So how do we see this one going?

Not sure if Doro is going to be fit for it. His return would be a timely boost. I'd probably go with Sammut over Gaskell at standoff if recent form is anything to do with it. Taufua should be back from suspension so it's a toss up between Lehman and Franco on the other wing. I'm assuming Lawrence was just rested for the Swinton game..

Holmes, Lehman, Myers, Gill, Taufua, Sammut, Lilley, Bayliss, Souter, Lawrence, Fulton, Davies, Appo - Ott, Scurr, Makin, Pele.

I would say Franco over Lehmann, although is Okunbor available? because he is picked over both of them.
Lawrence & Appo come back in. How about Fulton? He came off early last week. Precautionary?

Totally forgot about Okunbor who as you say should come in on the right wing if he's fit.

Fulton looked to have hurt his shoulder vs Swinton. He was in a lot of pain but carried on with it for a bit before being subbed. He was feeling it a bit on the sideline once he was subbed.

No pressure on Fev, which is when they're most dangerous IMO. They've probably had more success in the play-offs when there's no pressure on them and have a free hit sort of speak.

Having Doro back would be massive for us. Hopefully Fultons OK. I think EOC may go with Gaskell over Sammut. Wasn't much opposition for Sammut on Sunday TBF.

In a different position to last year with some selection headaches rather than us just choosing the only 4 props available.

Yeah we don't look as shot as we did this time last year. At the same time we aren't playing as fluently as we did this time last year. Smashing Swinton didn't really prove anything. The Fax game is more of an accurate yardstick of where we are against a team that is pumped up and has a bit of quality.

If Doro is fit then he starts at loose forward IMO. Bayliss, Souter, Lawrence, Fulton, Davies and Doro with Scurr, Pele, Makin, Appo and Ott being five left to make up the four bench players. Quite a bit of depth there.

If Doro and Fulton are out then Smith at 13 and Appo in the second row. Scurr, Pele, Makin and Ott has plenty of impact off the bench.

Yeah we're not exactly playing well at the minute. Swinton were terrible. Fax we werw poor. Batley we were poor and lucky to come away with the win. Beat Fev though and no one will remember how we're playing.

I don't remember us going into the playoffs with much confidence last year tbh. We had two home losses against Fev and York, and only just scraped wins at London and Sheffield. The home playoff game vs York was probably the turning point and I just hope that will be the case again with Fev this coming weekend.

That said, i'm probably less confident this year than last.

I think we've a stronger squad this year than last. I think all our experienced leadership players are available. We had a relatively comfortable game at their place early in the season but Ford does seem to have worked out how to frustrate us at Odsal. Kicking will be important once again.

I remember us playing quite fluent rugby but got the feeling that the small squad size and injuries caught up with us at Toulouse. We may have scraped home versus London and Sheffield but they were both very decent sides last year so we did well. I'm less confident versus Fev for the reasons Highlander mentions below:



Fev do know how to stifle us at Odsal, and they're not the only ones. Think the small field really impedes us against the better drilled sides. Kicking has let us down many times. I remember Addy outkicking us last time around and others have done the same. Lilley's kicking is too inconsistent IMO and I'm still in two minds about playing Gaskell. We need to be showing more patience with the ball when we get into the opposition 20m zone and build some pressure with repeat sets rather than turning it over on the last or kicking dead (or dropping it cold like at Fax).

Going big on the bench will get us into the right parts of the field but we don't seem to make the most of the possession and field position. I'd be interested to see some stats on the number of sets we have in the opposition red zone and the percentage that ends positively (e.g. a repeat set or a try).

LBB, Doro, Pele, Scurr, Lawrence with LBB and Lawrence starting and id have Makin as a loose. If doro isnt fit personally id go smith not a fave among fans but we tend not lose when he playes