I'd go with that except for washy on the bench.

But with Houghton on the bench we have the option to change things very quickly...I think we need to get established hookers & h/backs sorted to start the game.
Based on last nights performance hally deserves to start again, remember he needs a club so will be out to impress.

Horne could play FB in defence and SO in attack. It's not ideal, but better than the alternative.



I don't agree. He did ok last night, but as I've already said, was hardly tested. He didn't have a single high ball to take under pressure. In fact, I'm not sure he had a single high ball to take at all. We've been down this road before with him - he had a couple of decent games at full back, then followed it up with some absolute horror shows. We need to look at the bigger picture of how he's performed over the last season (or two), and not put him into a key position in arguably our most important game of the season. We had no option last night, but that won't be the case against Leeds.



He's known he was out of contract all season and hasn't impressed.

Well...thankfully we will have options so it will be interesting to see were Agar goes with this one....Like mentioned I would not be disappointed with Hally starting based on last nights performance..although I am starting to get flash backs about him running around like a headless chicken when he was trying to stop Senior

I would keep Hall at full back against Leeds simply because Horne and Long need to be playing alongside each other to gain as much match practise as a half back pairing possible before the play offs.

Hall full back, Horne and Long in the halves with Houghton and Berro hooking. No place for Washy which seems harsh after his efforts recently but we need to up the ante attack wise.

Bench would be Berro, Lauaki, Moa and Cusack.

Player of the season IMO

I asked a player in the Peter Sharp era why we ran back inside at the markers a lot and he said it's the coaches idea to tire their big forwards out in the middle. It appears that mentality has been instilled in Agar.

I'd prefer to sling the ball about a bit to make them work laterally to tire them out, similar to what Wire did to us in patches.

Houghton did well tonight but keep playing him the full 80 min and it will destroy him.

With SL and RH back he and Berro need to spell the hooking role, it's not even a debate imo.

It's not up for debate that Houghton needs spelling. The debate is whether Berro should play 9 imo.

Absolutely, who else would pay there?

Berro could do a job at centre no doubt about that but that would mean needing another hooker, possibly Washy but there is no evidence whatsoever he could do well there.

There's probably no other option this year than Berro. I'd love to see Agar re-evaluate his thinking for next year though.

Washy does offer as much at 9 as Berro though imo.

How on earth do you know that?

The Washy bit? I've seen him play there before and have seen what natural abilities he has from playing other roles. He went into dummy half a few times last night and didnt look out of place. He also has a fantastic defensive work rate and was known to put 45+ tackles in when playing 13.

I don't think we have seen him enough to say he could do as good a job as Berro. He might be an option with Berro in the centres but I doubt we would go that way.

I look at core skills for a 9.

Tackle technique
Defensive workrate
Distribution from 9
Ability to make the right decisions at 9.

I'd say:
Joint tackle technique
Washy workrate
Washy just edges distribution
Berro probably makes the better decisions through playing there more.