This is the week to rest a few bodies before the semi, but who do you want to see given a chance to impress?

I'd like to see Danny Bridge, Laithwaite and Glenn Riley given some time, but then again, Ryan Shaw and Jordan Burke have been around for a while without pulling on a first team jumper in the league.

Anyone that's watches the 19's regularly, is there someone you would like to see have a go?

I'd rather rest players in the semi - and even the final if we get there - than lose more ground in Super League. I accept 3rd or 4th doesn't make a massive difference because we'll be playing Huddersfield either way as things stand so the only advantage is being at home in week one. An advantage, yes, but not the be all and end all.

Dropping more points could see us drop places though and then the play off picture changes dramatically. We aren't Leeds with all the experience of winning it time and time again before people start shouting about it being so easy from any position. We need to finish as high up the table as possible because winning the Grand Final is the be all and end all for me. Rest players against FC, not KR.

From what TS has said we'll probably see Ben H back this weekend. Glenn Riley
may get a spot on the bench along with Tyke. Can't see him resting too many though. James Saltonstall is the pick of the 19's this year but there are others like Gavin Bennion, Ryan Manneley and Jacques Peet who look to have big futures.

I wouldn't rest anyone. I feel we need the cohesion of playing together to bring out our best performances. Injuries are part and parcel of the game, we could rest someone this week and then they could be injured in the first minute of the semi final. Wembley is the biggest prize in the game for me. I don't care what Sky try to dictate to me.

James Mendika has been ripping it up at Swinton of late even though their results have been poor. He got quality SL game time at London and I for one would like to see him retained next season.

rest them against hull or even the final..if we rest them against hull we may not even get to the final..full strenght for me

I'd like to see Brett rested, boy did that fella take some hammer (again).

Still, pound for pound he's got to be the toughest guy in SL, not just on the basis of the hammer he takes but by virtue of him ripping the opposition apart moments after looking like he's off to A&E.

Tough as teak, as we used to say about Bob Jackson.

I was thinking the same thing when watching him line up to take a kick with a massive bandage on his head. Easy enough to be tough when you're a 17 stone prop but the way Brett puts his body on the line time and time again and gets up after some fearful hammer makes him the toughest and bravest guy in SL for me.

As much as I respect most of your posts Dropkick I'm not sure if this one is a wind up.Rest players against Hull in the semi final of the Challenge Cup!Am lost for words at that statement.

Our grand total of zero Super League titles is hurting me badly. I'd sacrifice pretty much anything right now if it increased our chances of it finally happening. Cup games are bonuses at the moment for me, not priorities - and yes, I have been attending them anyway, so I can't be accused of jumping on the bandwagon by going to Wembley if we do get there.

I sort of understand why some are willing to sacrifice an(other) appearance at Wembley, but I hope I never ever find myself in that category.

Perhaps it's partly a generation thing.
The Challenge Cup continues to be the singular RL occasion that gains the most media exposure in the UK.
Through the BBC especially there is much more chance of a work colleague (in non-RL territory) being aware that "my team" is playing at Wembley than they ever would for the Grand Final tucked away on Sky.

Moreover, the financial windfall from the Challenge Cup Final far outweighs the benefits of a visit to Old Trafford.

I also enjoy the day and the atmosphere of Wembley far more than I did Manchester last year.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why a Grand Final victory is so important to many, but I certainly wouldn't have it higher on my list than the Cup Final.

Grand Final is higher on my list of priorities, quite a bit higher, but we are only one match away from Wembley, so I wouldn't rest any for the SF. Throughout the season I've said we'll finish top 3, probably top 2. I still think we could well finish top. BUT, I'd give the leage leaders shield away to win at Wembley and "only" finish 3rd or 2nd.

I want both the CC and the GF trophy, the dinner plate i can take or leave, i'd rather 2nd as it also eliminates the silly club call.

I want all four. CC, LLS, GF & WCC. The quadruple... Imagine that. Has that ever been done? I can't recall.

I think you said we would finish in top 2 probably top.

Fair enough, Gazza. What was frustrating me earlier in the season were some of the "woe is me" threads of suggesting we'd finish about 6th or 7th and not have a chance of making it to Old Trafford. I don't think many would bet against us making two finals now, would they?

Failing to finish first does not necessarily eliminate having to make the Club Call decision. The teams who finish second or third can still have to make it, depending on the results of the first play-off round. There is no guaranteed escape from the silliness of Club Call, other than finishing fourth or below. Another reason why first place is no bad thing should be end up there.

I understand where Dropkick is coming from. I would perform self-surgery to remove one of my kidneys if it guaranteed us a Grand Final win. Just one win is all I want. One would be sufficient to last me 20 years. Recalling the elimination semi in 2011 still forces me to curl up in the foetal position and shake, as I think it was the best shot we ever had at winning it. Strangely, last year’s defeat at OT didn’t hurt quite as much, but still ruined the next four weeks of my life. I didn’t think we had a realistic chance of winning it this year, so had almost given up, but as we approach the business end of the season, we look like our old legs might just have one last realistic shot at it.

