Minichello and Manu can handle playing the full 80. There is not point changing that if its not broken.

I think some underestimate how much Frank attracts defenders to him and therefore creates gaps in the defensive line for the next play.

Also, this was only his second game from a 4 week lay off.

They can play the full 80- but intensity inevitably drops off. We actually have too many good back rowers, meaning they're either played out of position or we make interchanges for the sake of it. if we didn't have one of pritchard or manu and had spent the money elsewhere we'd have a better team IMO(assuming the money was well spent on a 6 preferably). s it is we shoehorn ellis into playing in the middle when he's still more effective playing wide out

I agree with Staffs. He is playing Frank through the middle to up his fitness as it's harder work in there. We will see Frank out wide in the next few weeks. We need him and Ellis on the pitch together more. Think Frank can do a couple of twenty minute stints for both Mini and Manu. Frank stays on the left to spell Mini and Mini moves over to right when Frank spells Manu. Washy is better at loose man interchanging with Ellis.

I don't agree Jake, our pack depth his the reason we have done so well, there has been the odd game that Ellis, Frank and Mini etc have been injured and due to our depth we are still able to put out a strong side and win these games. Signing a top 6 would gave been great but would have meant sacrificing our pack strength and I'm not convinced we would have done as well. I also quite like Ellis in the middle as he gets us on the front foot early and does more defending, which really hurts there big men.

Some good honest posts on here for a change....personally,I haven't been wowed by frank,Fonoua or Manu but Manu as really stepped up of late and is playing well.The one who isn't doing it for me is Fonoua....teams are attacking him now as,frankly,he cant tackle a salad...williams caught him out for his try and the disallowed try.Personally I would keep Micheals and release Fonoua early,as for the lead up to Wembley,id move CT back to centre with Micheals,and put Pryce or abdull in fot now and the final and drop Fonoua.

Wow wembley bound,top of the league-if it ain't the right edge defence its big Frank or Fonua

Are people actually watching Fonua (note the spelling)? He's the first name on the teamsheet for me and is forming a winning partnership with Michaels.

Would you rather have Logan or Ben Crooks back?

Exactly makes a few errors but the opposition are terrified of him.

Yes I am watching him,Ryan Hall admitted they targeted his defence in the recent game and Wigan did as well.....he has been caught out a few times.As for Logan,what's he done that Fonua...that spelling better for you?As for 1st name.......Shaul,sneyd,Watts,Houghton,Taylor,Ellis,Mini,Manu all before Fonua

Wow. Fonua has become one of our main strike weapons. His metres after contact, offloads and winning the ground nearly 100% of the time and fast plays are a massive reason the forwards often look so good. Much akin to Tala on the other side. If you've only just started noticing manu as well then I don't really know what to say to that.

Someone on here called him a rocks and diamonds player and that is exactly what he is.
yes he does get caught out in defence and your heart is in your mouth when he receives a pass and fumbles but retrieves it, but the player going forward with the ball is so hard to stop near the line taking sometimes four of the opposition and if he can get that offload out at the same time its try time.
Wouldnt swap Fonua for anyone at the moment even given his mistakes and he is still very young with a lot more to come from him.

Jesus......sorry for having a opinion of players after watching the game for 40 yrs

That's exactly what it is, an opinion. Calm down. If we all thought the same, we'd live in Stalinist Russia. It's called debate.

If you can't take folk having counter-opinions then perhaps forums aren't your thing.

Fonua is unplayable - look at the last derby. He makes the odd mistake but setup 2 tries and was close to one more himself. Running out wide, he attracts 3 players, slips a one-hander to Michaels and the try is sealed. Josh Griffin is a very similar player and will be Yeamo's replacement. We will then have some power on both edges.

Friday was a classic game where a more creative/better half than carlos would likely have opened up the wigan defence when we had a lot of ball in their end. I think we have enough back rowers to lose one and not lose that much but the addition of a top 6 would make us much better IMO