With Joel Tomkins and Tom Davies fit to play, who would you leave out on Saturday and who do you think Shaun Wane will leave out?

Personally (and I suspect it won't be popular) I'd probably leave Isa and Marshall out. Joel is a much bigger athlete than Isa and although Isa has been playing well, I think Joel has the edge in terms of size, skill and aggression. I know he's coming back from injury and that might go in Isa's favour and I certainly won't be worried if he gets the nod.

Marshall has done all that's been asked of him this season and went well against Salford but Tom Davies has earned his spot with his performances all year.

Tomkins, Davies, Gelling, Gildart, Burgess, Williams, Leuluai, Nu'usala, McIlorum, Sutton, Farrell, Bateman, O'Loughlin. Subs - Clubb, Tomkins, Tautai, Powell.

I'd go Davies in for Marshall and J.Tomkins in for Powell.

Davies ahead of Marshall - His workrate is brilliant and he is better defensively. Marshall looked fragile under kick pressure on Friday IMO and bombed a try. I don't want to get too down on him as he is a very good player for that age but I don't think it's that close between him and Davies right now.

J.Tomkins ahead of Powell - I think the key to this one will be dealing with their pack, which suits having J.Tomkins rather than Powell; who may struggle to deal with those Hull forwards if they get a roll on, due to his stature. I wouldn't want McIlorum doing 80 mins every week, but I think he is capable of doing it in a final. Isa is underrated and will be useful dealing with their forwards

Tomkins, he does not deserve it, he has not earned it, he is crap, sick and tired of this jobs for the boys mentality, Madge broke it up, Waney has brought it back, need i say more

I don't think he has been that good either, but regardless of the politics of it, if I was a Hull forward, I would much rather be running at Sam Powell than I would Joel Tomkins. Experience tends to count in finals as well, so keeping McIlorum on for 80 and having J.Tomkins in the 17 is wise from that perspective. I'd potentially feel differently if Powell was making a big impact from the bench and lifting us, but I don't really see that.

I tend to agree, Joel Tomkins does not deserve to be selected as his form prior to injury was poor, but with Wane being Wane we know that he will play some part with possibly Isa/Sutton or Powell sitting this one out.

This is where I tend to disagree. In the early part of the season when we were crippled with injuries, Joel Tomkins ran his blood to water and was very consistent in his performances. He played prop, second row, loose forward, centre and even half back and did a decent job in all of them. Will he give a couple of penalties away? Probably but his work rate and aggression compensates for that in my view.
He may not have lit up Superleague in the way he did before going to union but he's still a player I'd rather have with us than against us.

You are having a laugh aren't you?, McIlorum hasn't played a full 80 in years, secondly you rattle on about experience in a final, What player played the full 80 in last years Grand Final as well as all last season?, answer is Powell, the player you don't want playing just in case a big hull prop runs at him, instead you want to replace him with Tomkins, a player who will more than likely knock on a couple of time, will throw passes to nobody and will probably get into a fit because somebody tackles Sam with gusto and relish, you couldn't make it up

His versatility is his biggest asset but this is offset with him being extremely niggly and in having such a short fuse that I think the Hull team would target constantly, also I'm not convinced about his match fitness but then again you can only get this by playing! He won't let us down that's for sure, however he wouldn't be first on the team sheet, not for me anyway.

There's no way we will change to one hooker strategy, we've not done it since MM came back and didn't when he was previously playing.

I have a feeling Isa will play because Wane left him out of the WCC. Joel 18th man, Davies to replace Marshall.

Joel to miss out, Davies to come back in.

What's Joel played in the last 2 months, about 30 mins ?
Can't see how we could risk him at Wembley, it'll be hard enough containing Hull's forwards as it is.

Do you think he couldn't play the full 80 at a high standard for one game though? We have seen the likes of Powell and L.Tomkins play 80 mins at hooker in recent years, I'm struggling to believe that McIlorum couldn't. He is in good shape, under 30 years old, and has done it before, albeit a few seasons ago (not sure how long though, he was certainly doing it at times in 2014).

