1 Whiting
2 Calderwood
3 Turner
4 Yeaman
5 Briscoe
6 Berrigan
7 Tansey
8 Lauaki
9 Houghton
10 Dowes
11 Fitz
12 Tickle
13 Washbrook

14 Moa
15 Radford
16 Manu
17 Hall (Burnett)

Nearly same as mine, but I would leave Horne out for this game, and maybe Fitz in second row.
We cannot afford to be predictable.

Yep....

1.whiting
2.calderwood
3.turner
4.yeamen
5.briscoe
6.horne
7.tansey
8.dowes
9.berrigan
10.radders
11.tickle
12.manu
13.fitzgibbon
subs
14.houghton
15.lauaki
16.moa
17.cusack(would love ogre to play, well id have on the bench if fully fit like ive heard)

whiting is safe at fullback okay he aint got pace but makes up the yards by his strong carry and most of the time gets on the front foot. tansey is our most creative player in the squad and i would give him the responsibility of leading the team around the park.we need to get off to a good start and with rovers likely to start with 3 props then we really need to muscle up so would start berro for this and it might give him a bit of confidence starting the game.

At least you haven't got Washy at 13..........or was that a mistake???

Well we need something, although it's a shame as a club that we have to pin our entire hopes on a prop or two been fit!

I dont think we are BDT but the forwards do lay the platform!

I would not be surprised if O'Meley has put his hand up to play because he has done it before. At MM he bust a couple of ribs but played the next 6 games because we were down on numbers, that is just the kind of competitor he is, we are lucky to have him.

That said if playing Thursday could cause further injury then he should not play but look at the bigger picture. We have 5 important league games left after the Derby and I would rather have a fully fit O'Meley (and potentially Long) going into the last couple of league games to build up a bit of momentum for the play offs.

Agreed a bust rib is a bust rib and though seriously painful probably can't really be made worse. A calf tear 90% mended can quickly become an open tear again whether pain killers have been taken or not.

Appreciate that, but it does feel like the majority believe we have no chance without O'Meley. Isn't that the same as pinning our hopes on a prop? Isn't it also admitting that Radford, Dowes, Cusack, Lauaki doesnt really give us the go forward we need?

I am not pinning all our hopes on O'Meley playing to win on Thursday!

I would love O Meley to play but don't want him to risk the injury. We have won several games without him and as such don't entirely rely on him as some seem to think.

I think it is more a case that our chances would be significantly improved by him playing. I think we can win without him for definite but i am certainly more confident of a win with IMO our best front rower playing.