Lisone had his best game in a Leeds shirt coming off the bench when there was tiredness and some gaps in defence.
Why would we change that?
He's our only impact prop.
Way better off the bench for me.

Agree, Lisone off the bench for me too.
Time that Holroyd began to show his worth in that 10 shirt. A reasonable tackle count isn't enough; we need metres too.
Tick tock.

I just think we could attack Wire early rather than aim to defend them. Lisone is clearly our biggest impact forward, he can cause problems from the start of the game I'm sure.

I look at the combinations of what the props give us - if you had Sangare and Lisone on at the same time, I'd be worried defensively as both struggle laterally. You tend to see a more defensive prop in the mix with either of those two, and they operate as a pair.

Mik and Lisone is a powerful combination, I would then bring on Holroyd who isn't a lightweight either. You can then re-introduce Lisone either beginning of second half or for the final 20-30. We don't have much muscle on the bench but for me, your lighter players are less exposed against a more fatigued opposition.

People were adamant Sangare wasn't a starting prop but has done pretty well this season.

Also "tick tock", really???

Critical game to any ambition of being best of the rest this season. Wire will be a test for our defence but we should get a bit of space to exploit, hope the weather is OK.

Is Handley Injured ?

With Smith back in we’ll look very similar to at Cas won’t we? Holroyd replaces Sangare and McDonnell starts instead of Bentley, otherwise as you were. Probably Donno on the bench?

No Why?

Mate said he wasn't on the team sheet which seemed odd.
Glad he is playing,on fire this season

Hopefully no Donaldson.

I think we're coming at this from opposite ends: you want our lighter players facing fatigued players, I'd prefer to run our heavies against them. The pros of either approach could well balance the cons.

Re the tick tick comment, we'll find out where rohan stands soon enough. But with that kind of average gain my guess is his position is vulnerable.

I just think it’s better just to enjoy going to the Rugby rather than viewing every game as a must win and the coaches job is on the line - which it seems like some do.

The season will have loads of twists, turns and ups and downs for all clubs. I think were on our best start to a season for 4 or 5 years, lets see where it goes.

It depends which part of “enjoy going to the rugby” you’re talking about ? Some will always “enjoy going to the rugby” because it’s an excuse for a few beers and a meet up with the mates. In fact a lot of supporters seem quite unaware and even disinterested as to what’s happening on the pitch half the time. Others will go hoping the team shows signs of improvement that could ultimately lead to becoming champions again. Some will go with rose tinted specs and low expectations, while others will go expecting success just because we are Leeds. There will be fans with expectations somewhere in between all of the above, and they’re all entitled to their opinion. I’m looking forward to Friday, whereas I couldn’t really be bothered for the game against the worst Cas team in years. If we get beaten Friday and all the usual poor traits are still there I’ll be happy to have a good moan. Some people seem to think our barren spell since 2017 is acceptable and due to a rebuild. It’s like some people had forgotten that half of the team were retiring over a 2 year period and used “the rebuild” as an excuse for a nasty surprise that suddenly happened overnight. “The rebuild” is a red herring and an excuse for poor recruitment and bad management, and if we don’t become serious challengers pretty soon fans have the right to moan and be tetchy.

Let’s also not pretend there wasnt a section of fans that moaned and were tetchy when we were winning things consistently.

Squad for Friday:
1 Lachie Miller
3 Harry Newman
4 Paul Momirovski
5 Ash Handley
6 Brodie Croft
7 Matt Frawley
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
9 Andy Ackers
10 Tom Holroyd
12 Rhyse Martin
13 Cameron Smith
14 Jarrod O'Connor
15 Sam Lisone
16 James McDonnell
18 Mickael Goudemand
21 Jack Sinfield
24 Luis Roberts
25 James Donaldson
29 Alfie Edgell
31 Ned McCormack
32 Ben Littlewood

Miller
Roberts
Newman
Momirovski
Handley
Croft
Frawley
Oledski
Ackers
Holroyd
Martin
McDonnell
Smith

Lisone
O'Connor
Goudemand
AN Other

Shame that it will be Donno on the bench when we have 2 good young forward prospects out on loan and this would be the ideal opportunity for game time for them.
But there we are.

Ben Littlewood is going to be a good player would like to see him get a bench spot.

Extremely unlikely given the squad numbers.

Hope so Chris, be great to see him get a chance.

Yep, enjoyment is key. And while some do hold the view that smiths job is on the line for every game, thats not the reality.

What i would add is that (for me at least) the enjoyment's greater if we're able to string a few wins together and at least look like we're building towards something better. Win one, lose one feels a bit mundane at times, not so much on game day but during the dog days in between.

I get what you’re saying. Ruan in particular looked handy, but I would assume a month or more playing against men every week will do more than the odd game or super league at this stage.

FAR too measured an outlook for on here Chris.

And that will stand the test of time Chris... same for every club..

Tonight’s match might be a good barometer of our potential for this season. Doesn’t seem much difference between both sides. As of a couple of weeks ago I would have expected a Warrington win, not so much now as they have a substantially weakened pack. As we have home advantage we should win. If the performance is poor and coaching is sub standard as a long standing loyal supporter I reserve the right to come on here and definitely moan. On the other side iof the coin if we play well I will praise the team.

Sangare is a bit of a loss / Donaldson in for him is a downgrade of size for sure.

Other than that and Fus we aren’t far off full strength for this one really so I’m expecting is to be competitive tonight.

Bently, Fusitua, Gannon & Sangare of possible starting 17 missing