Ashton
Bateman
Crowther
Currie
Drinkwater
Dufty
Fitzgibbon
Holroyd
King
Lindop
Musgrove
Nicholson
Philbin
Powell
Tai
Thewlis
Vaughan
Walker
Wood
Williams
Yates

Nice to see Philbin back from injury but I don't see him as in our first choice 17 anymore.

Which of these forwards does he displace?
Vaughan/Harrison/Musgrove/Yates

Sure he can play 2nd row but, again, who does he displace
Nicholson / Fitzgibbon / Bateman / Holroyd

Bench will be 2 forwards, Powell/Walker + AN Other

I don't think we had this level of competition for places even in the "good" Smith period.

Strong looking squad that, giving Sam some selection headaches, which is great news......

Im guessing that Holroyd and Lindop will be rested which would allow Bateman and King to return.

Max Wood did a very useful stint against Wigan but I think he will be back at Widnes this week.

Is Fitzgibbon really fit again, or a red herring ? And should Philbin get a run from the bench or will he have to wait for an easier option next week ?

I think Burgess will want to play his strongest side here and make a statement, he can always fiddle with the lineup next week.

Max Wood was a machine in post contact meters. I really like him.

As my post earlier, I don't think Philbin gets a place unless we rest 2 forwards. In truth he hasn't been good enough for where we want to be for 5 years.

Lindop plays for me. Earnt it. Be a strong message to King that he is not a shoe-in.

Yes, with the import of Yates and Bateman Philbin has slipped down the pecking order. So it depends if Burgess wants to get him back to match fitness for future problems ( injury / suspensions) or if he wants to hit HKR with his strongest side. interesting to see what he does.

Im guessing that Lindop will drop out though because King( if fit) is very strong in defence and can make good yards with the ball. Lindop of course is a lot more dangerous with ball in hand but will have a fair number of errors in him to work out through experience. I think it's fantastic that we have these two in our squad with Tai partnering up as well.

Philbin does not get into the 17 for me. Fair to say I have not been a fan of his for a long time now but I can say the same of some of the other players. The difference though under Burgess and rest of coaching team as been impressive so it’s possible that Philbin gets back to being the player he was when he first came through.

Only thing I wouldn’t do is play all 3 coming back from injury in a game this big and Bateman will have some jet lag.

Is it 8 weeks Philbs has been out for? I think it's a big gap to come in to such a big game cold, better to play off the bench vs London I think.

On Fitzgibbon / King if they are fit enough they play, they are senior players and their performances deserve that. If there is any doubt on their fitness though, give them another week, we have confidence in those ready to play ahead of them in Holroyd / Bateman and Lindop.

If King does come back in this week I'd be tempted to give Lindop another run out vs London, maybe in place of Tai.

Dufty
Thelwis
Tai
King
Ashton
Williams
Drinkwater
Vaughan
Powell
Yates
Nicholson
Fitzgibbon
Currie

Walker
Musgrove
Crowther (torn between him and Wood tbh)
Bateman

Be interesting to see how Burgess uses Bateman, will he take put him at back row or 13 or a mix of the two?

Pardon my ignorance but which side does Bateman play on.