I am very similar in that I’m always cautious in any final to try and get my disappointment ready before the actual outcome so that a win is a bonus. That is pessimistic but it seems to have served me well over the years.

I’m still worried that there is another HKR performance in us even with some recent great displays.That is hopefully OTT but we will know in the first 5 minutes if we are ready for the battle

The main worry that I have for Friday is our bench which will probably consist of 3 backrowers and a weak prop. If Havard and Flower were playing I’d be a lot more upbeat.

If we are to win I think we need Hastings to have the game of his life which in his current form isn’t beyond him

Really looking forward to what hopefully will be a great game.

We’re slight favourites with the bookies.

Hopefully get the job done

I think we have to see it as big progress from last year that we're facing an (almost) fully fit Saints squad and we think we've got a decent shot.

Having said that I think Saints will rightly start as favourites, and will probably win. They're a good side with more players in their prime than we have. More importantly, they have Alex Walmsley this time who even if he's carrying a slight knock, improves their team enormously.

Head says Saints by a try or two, but I'd love it if Lockers could go out on a high.

I think Saints look a more dangerous attacking team and have the edge in the front row with Walmsley there. I think they will win but we're capable of it if we can match or exceed the defensive intensity that we showed a few weeks ago and keep mistakes to a minimum. Dont forget it was 4 tries to 1 last time and we missed three kicks. It looks like it'll be dry weather which I think helps us.

I suspect sadly that despite the progress we've made this year the poor results of our front row recruitment (plus injuries) will come back to bite us here. George B not working out plus Havard and Flower being unavailable might lead to us struggling in the middle. I think you have to go with a Greenwood, Lockers, Smithies and Clubb bench as there aren't other viable options.

No surprises in the squad, Powell and Greenwood back in.

Lockers to Prop

Is this the first time in his 20.year career that you have advocated selecting him?

I was nice too him 2010 t0 2018, Just ask Phuzzy

Head and heart say Saints by 6-12pts but a win is certainly doable, we just need to be on our game and much better than we were v Hull. I’d probably go as far to say we need the best game we’ve played all season to win.

I'm confident that if we play the way we have done for the last 5 games we'll give ourselves a very good chance of winning.

The way the team is playing they've made the second halves of games virtually one way traffic. We've only conceded one second half try since they cup semi and that was when we were destroying Salford. In total we've conceded less than 2 tries per game over the last 5 weeks.

With French, Hardaker, Gildart, Hastings, Farrell and Greenwood we have plenty of strike and in key positions we've got plenty of experience of these games.

The team seem to have gone up a gear after not really turning up against Leeds and I'm sure in a Grand Final and for Lockers' last game they'll be able to kick on a bit more.

The first 20 minutes will be huge IMO. I think they’ll be smarting from that recent defeat and their forwards will come out trying to prove a point. If we can ride it out without much damage then we’re bang in the game.

Yeah im edging towards Saints but certainly not ruling our boys out the way we have been playing and defending. This is the first time we have played each other in ages where pretty much anything can happen, i just hope that at the end of the game if it ends in defeat i get to say begrudgingly 'fair play Saints, the best side won' rather than having to talk about an officiating decision.

It really is about the first Walmsley spell for me. We have to hang on in there for that otherwise they'll get their tales up and as we have seen before it's a long way back.

Wigan by 10+ apologies, as I'm usually wrong.

He needs to have a massive target put on him in that opening spell to really set the tone. That always had to be the case but even more so if he’s carrying a niggle. I’ve seen Saints fans moaning that we’ll target that knee in particular but I don’t mean that in the slightest. I mean get off your line and get in to him before he gets a head of steam up. If you don’t do that he will murder you but even more importantly Roby, Lomax and Coote will murder you on the back of him.

I think a 3 man tackle involving Singleton, Bullock and Leauluai should suffice. If he gets through a couple of them unscathed he should be ok.

Ive spelt Tommy's name wrong just for a change. He has played for us for about 46 years and i still cant spell his name without googling it, How many vowels do you need in a name anyway

Could be worse though, The prop at Leeds everyone just calls Ava. I know his name as 'See you Manny fang hi' I bet Leeds fans still cant spell his name.

100%

All of our attack with the ball needs to be aimed at him. Send Singleton, Bullock and Olly at him early doors and as you say, big hits in defence. We can target him without being dirty, but of course it won't be seen that way if he goes off injured.

A smart coach might use him as a decoy in this one, especially if he's not 100%. If they have him as a dummy runner and pass it out the back instead, or have him passing it just before the line, they could catch us out. We probably have to deal with their plan A before we worry about plan B though as you say, if he is fit and gets going he is a massive part of what they do.

Just smash them all

The Shaun Wane approach! Get art thur and fookin smash um!

Typical dirty Wigan scum

I think we'll see a like for like encounter to our game with them a few weeks ago.

Tight in most areas, but Wigan executing their chances better to win by 14-16 points.

Sam Powell has scored more tries than Reegan Grace this year.

I just thought that stat should be out there.

Can't argue with that, same here!