19 Man Squad Ah Van Brown Cahill Carberry Clarkson Craven Dean Gerrard Hanbury Heremaia Hulme Isa Kavanagh Manuokafoa Marsh Mellor O'Carroll Phelps Tickle Read more at superleague.co.uk/preview/10950# ... VooBAiM.99 Quite a few missing, injured from that, no Paddy Flynn or Lloyd White.

19 Man Squad Ah Van Brown Cahill Carberry Clarkson Craven Dean Gerrard Hanbury Heremaia Hulme Isa Kavanagh Manuokafoa Marsh Mellor O'Carroll Phelps Tickle Read more at superleague.co.uk/preview/10950# ... VooBAiM.99 Quite a few missing, injured from that, no Paddy Flynn or Lloyd White.

Well we knew White was doubtful after coming off against in friendly the other week, not heard anything about Flynn but why no Owens in for Flynn is he injured (had op in off season)? No Galea or Dudson either.

Carberry & Isa to miss out for me. Team:

Hanbury, Ah Van, Phelps, Marsh, Hulme, Brown, Mellor, Kavanagh, Heremaia, Manuokafoa, Dean, Tickle, Cahill, Subs: Clarkson, Gerrard, O'Carroll, Craven.

Switch either props for those on bench to start and even Dean for Clarkson.

Hanbury
Ah Van
Phelps
Dean
Marsh
Brown
Mellor
Gerrard
Heremaia
Manukoafoa
Clarkson
Tickle
Cahill


Carberry, O'Carroll, Isa, Kavanagh

Hulme and Craven to miss out for me.

Hanbury
Hulme
Dean
Phelps
Marsh
Brown
Mellor
Manuokafoa
Heremaia
Gerrard
Clarkson
Tickle
Cahill

Interchanges: Carberry, Isa, O'Carroll, Kavanagh

Ah Van and Craven to miss out.

But let's be honest, Ah Van is getting in this team regardless of what he does

I would go with that team Vikingman,need an interchange hooker.Not surprised Dudson isn't in, only been here a short time and only one run out.Just goes to show even though we have depth in numbers the abscence of just 2 or 3 regulars and the 19 takes on a somewhat threadbare look.

Charnley will have a field day.

I didn't expect him to be in it but i would really really love to know what the story is with Paul Johnson.

On another note the squad is much stronger than previous seasons when you consider it still looks okay and we have Owens, Flynn, White, Dudson, Joseph, Galea, Leuluai and Johnson all missing.

Hanbury
Marsh
Dean
Phelps
Ah van
Brown
Mellor
Manakufoa
Heremia
Gerrard
Clarkson
Tickle
Cahill

Subs
Carberry
Isa
Kavanagh
O'Carroll

With craven and hulme to miss out

Ffs could have done with flynn on thursday as imo the pies are there for the taking,they havent hadcthe best of pre season games,they lost to the same stains squad that we beat the week previous

I think carberry will do ok when he comes on so white isnt much of a miss,got a feeling that ah van will have a decent game as hes normally quite decent at home

It would be interesting to know the whys and wherefores of the 19. It might well be thought that the likes of Dudson and Galea are still a little undercooked, or indeed, if we do genuinely have competition for places this season, then maybe they haven't done enough to displace players who have shown up well in the pre-season games.

I haven't seen them yet so don't know who the stand out players have been in pre-season. You have got to assume that Paddy is an injury since he has been given a high profile at the start of the season, so it would seem odd to drop him. The view seems to be that Lloyd White does have an injury and whilst he certainly improved his play last season, it will provide a real opportunity for Heremaia to stake his claim and give us that zip we have been missing at dummy half!

As has been said there is always a worry when PAV comes up against a quality winger (assuming he will be opposing Charnley). Hopefully the run around he got at Wigan last season, was made worse by PAV not being fully fit. We have enough nous in the threequarters to be OK. Marsh I understand wants to play centre, not wing and Denis seems happy for him there, despite what the rest of us may think. I think we should be OK perming 4 out of Phelps, Dean, Marsh, AhVan and Hulme, with Hulme probably unluckily missing out!

Our best two halves are available, which has got to be good and the pack despite the absence of Dudson, Galea and Joseph looks solid enough. O'Carroll really started to show his stuff towards the end of the season and Manuokafoa gives us that extra bit of size, Gerrard is Mr Reliable and Kavanagh despite punching below his weight has enough experience to at least come off the bench and hold his own (we can always turn to Cahill to cover at prop if need be). Denis likes to have Isa's aggression and energy to come off the bench, so I would be surprised if he missed out and I think Carberry offers a bit of versatility covering 9 and 13. Tickle will always be one of the first names on the teamsheet, and I am assuming that Clarkson has acquitted himself well so far, so it looks very much like Craven and Hulme to miss out. Hopefully Craven has not been included in the 19 as potential cover for Brown, as we have found to our cost that Brown's absence is hard for us to cope with.

I would happily play Hulme for Ah Van, but I am sure Denis will go for experience.

If Denis is true to his word in saying the squad is there to win, not just the Wigan game but all the other games in the season and it will be horses for courses as different combinations will suit different opposition, then most of the rest of the "regular" squad will get game time over the next few weeks. The dilemma will come if (as we all hope) we beat Wigan and everyone has a blinder, if no injuries, who do we then drop. Established wisdom would say nobody, but that may not be the way things are done in modern day rugby league, to keep things fresh!

Not being funny or anything but can someone explain this horses for courses thing and picking different players for different opponents. I am genuinely intrigued.

Horses for courses means that charnley likes playing against ah van

It's a load of bull WW, the preferred 17 will be chosen every game,injuries permitting.We are not in the position yet of doing otherwise.

I was having a bit of a laugh with the ref to ah van being easy meat for charnley DO

Agreed re the starting 17 for us but some other teams players just dont like our pitch and with the top teams they could be rested but with the new system re relegation i cant see many top teams taking it easy

Whilst I accept that we don't yet have enough strength in depth to take this too far the most obvious change might relate to the size and or mobility of the opposition pack. Previously we didn't have much choice, we had to hope that our more mobile pack would hold its own, whether the opposition had a big pack or a smaller more mobile pack, because we just didn't have the option to go for size.

Now its conceivable that we could opt to match size with size, having got Dudson and Manuokafoa. So against the bigger packs, we might go with O'Carroll, Joseph, Dudson and Manuokafoa, whereas if we were coming up against a mobile pack then we might want to go with Gerrard perhaps even Kavanagh (who admittedly needs to kick on, but is no slouch), O'Carroll and Manuokafoa.

Alternatively we could look to counter size with speed etc etc. We clearly dont yet have enough established options in the backs to box and cox with them. So I suspect it will be more a case of looking at the make up of the pack against what the opposition are likely to put out, their style of play etc,

The squad shows why bookies have Widnes down For 11th place. The first choice 17 is fine but take a few out and we will struggle.
I really hope Owens is not another whose face doesn't fit. Given that Flynn is out and PAV seems to be struggling then he ought to have been automatic for a squad place.