It does feel like it could be a tough one. It never seems an easy fixture for us this, bar the odd isolated one here and there. It may be too early for Hampshire but id be tempted to throw him on the bench and we could then switch things up during the game and get Shorrocks in the forwards.



I’d go-



French

Miski King Wardle Marshall

Shorrocks Smith

Byrne Powell Havard

KPP Farrell Smithies



Subs

Mago Hill Hampshire O’Neill

To be fair they are missing Hoy, Vulikijapani, Shaul and Severs. Not sure where Savelio is.

Surely Hoy is the only one that would get in the 17.



I'd still back us to get a marginal win - Havard/Byrne/Smithies will have to do a lot of the legwork which they're very capable of. Hill and Mago will have to be used sparingly due to a lack of experience/lack of fitness respectively.

French

Miski King Wardle Marshall

Hampshire Smith

Byrne Powell Havard

KPP Farrell Smithies



Subs

Mago Hill Shorrocks O’Neill

After 30 minutes throw Shorrocks to 13 and move Smithies to prop.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Ian Thornley given a run in place of Wardle after that heavy knock he took playing for England.

He was dropped for performance related reasons then apparently injured his hand, hasn't been seen since. Looking increasingly likely he isn't someone TS rates so will be out the door.

As MadDogg said only really Hoy from the injury list who is a guaranteed starter although I'd have Vulikijapani in when fit.

Its Truemans first game back from ACL so not expecting the world from him.

Someone said he would be out on loan to Wakey. I’ve got to say he looked sharpe in the reserves fixture against wakey

Has Trueman played in the reserves?

That was the plan last weekend but Huddersfield decided to call off the game at the last minute with no explanation.

They have a first team squad of about 68 players, so they couldn’t be low on numbers.

This is one of the reasons why top level RL is considered a joke at times



Wigan scholarship game called off last week too as opposition couldnt field a side



IMO, academy and reserves should be mandatory for all top level clubs, and they treat them with the respect that they deserve, not keep cancelling them because they cant be d. Its one of my gripes at the minute. How can we as a game produce youngsters who are ready to step up to 1st team, when there isnt a pathway for them because some clubs cant be d about it

Absolutely agree with this, the reserve and academy competitions need to be a priority for super league teams, you could get players coming in to match day 17s without playing any game for weeks due to no reserve games, which will drive players away from RL if they're playing maybe one a month while not in the 1st team. I actually really enjoy watching reserve games more than the first team a lot of the time (being a Hull fan I'm sure you can understand why).