Now that Mr Gelling is unavailable for the foreseeable future.
Who would be our best option for centre? Here’s a few options available to Price...


Ratchford, now what Widdop is back & the emergence of Ashton at FB, do we select Mr Utility at centre, we know he has past experience and played a lot there in his Salford days.

Mamo, did okay and was solid in a few games last year, has some strike about him and likely to outpace our first choice wingers in Charnley/Lineham!

Charnley, do we move him inside one? Play Ashton or Mamo outside of him - again has a couple games experience out of position at FB with Wigan, could be an option but do we then lose him as a try scoring threat...

Brand, a good young prospect has already scored for the reserves and is naturally a right centre. Should we give the youngster a chance it’s clicked for Matty Ashton, will the same happen to him!

Hughes/Currie, or do we go with a solid back rower that defensively can do the job but unlikely to unlock the opposition with pace/step - although we are unlikely to see Hughes for at least another month.

The dumbest option is your first to put our best player at centre.

Any of the following will do...but I'd go Charnley inside Ashton with a preference.

Charnley is absolutely not a centre, same idea was proposed years ago at Wigan and rightfully laughed at. Stick Ratchford or Brand there.

Why not put Hastings or French at centre for Wigan?

Brand at centre, Widdop on the bench he will not be match fit and can slot in the halves or full back at some point with various option who to move where when he comes on.

Sensible...plus it will still give Widdop the opportunity of making his first full home debut at the HJ

Brand. Giving a young player a chance (Ashton) has already worked very well this year.

I like the idea of having Widdop on the bench, for now.

If we had a settled team eg we had played 7-8 games then I would certainly hope we would give Brand a run at the job. He started off slowly in the reserves game the other week but then settled down and was looking promising, so yes, it would be good to see if he could make the jump to SL.

As far as the next match is concerned though it's a bit more complicated because Price will almost certainly introduce Widdop and yes, I agree with the above posts, he will probably not play a full match. So that sounds like Ratchford will cover the halves and FB, unless you used Currie instead ? If you have Widdop, Ashton and Brand all playing then that is a lot of change for one game, plus it means we have two inexperienced youngsters out on the pitch together. An intriguing puzzle for Pricey.

As it looks like being a heavy pitch, even assuming the game is played, I think I might go with Currie to cover for Widdop in the halves, Ratchford at FB and Brand in the centres.

So from your last comment ... basically you are saying that you would leave out Ashton? Is that what you mean?

Interesting point about a heavy pitch. That would make me cautious about Widdop following the ankle roll...a bench start might suffice for me.

This debate depends a bit on how good we think Ashton is.
He very nearly scorched through for a brilliant try v StHelens ... when he broke through the defence & in the end passed off the floor. If he had have beaten the last man (as he nearly did) we would not be having this debate. I rate Ratchford at FB highly but Ashton could be better as he is quicker. A back line including Ashton (FB), Ratchford (Centre), Widdop & Austin could be our best.
When Ratchford last played at centre I thought he was excellent and I thought it was his best position.

The Price interview in the Guardian does strongly suggest someone 'missing out' so that points towards Ashton making way.

The argument about not playing Ratchford at centre is all about him be wasted there. I think that he may well be the best centre that we have at the club.

Not Gelling then?

Yes ( I think. My brain hurts atm). On a heavy pitch Ashton's pace will be of less value and I would try to avoid playing both Brand and Ashton anyway. The team would look a bit more stable with Ratchford at FB and Currie covering when Widdop left the field. So we would have just the one inexperienced player; Brand at centre, plus only Currie playing in a less than familiar position.

As you say, you could play Ratchford at centre, Ashton at FB and Widdop/Currie at HB. I suppose one of the deciding factors will be whether the coaches think Brand is 'ready' a well.

Not an easy pick this week !

I thought that Gelling did ok in the first two games, I also thought that King was doing well - but I would still rate Ratchford as the better centre, certainly if he played there week in week out.

Haven't we bought a hot prospect centre from Widnes? Throw him in and let him get experience. I wanted Ratch at centre a few years back, we got that wish and just didn't see him in the game?

Brand Centre, Widdop on the bench. Less changes - get the game won first then experiment.

Agree. Brand is a centre and Widdop will provide great cover from the bench. No brainer for me really. Why move anyone else around?

It's a really good problem to have.

Nobody deserves to be dropped after the Saints performance
Marquee signing now available and needs to play but possibly not ready for a full game in heavy conditions

Even with Gelling missing and a possible direct replacement available in the shape of Brand it's a tough call. It maybe easier next week vs Toronto as we could let some of ours play for them

Keenan Brand to Centre, Ashton in place of Charnley. Widdop in the halves and Ratchford to Fullback. Genuinely don't think Charnley is as good as everybody bangs on about. This week from us we all banged on about his try and no mention for linehams try. Charnley took a pass with nobody in front of him and loads of space, just ran 10 yards and dropped over the tey line. Lineham took a pass under pressure, got tripped and fought his way over the line, yet everybody got hard over Charnleys try. He's slightly over hyped and i think Lineham is a better winger and Ashton will bring a better attacking threat.

I'm a big Lineham fan and Charnley isn't as good as him in my eyes.
I've no issue in playing Ashton over Charnley.

Strange the lack of love for Lineham, who seems to be a character but perhaps due to "monotone voice syndrome" isn't recognised as such.
To be fair most of last season we could have had 2 Easter Island statues on the wing given the lack of quality ball they received.

Im with Duckie (god help me) if it were a choice of Lineham or Charnley I'd go for Lineham every time.

Brand at centre, Widdop on the bench, Ratch in he halves and Ashton at full back.

Alternative is Ashton on the bench with Widdop starting in the halves and Ratch at full back.

But very little mention of Mamo here.
He did a very good job for us at centre as a utility.
If Price wants to play it safe I wouldnt be surprised if he's centre and Brand misses out.

We should find a solution that has the least number of players out of their usual position.