Houghton for me is a waste of a bench spot; berrigan can play 80; and we're better when he's on the field. it's a no brainer. I think Horne has been more ineffective than anyone in the starting XIII; needs to up his game.

TBF Horne played very well at Saints and then the Hudds game was one where our halves both didnt really get into the game with it been a forward battle. I'm unsure Berro should play 80 as per my previous post too, think it may be too soon especially coming back from an operation. We should learn to not depend on him been on the pitch for 80 to keep him a bit fresh.

While in no way underestimating Crusaders we need to take every opportunity to get as many points on the board as possible. Wigan and Wire are already leaping ahead on the points-difference tally and that's worth an extra position on the league table.

Hudds great defence meant we were never going to do that on Friday, but we need to ensure we put the best team out to achieve that aim against other less proven teams.

Berro can't play the 80 yet, still getting his fitness back and even then not many hookers can do the 80 mins week in/out.

Horne has done well so far.

I see our U20's have a friendly game this week so hopefully a few fringe players can get a bit of match fitness.

Only changes I would make is washbrook in and moa . I would rather we got a good lead if possible and rest players later on . Rather than make 4-5 changes and risk a banana skin . This game may be more difficult then people think ,If we start resting players may send a message to the other players that it may be comfortable .Obvioulsy if players have a knock then fine but wouldn't want to see changes for the sake of it .

Is the policy "If it isn't broke, don't fix it" always the best policy?

What about 'prevention is better then cure'

The thing is, that at some point in the season, it will get 'broke', and it is about how and what we fix it with, that will matter. Having players on the side line for to long, and not up to speed, will make the 'fixing' that much harder.

When and vs who?

Thursday night away at York.

Fitzgibbon is in his own league because of how many tackles he makes and how good his technique is; I still think Moa's defence is superb though. He does his fair share of work as well as hitting hard. I don't recall him missing that many tackles, certainly not towards the back end of last season.


This is where I think a lot of people underestimate Moa too. He does a lot of graft whilst he's on the pitch and can do decent periods (two 15-20 minute spells is fine by me, providing the team has the right balance). People seem to forget the work Moa gets through because he's an impact player who makes good yards. He regularly goes looking for work and is always willing to put his hand up to take a second drive in during a set-of-six, that's good enough graft for me.

Not disputing what you say bud...Moa really impressed me in the Testimonial..however I believe Agar has made the right call so far, and the 3 mentioned have delivered (workhorses) which is what has been needed for the oppostition we have faced so far..however I believe Moa & Turner need to be brought on for what they offer against Crusaders, if any thing to gain match fitness..My point is so far Agar has called it right for the opposition we have faced and like you I think Moa should feature in the next match and Turner for the record

Do you know where abouts? Is it at the stadium or a reserve ground? Might go after work.

Personally I think now is a good time to rotate the forwards. Give Radders a proper rest and bring in Moa, I would even go so far as giving Fitzy a rest and bringing Washbrook as a direct replacement.
Whilst every respect must be shown to crusaders they've beaten a v.poor Salford side and if we can't beat the Crusaders now when they still haven't had as much time together as our squad has then we aren't as good as we think we are.
And if Calders is fit swap him for Hall.

defo give sam some game time,does horny seem to have lost a yard of pace? or was it the leg injury that agar said he picked up?

The "fringe" players need gametime. What happens if we do pick up injuries and the replacements haven't played any rugby for over a month? The biggest myth in sport is the old "if it aint broke dont fix it". The reason you have a squad is to keep players fresh and rotate them. Yes its important to keep the spine of the team together and playing regularly but the players in the "high impact" areas of the team need a rest to keep them fresh. As it happens I still maintain that the balance of the team is better with Moa in and only 2 of the 3 grafters anyway.