Think Oledzki needs to start this one to combat Walmsley.

I remember his Steve Ganson impersonation when Warrington came to Headingley Well.
Talk about a screw job!

Who is ref for tomorrow night? Has it been released yet?

er .... its kendall

Really?

I remember Mik getting splattered trying to front up Kasiano… hope he fares better this time!

If I was Agar, I’d be telling Tetevano to put it on Walmsley early doors, and watch his bottle go a bit. I’ll await the comments about how amazing Walmsley is, and he’s one of the best props in the world, but let’s see when he’s up against it.

Thing is we’ll be hunting him as a pack and he is going to get hammered more than once. He’s good enough to ride it but I cannot see him galloping down our middle again.

Looking forward to the Cats/KR game. Love this time of year.

Thought KR were there own worse enemy blowing 3 or 4 chances at the Catalans line.
Cats nothing special but will look better with Tomkins in there.
Would have preferred to have played them in the semis.

Thing about Cats is that they’re massive and with two good half backs. Very difficult team to handle.

Team-wise we aren’t as good as Cats or Saints this year - but it’s all down to the performance now.

I think we need to take a chance on a few players and get them out there

Myler
Briscoe Newman Hurrell Handley
Lui Leeming
Oledski Dwyer Prior
Martin Mellor
Tetevano

Vuniyayawa Holroyd Smith Donaldson

Agar considering tweaks to team this week.For me if Hurrell plays it has to be in the centre. We have to stack the bench with forwards. The only way Leeds win this game is to be dominant in the pack stop saints go forward denying their halves space and have good field position and a high completion rate.
Myler
L Briscoe
Newman
Briscoe/Hurrell
Handley
Lui
Leeming
Oledski
Dwyer
Tetevano
Mellor
Martin
Prior

Holroyd
Donaldson
Smith
Gannon/King V

Would consider looking at Tetevano or Oledski playing same minutes as Walmsley and trying to sicken him every time he gets the ball. Hopefully within the rules lol

Uncanny

I would leave Hurrell out tbh.

After last week, I have hope. Lads with game time under their belt and some confidence too.

It depends whether Mellor, Hurrell and King are fit enough to give value in a game of this magnitude. Agar's made reference to how fresh the squad is as a whole - but there are several players there who require surgery and a couple still recovering form from injury and/or COVID.

Personally I don't think we have enough at half back for this. Lui has been great but he's not fit. Leeming has been great filling in but he is a 9. If Gale could have got back in the side I'd have felt happier because not only do we have a specialist 7 but it also puts Dwyer on the bench as an impact runner where he belongs. He is going to have to play very well out of DH tonight for us to stand a chance.

Going to be fascinating down the middle; we were embarrassed last time out but I don't think Mik, Holroyd, Prior, Tet or Smith are about to let that happen again TBH. We must stay disciplined though.

Looking forward to Tet and Mik giving Walmsley some pasty tonight. As long as we’re competitive and it’s a good game I’ll be happy

I'm not quite sure where this idea comes from that AW lacks bottle. The Wiganers often roll it out before he squashes their pack.

Yeah totally agree, Al is not soft. No pro RL player is soft, and certainly not props. Even more certainly not international props.

He gets targeted most weeks and rides it mostly.

Wanting to stop him is one thing, actually doing it another. Having said that I still believe our pack is the best in the comp overall when they're all fit, and that's my hill to die on. Or at least, I expect it to be next year.

I would have Hurrell on the bench. Over 80 minutes his defence would be found out. Forwards need to do a job without giving penalties away. Key is how we score 20 points because anything less will not be enough against a very good Saints team. Let’s hope they are underdone and we get the rub of the green. Cannot wait!

If you want to control walmsley the answer is in dictating what the first 2 carries/ptbs from their back 5 look like.

I agree the Leeds pack when fit is very strong. I’d have Mik and Prior as the best prop pair in the league. I think Walmsley and Roby in out front row just edges us ahead in that department despite our other starting prop not being the same quality (Paasi, Lees, Amor). I also think Knowles is a terrific player at 13 for us but our back row is one of the weaker areas since Zeb retired (although Sione has found some form lately and looking good).

Should be a good game.

cracking player Knowles. very under rated.

Yep. Kicking game of huge importance and distribution from dummy half to kickers is crucial.

I agree.
Best prop in the league, can't see him bottling it.
But we do need our forwards to get into his face early on to have a chance.
The forward battle in the first 20 will be critical tonight.
But then it always is....
Hopefully we give you more of a game than last time.

Two sides who have a lot of respect for each other as clubs, and have had some titanic battles over the years. Leeds aren't quite at the top table yet but we're getting there quickly now.

Yep Mik and Prior probably best prop pair. Leeming at 9 has been selected in the Dream Team. Holroyd and Tetevano not a bad rotation at prop either.

Second row is a bit up and down; young Gannon will be an international in due course IMO, Walters has stalled a bit but Martin is OK and Bentley next year would add something. I think Mellor might play tonight which stiffens our D up a bit.

Cam Smith has been playing very well on the whole. Maybe not to Knowles' standard yet but both are good players.

Saints have the edge in the halves which is my main worry. Welsby is a great talent too; hopefully Newman can cause some problems in return though.

I agree on all of this.

2nd row is the weakest area of the pack for both clubs. Prior and Oledzki are superb but both behind Walmsley. Tetevano is tough but again I would take Knowles.

A combined pack would be something like:

Oledzki Roby Walmsley
Matautia/Martin Bentley
Knowles

Hopefully we will defend like we have all season and Leeds will find it tough to score points. Bar Newman I think Leeds are probably lacking some class in the 3/4 if there was a weakness to be highlighted. But it's not straightforward this by any means.