Time to stop wrapping them up in cotton wool. Burgess and bateman im confident wont look out of place

Langley back this week should fix some of the leaks up. Isn't Briggs due back this week or is that next week?

Potter said langley,briggs and walker all 2 weeks away on prematch interview on yorkishire radio. Think l'estrange only being 3-4 weeks aways was mentioned too.

I'm also supporting the inclusion of Burgess for next weeks game. I'd drop either Koppy or Scruton as Lynch and Hargreaves are putting in the effort each week.

If a prop is getting dropped it should be Scruton imo. As much as I like him, he didn't have a proper pre-season, and he hasn't got up to speed yet. He'd do better if he got a start, but Bryn & Lynch (until today) have been doing well.

Not sure they'll use Burgess yet though.

Mind games for next week? I'm sure I read during the week that Langley could have played against Huddersfield but wasn't risked?

Thought Scruton did alright today, would drop Koppy if including Burgess.

Out Sykes, Sibbitt, Kopczak
In Royston, Langley/Addy, Burgess

Hopefully, we need somebody who can tackle on the pitch.

Dropping sykes would defintely be a good thing ! and lynchy needs to be more vocal, potter needs to give the players a good kick up the backside and sort them out or start dropping some of them for the likes of burgess etc

I read same, but also was mentioned in langleys column in t&a that he was going back to see his specialist as he wasn't improving as fast as he'd like.

Sykes did himself no favours did he, but was no worse than most others to be fair. Even usually reliable players like Elliott Whitehead and Brett Kearney had poor games yesterday, so it's a hard to blame individuals. The coach is still trying to find his best combination by switching the squad around, which is the only reason I can think of for leaving Royston out(assuming he wasn't injured) whilst at the same time as they are still getting used to each other. We all knew it would take time though, so I'm not going to moan.

We never looked like we could threaten the line with ball in hand yesterday, though I think getting Briggs back will make a big difference because you really need a good pair of regular halves. I've not seen Tom Burgess this season but I didn't feel he was quite ready at the end of last year. He's been getting good reports though so I guess he'll get his chance, if not immediately.

According to Connor, Royston wasn't injured.

Guess it was just squad rotation then. Seems strange when the team is still trying to gel and (so far as I know) Sykes hasn't been ripping it up in the A team to such and extent that Potter felt he had to be given a shot. Especially as we were always second favourites in the game and would probably need that bit of flair that Royston has.

Think the team selection is determined by Potter's expectation of the result.If he thinks we are in with a chance he plays a strong team. If we are second favourites (as on Sunday) he is more inclined to gamble with team selection.

For me it should be out Sykes, Sibbit and Whitehead and in Royston, Addy and Bateman. Start Royston at 1, Addy at 13 with Elima in the the 2nd row and Bateman on the bench. Players like Sykes and Sibbit are only stopping younger players gaining experience and they won't be around in the near future I hope.

This, saves me typing.

I disagree. As good as some parts of his games are he has made far far too many errors so far and is proving to be somewhat of a liability. the most errors and missed tackles in the league.

EDIT: 24 missed tackles in 5 games that is and 12 errors.......take all of them away from our game (or even take half of them) and you could maybe say we would have done slightly better in a couple of games

well t&a says raynor likely to miss 3 weeks with injury. which frees up slot for ah van to move back to wing, where his defence didnt look as bad, or at least wasnt as noticeable. Problem will be who do we play in the spot. with walker out still only option seems to be sykes who is weak defensively. Dont think it matters which side we put him on as ainscough and ah van have their own weaknesses. I'd be tempted to keep platt and ainscough together as they seem to be clicking quite well. but that means ah van/sykes pairing will be targetted. other option is to put royston in but that isnt his best position and would mean sykes at FB which I dont really want to see again after sunday.

Centre is probably Sykes favoured position so I expect him to get the nod with Finnigan, Halley and Crookes all unavailable for selection.

Finigan & Crookes are available whenever we need them. They train full time with the Bulls, but can play for Sheffield too.

Personally I'm not a big fan of Crookes, but I'd rather play him than Sykes. However I'd expect Potter would choose Sykes & Royston as centre & fullback (although which way round is anyone's guess) and Ah Van on the wing.

Shame Halley isn't back yet, as bringing him in for an injured Raynor with Royston replacing Sykes would have been my preference.

Also all those calling for Bateman to be put in or Addy in the backrow, let's also remember that Donaldson is available again after a couple of games in the U20s.

I didn't make the game but have watched the highlights and whilst I wouldn't 'defend' the players who missed one on one tackles I fear we are missing the major weakness which was the number of times Brough/Brown ran diagonally across the entire middle third of our defence waiting for outside backs to commit before making the pass.

The defensive line speed and aggression of our forwards has been appalling in every game so far including Wakey. For some it's near heresy but Andy Lynch has started the season poorly and as skipper needs to lead the line and hit a lot harder. Give Chase and Orr the freedom of Odsal like we did Brough/Brown and you will see our outside backs look like mugs again - no matter who is picked.

they might be available in terms of us being able to recall them with no notice, but finnigan isnt available as he's out injured

That's what I was meaning, but I actually didn't know Finigan was injured anyways! Crookes is still available though

cant say I see crookes as an improvement on sykes/royston tbh.

He's not an improvement on Royston, but as much as I'm not a particular fan of Crookes, I'd take him at centre over Sykes.