Dear all,

With 3 games in 7 days coming up, I think most of us find it surprising that with such a large squad, players (especially forwards) are not being rested in this period of calm before the storm, so to speak. When Sidlow and Clough came back on against Dewsbury the difference in the ruck was there for all to see. They are invaluable players who need to be 100% for the eights if we are to have a chance of getting in the faces of some of the SL teams.

Why has Jimmy gone for such a big squad if he doesn't intend on using them? Purely for injury cover?
Is it too late to introduce players who have yet to make an appearance? Such as Petersen, Davies, etc.
Are players out on loan gaining match fitness to be used in the Middle 8s?
Does Ryan Shaw really deserve to be dropped after putting 100% in week in week out and kicking some vital 2 pointers?
Does the Mendeika signing indicate that Mullaney is now preferred choice at 7 over Siejka?

I have more questions than answers at this stage, and I hope the man has a plan!

Having a big squad of fairly high quality players at the start of the season and then adding to it was always going to lead to one of two possibilities, as I saw it.
Firstly, the plan might have been to rotate as many players as possible through the season and ensure everyone got ample recovery time as we approached the bit that matters. Obvious danger of lack of cohesion/ familiarity throughout the team/squad on a match day.
Or maybe the plan was to give everyone a shot before a cutoff date and then cherry pick the best 13 + 4 to do the business, and scrap the rest. There's no room for sentimentality in this plan and it has the potential to upset those discarded.

We have to assume Jimmy knows what he is doing and there is a plan.

The only players we have on loan at the minute are Brook, Conroy, Tahraoui, Petersen and Walshaw.
Three of those 5 have not played for the first team all season, and the other two we have plenty of cover for.
We can recall Ulugia, Fleming and Halafihi from Oxford whenever we like.

We now have Pitts, Ferguson, Blythe, Olbison and (probably) Addy who can all cover second row / loose forward.
We have Sidlow, Clough, Fleming, Lauaki and Crossley for props.
We have Mullaney, Siejka, Mendeika and Addy for the halves (if Gaskell is out a while).
We have Purtell, Henry, Uaisele, Ulugia, Williams and Shaw for the backs.

There are plenty of options there still available for Jimmy if and when he chooses to rotate some players. Some of you guys need to chill out.

Was yesterdays performance against the Rams just simply inept and hopefully a one off or the result of lack of squad rotation (ignoring any injury impact). Training the house down with your own squad can't replicate real game time....was our performance a result of injury returnees not having had a chance to gel with team mates in an actual game and therefore would it be the same conclusion if any of our non playing squad need to be introduced in the next few weeks? I also hope JL has a plan but could never understand why some rotation was ruled out........

Yesterday we lacked leadership and direction. Mullaney and Addy are fine to back up an actual half, but are clearly not up to the job of actually running the team round the park. I think there was a bit of a collective brain fart from the team, though that's not to take anything away from a strong and spirited Dewsbury performance, and hopefully against Workington we can correct the mistakes.
As for rotation, I don't see the need to rotate the squad just because we've a big group t pick from. If players are in form, why drop them just for the sake of rotating?

It boils down to whether you are a "play my best team" man, or a "tinkerman". Those who are constitutionally tinkermen by nature will always complain if all the squad doesn't regularly get plenty of "rotation". There are strident advocates of both methods.

All I know is that if I were a player then I would hate and detest being "rested" or "rotated" and I would bet the substantial majority would agree. And if job opportunities are rare for the understudies then I would expect that on a rare appearance each would bust a gut to make a point.

I am not in the tinkerman camp. But also, people seem to be forgetting that actually, we have a pretty much brand new squad of players that were strangers 6 months ago. The more the top ones play as a group, the quicker they will learn each other's games and the better they will gel. In my opinion, this factor alone - especially this crucial year - militates against tinkering, as not having had a tried tested and settled squad backbone for several years (unlike, eg, Leigh) I am sure is a considerable disadvantage. It takes a few seasons for any good team to reach maturity. But we don't have the luxury.

I would suggest anyone telling Paul Clough he isn't in the squad to do it by phone rather than in person!

I get what you're saying, but on the other hand, it's the longest season we're ever going to have. O'brien for example doesn't look as sharp as early in the season (although his cutout pass for Henry's try was brilliant)

But on the flip side, we have a week off before the middle 8's begin, for the CC semis, and then a week off again for the final, so hopefully that should prevent burn out

I would like to see Davies get a run in the team to see what he can do.

I would imagine that each player is subject to fairly rigorous monitoring on a daily basis and that there is a fairly precise degree of exactitude regarding each individuals ability to continue playing /training and at what level and for how long. Presumably the likelihood of burnout is obvious long before it occurs.

On the, should we or should we not, use some squad rotation, I can accept that we need to play the best players so as to achieve cohesion, but that shouldn't go to the extent of playing people who are clearly carrying knocks - I think Gaskell is a prime example, with GO'B close behind.

The money spent on a large squad is totally wasted if we're sticking in players who, on an on-going basis, are a good bit less than fully fit. Also, a player who isn't somewhere near fully mobile is more likely to not play at 100%, so is even more likely to get further injuries. I'm sure Jimmy knows what he's doing but it gets a bit difficult to analyse exactly what his thinking is at times.

Quite. Although being Jimmy Lowes, with Karl Harrison at your shoulder, might make it a little easier.

We'll know at the end of the season. Jimmy never let us down in the past - and I don't think he will now.