond and keep him fit. 3rd but no final.

Huddersfield - Are a really solid squad and having players representing England will be good for them. 4th and no final

Leeds - Will probably suffer injury wise due to the age of their squad but if McDermott's smart he'll have them all fit and raring to go come the play offs. 5th then a great play off run to make the final.

Indeed. Just winning the GF takes an oustanding effort.

How's your team doing on that score......

If Saints can avoid the injury mire they got themselves in last season they will be very tough to beat. Their strongest XIII looks very good on paper

Well you wont win owt with kids...

Hudds the team to watch this season showed some outstanding rugby last season and i think they stand a good chance of reaching the gf this year alongside us warriors

Do like the look of our squad this year. Three great signing in Perry Shenton and LMS. Throw Soliola into the mix also and we now have a pack as apose to just Graham and Puletua. Correct the key will be the fitness of Pryce and Eastmond. Foster, Dixon, Ashurst and Lomax will all of benefited from the game time they were forced to experience last year through our injury crisis. Agreed Wigan are the team to beat but Saints should never be written off.

Hi all ,Looking forward to the game on saturday . . Wigan have quite a few injuries to contend with and saints are almost full strength.
Look at the likely lineups ,and if anything saints look slight favourites on paper.



1 Wellens Tomkins
2. Gardner Goulding'

3. Shenton Gleeson?
4. Wheeler Carmont
5. Meli Roberts
6. Pryce Deacon
7. Eastmond Lieuleui
8. Scarsbrook Lima
9. Roby Mcillorum
10. Graham Coley
11. Soliola Tomkins
12. Flannery Hoffman
13. Wilkin O loughlin
14. Moore Prescott
15. Clough mossop
16. Puletua Tuson
17. Dixon Farrell

Now out of the 2 teams i see saints having the better players in 12 of the 17 positions ,but the games not won on paper ,thats why saints have to play well and have the right gameplan.Hopefully with the play of the ball being speeded up as well this year,you wont have the same advantage with the 3 men lying on in the tackle as you had last year..BRING IT ON!!!

Woo-hoo!

Roby and his one man Rugby scooting!