Says on twitter that Gaskell and Mullaney definitely out. Addy will partner Either Purtell/Mendieka or possibly Siejka

No point risking them for whats now a nothing game in terms of the league, Mendeika and Addy will give some zip whereas Seijka wont really give us much.

No idea of squad sooo.....

Shaw
Etu
Blythe
Purtell
Williams
Mendeika
Addy
Clough
O'Brien
Sidlow
Ferguson
Walshaw
Pitts

Crossley
Lauaki
Halafahi
Fleming

If Siejka is fit then he should play and he ought to know his place in the mid 8's is up for grabs.

I'd play any who are fit, we need to get some cohesion before the eights.

Hopefully Sundays game will be a Classic ,it's a shame Bradford will be without a couple of players and Leigh have in all but name won the League,still I like Leigh's approach and style ,fast open Rugby, a thing Messrs Lowes and Harrison know nowt about,it's a pity I will be at the Keepmoat on Sunday , I would love to PARTY with the Leythers,should be a good atmosphere.

Well, hopefully one of the players we're attempting to sign will be a half back who knows what he's doing and if so, you'd hope that might light a fire under Siejka's backside and knock into his head that he's in the last chance saloon, not just at Bradford but for RL in general.

He certainly owes us at least 1 performance, let's see if it's sunday

I would have thought the party at The Shay will be a massive consolation for you .....With the massive achievement by Fax this year surely it will be a very big crowd including a few from Fax.

Squad is out:

Henry, AoB, Sidlow, Purtell, Walker, Fleming, Addy, Williams, Lauaki, Mendeika, Pitts, Walshaw, Blythe, Caro, Clough, Shaw, Crossley, Olbison, Halafihi.

So no Gaskell, Mullaney, Siejka or Ferguson. Which means we're actually going to go into a game against Leigh with no recognised halfbacks and either Mendeika or Purtell at stand off, along side Addy at scrum half. God help us, I'm not even sure I can bring myself to watch this.

Reluctantly, I'd line up like this:

Shaw
Caro
Blythe
Mendeika
Williams
Purtell
Addy
Sidlow
AoB
Clough
Olbison
Pitts
Walker

Crossley
Lauaki/Fleming
Walshaw
Halafihi

Henry and either Lauaki or Fleming to miss out.

As the game slips away I would get AOB off ASAP and give Halafihi a good long session.

You would play Purtell at 6?! AGAIN?

I don't believe you should use fringe members of the squad like that. With the game already lost we need to play AOB on and on and on until he burns out.

If only we had a young HB we could test out..oh no wait.

I wonder what goes through coaches minds when they think a centre is a better HB than a young HB.

Forgetting the HB's for a second I will be watching closely our props. They've been woeful recently and given us no go forward against part time teams. We've papered over cracks by playing Clough and Sidlow for 70 minutes to get us out of trouble. Against poor part time opposition we've got away with it. Against full time, all 4 have to put in a shift and give us some go forward. Sidlow and Clough can't battle on their own for 70 minutes against Leigh.

I won't be able to get to the game on Sunday

But on the plus side it's 37 degrees here in Benidorm at the moment round the pool

We did that already....let's have a change.

I wonder how many of the missing would have played had there been a need. Is this just Jimmy thinking laterally.

Leigh squad:
McNally, Dixon, Hopkins, Barlow, Brierley, Goulden, Beswick, Armstrong, Moimoi, Higson, Spencer, Pala, Higham, Hock, Ridyard, Pownall, Worthington, Emmitt, Kay.

Think that's more or less full strength for Leigh.

Do try not to fall in and break your neck

This is key bit for me thinking in terms of middle eights. How many of those missing are actually injured badly enough to miss the game if we'd still been in contention for 1st or 2nd was in doubt?. I suspect mullaney is only one that's serious enough that he couldn't feature. Think its a case of resting anyone with minor knocks and getting them 100% right for when middle eights starts. What could be interesting is team selection next week. Last hit out before middle eights so do we put strongest team out or rest key players and potentially go into eights on a 3 match losing run?.

Pretty much what Jimmy said at the forum, players would miss out this week and some would miss out next week who would play if it were in the middle 8s, he's resting those with minor niggles or those with around a 70/30 chance.



I read that the signing deadline is next Friday so according to Steve Ferres we could have 2-3 players joining in the next week or so.

So somewhere around the ten minute mark then

Missing Sarsfield, Acton, Wilkes and platt

Shaw
Caro
Purtell
Blythe
Williams
Mendeika
Addy
Clough
O'Brien
Sidlow
Olbison
Walshaw
Pitts

Lauaki
Crossley
Halafihi
Walker

that's what I'd go with. no point putting purtell in at standoff as hes never played there apart from fev game. mendieka looked useful in halves when he did a stint there during a game just after joining and hes played there for other teams in past. I'd even put henry in there ahead of purtell as again hes played standoff when younger. Shaw either plays FB or if mendieak is at FB then Shaw misses out. We cant afford his defense on the wing just to have his kicking.

Shame Cobb is not officiating...we could do with a scapegoat.

No recognised half backs again. This has happened too many times this season. Up to press it hasn't overly mattered as we've still managed the goal of finishing in the top two. Bit worried heading for the playoffs though.

Have the Bulls signed too many crocked players or is it just bad luck? Seems to have been the same for the last few years. Leigh seem to be able to trot the same team out week after week. No wonder they're looking pretty slick.

This game ìs now a real opportunity for a much needed confidence boost for the Bulls. Nobody is expecting a win but if they can get a result with our 2 main strike players missing along with Ferguson, siejka and co, then the benefits could be huge.

Typical excuses , welcome to the Championship ,next year your Salary Cap will be lower and your Squad smaller still get over it ,and get a Coach like we at Fax have,Cmon you Leigh.