In terms of experience - you aren't seriously suggesting McIlorum isn't a far more experienced head than Powell? McIlorum has been a key player in every game he has been fit for since the beginning of the Maguire era, including five finals and loads of knockout games. Him, Farrell, Lockers and both Tomkins' have been there and done it time and time again. Powell has generally been in-and-out as a squad player for the past five years, and only really nailed down a regular spot last year, he isn't in that bracket in terms of experience at all.

Agreed in terms of J.Tomkins negative aspects. I'd just be using him as a bit-part to give one of the back rowers a breather, whilst they will be tackling bigger bodies all afternoon. Tell him he is in to run hard and tackle, not to be our Joey Johns. No issue with him fronting up to them if the game goes that way. We can't allow them to bully us, and he seems to manage to be intimidating without giving away penalties in those circumstances. They will hardly be concerned if Powell tries to stand up to them.

Joel IMO is a prop now not a backrower. He should be used in our prop rotation. What's the latest on Clubb? He went off injured against Salford and didn't look in great shape.

Definitely Davies in for Marshall, if fit.

Regarding the hooker role, bear in mind the club have all the biometric data to use, and it seems to me that shows MM is much better in shorter explosive bursts rather than pacing himself to last the full 80, so Powell stays on the bench for me.

JT vs Isa is the tricky one, I'd be inclined to stick with Isa but as others have said I feel Wane will bring Joel back.

His form prior to his first injury was actually his best imo since he came back to the club. He moved to prop for the Warrington quarter final and was superb both in that game and the following week at Huddersfield. He then had a problem and came back for the semi but clearly wasn't fit and didn't play many minutes.

I'm with Wane on Joel Tomkins. I think if he's fully fit then you find a spot for him. I'd actually start him at prop alongside FPN (who for all his weekly round laziness does seem to turn up for the big games) and let Sutton and Clubb add some energy from the bench. I think Willie Isa has done enough to earn a spot so that leaves the last place between Tautai and Powell. If FPN is a big game player then Tautai in his Wigan career has sometimes been the opppsite. He's mentioned himself that he let a couple of Grand Finals pass him by and sadly he'd probably be the one I'd leave out.

start with Powell and have MM on the bench

I'd put Frank in the stands for this one.

You could tell he wanted a shirt for Wembley couldn't you? How many of them had their best game so far this season against Salford?

Bloody hell...we agree again

Winder said in the bar after the Salford game that Clubb had gone off with a dead leg and Should be ok.
If Clubb is fully fit I'd start him instead of Sutton as v Salford. Sutton on the bench.
Davies, again if fit, to replace Marshall and Joel to miss out.

Phil Wilkinson has tweeted saying Wane seemed to hint Joel would miss out at the press conference today.

Clubb was doing the press duties also so you'd have to think he's fit or else he'd have been having treatment (not travelling to Leeds).

What is good to see going in to this game is two healthy teams. We're minus a couple of starting players but by our standards that's incredible. There's no excuses for either side and it should hopefully be a top game.

That's that then, my opinions are not worth a carrot either!! Lol

McIlorum has admitted himself in interviews he can't do the 80 minutes.

Previously when we had a under performing Logan Tomkins he would do 30 mins to start then come on after 50 mins.

Whereas now with Powell as a back up, Macca can go full on for 20 minute spells.

I do like the idea of starting with Powell then bringing Micky off the bench. Should combat the intensity drop off when lockers goes off.


According to Wigan today Isa's place in the team seems safe.

Glad we actually can have these discussions for the first time this year!

Ahh didn't realise he had said that, J.Tomkins and Marshall to miss out then. Agreed it's good that a decent player will have to miss out, the last time that happened was probably the WCC. I do wish we had Escare, Manfredi and Flower to call upon though!

If its a repeat of the 1985 final (with a different result) that'll do me. Hope everyone travels safely and enjoys the day whatever the result. See you all at Wembley.