Bet it's a lot lower next season, your luck with the fixture list and a near full strength squad to choose from most weeks will run out.

Luck with the fixture list

Playing the big guns early, meeting teams that were vastly under strength, playing teams the week after a big final, that type of thing.

Losing 4 players in the run up to a playoff game against the champions, then losing one during the game is a bit different to having players out for a lot of the season.

If players aren't available for long periods of time (for whatever reason) at least you can make allowances for that. Losing Briscoe (our player of the year), Cockayne (the player that would replace Brisoce), Galea (One of the SL Dream Team's back rower, no less), Murrell (the link between the forwards and backs) and Webster (first choice centre) all in the run up to the Leeds game was huge and forced Justin's hand on most decisions with squad selection. To then lose Chev during the game after 10 minutes, the team had to be cut and pasted together just to get through the rest of the 70 minutes.

If we'd had these injuries for longer periods of the season then maybe the 18 year old Scott Taylor wouldn't have been making his debut in such a high pressure game, and we wouldn't have had front rowers in the centre, hookers at full back and centres at full back for long periods of the game.

How exactly can you 'not miss' 3 outstanding players such as Briscoe, Galea and Webster that are pivotal to most attacking options that we lay on.

It's no coincidence that the game last week and last night our attack went missing for large parts of the game.

That's not to say we didn't match Leeds at all, for 45mins we were well in the game with a makeshift team. That's some effort.

Irrespective of what anyone say, injuries or keeping clear of injuries is obviously vital to how a team plays.

It was clear in the first half when Cooke ushered Welham to the side of the scrum to take the ball up and then immediately dropping it. You could tell by Welham's body language that he hasn't been involved in that set play very often.

I wouldn't say a few posters on here claiming injuries are no excuse can really be taken seriously, in any team. Espeically in key areas.

Thought your injury problems would be worse than anyone elses. Have you lot heard yourselves?

You'll be having the 'luck' at the MM , with the top teams playing each other and your lower placings group facing each other.

That's rich, coming from a Hull FC fan!

If you read my post without those I'm-going-to-disagree-because-he's-a-Rovers-fan glasses on you'll see I said injury situations are different and how you can deal with them are different. I didn't say anything about them being worse.

I sort of get what you mean, but I'd say both are damaging in different ways. This "making allowances" you describe is very difficult with restricted squad numbers and the salary cap.

The Scott Taylor thing is self-inflicted. Many games this season where Esders, Spaven or Watts for example could have been picked to get a taste of SL but the opportunity was declined. At some point you need to anticipate having more than a couple injured and get the youngsters up to speed where there is a relatively "safe" environment to do it in, otherwise you're into a Taylor/Haynes scenario.