Failing to win it this year will probably close the door for a few years at least. We have to win at OT this year. We have to do it. Given our recent cup successes, winning the Grand Final is worth so much more to the club than any further Challenge Cup could possibly be.

Even at 16:10 last Sunday afternoon, the Huddersfield quarter-final meant very little to me. I wanted to win it, but it may as well have been a home league game against London for all I cared. As such, I wouldn’t have been remotely bothered if we’d lost it, as the two weeks’ rest in August would have done us good in pursuing the main prize. However, come the final hooter after another great cup display, I was very pleased that we won and now feel that we are too close to winning the cup again to not go all-out for it.

All this talk is, frankly, a bit silly. We all know there is no rule in life or rugby league that says you can’t win both trophies. Frivolously sacrificing one does not mean you will win the other. You cannot horse- trade in kidneys or Challenge Cup semi-final defeats in order to guarantee a Grand Final win. So since we’re already in the semis, we may as well try and win the cup and take it from there.

The same goes for top spot. There is nothing negative that can come from finishing there, so why some people seem to think we shouldn’t bother aiming for it - or even try to throw it away should we somehow find ourselves there with a couple of games left - is beyond me.

you know, on that point, last years finish, confused teh bejesus out of me, normally, say in recent years we get all hyped up on expectation that this will be our year,a dn go out in the play offs, i go hoem bitterly disapointed, throw my shirt on the stairs, mutter like , then wake up the following day, then go about my life, watching the rest of the play offs, muttering that "we could fooking beat this shower of e" then the GF then off into internationals and the beer festival.

Last year, was weird...

Last year i woke up on sunday morning, and the rugby season was over, completely over, no other games to watch, it was weirdly abrupt, it was lke waking up that Sunday morning and being told Princess Di had been killed....it was hard to process

I wouldn't have thought so and there is still a very decent chance of us finishing in the top 2 anyway, no need to lower your expectations just yet.

When we lost, i struggled coming on the forum, i struggled talking about rugby, i didn't talk about it and wasn't that excited about the start of this season.
It temporarily ruined rugby for me.

Whilst it hurt like hell, I soon got over being beaten at Old Trafford.

It was the G/F eliminator against Leeds in 2011 that hurt more than any other game EVER. I was numb & couldn't really talk about the game for about 5 months. I have never watched the match back on Sky + & never will.

That was the same for me. After the final whistle me Dad and brother didn't talk to me for about half an hour, I was not in a good place. Fortunately there were no Leeds fans on the tram back to Manc because I might have been stupid and kicked off (not proud of it but it's honestly how I felt).

Now obviously I'm biased but Wembley is a much better event than the GF. Because it's in the day time it feels more pleasant and part of an all day event, it being in London means it feels like Rugby League's come to London, not just the two clubs. Every time we've been to Wembley I've ended up chatting with fans from various clubs on the tube and in the pub where the GF was much more adversarial between the fans. The GF has non of that atmosphere - it's certainly not Manchester because the Magic Weekend was brilliant. I don't think Old Traff helps because it's really not a nice stadium compared to Wembley or the Ethiad - it feels like a prison.

TBH if we don't win it this year we need to admit that there are some players who're mentally not up to it. I have my doubts about Briers truth be told, hopefully being at the final last year will calm him if we make it this time, but he looked like the event went to him. If we were to make it and lose again I think it'd be time for a clear out and start restructuring with a young side (which we're going to have to do anyway next year to some extent).

I've been waiting to get that off my chest since October...

I agree with pretty much every word you said in this post, but this line in particular matches my feelings exactly.

I don't need to see Warrington win trophies every year. I grew up with little interest in rugby but the knowledge that Wigan were the only team that ever won. I then got into the game and watched us win nothing at all for 15 years. I don't expect much.

I do however have a desperate need to see us clinch it once. By "it" I refer to the genuine title of "Champions". Not some blag "Challenge Cup Champions" that loads seem to latch on to when an emotionally exhausted Lee Briers got his words in a twist during an interview in 2009, and not some blag "Well we finished top so we're the real champions anyway - imagine telling Alex Ferguson that Man United have to win a play off blah blah blah" consolidation straw that loads tried to clutch at in 2011. Just genuine bona fide no argument whatsoever Super League Champions. That means winning the Grand Final.

We've been so tantalisingly close and recent failure has hurt ten times more than 15 years of nothing ever did. If we had won last October I'd be a different man where rugby is concerned. Completely relaxed and enjoying it come what may. We didn't though, and as you say, if we don't this year there's a very real chance we might not anytime soon. Our golden era for those of us not born in the mid-50's will see us declared in history as "Cup Kings", "Wembley Wizards" or some other title which is very nice but isn't the one I want. "Champions".

Just once. Please.

All this should make for a fascinating team selection tomorrow, to see how TS views the priorities.