yeah i know its abit of wishful thinking on our part if im honest with my self. you think you will keep hold of ainscough?

I disagree. I thought we struggled in attack due to the juggling of players throughout the match with Riddell coming on and off, Sam Tomkins going off and Leuluai having to keep switching between hooker and scrum half. Leuluai even mentions this in his interview after the game. I don't think the fullback had anything to do with it all, which would make sense IMO because Amos Roberts setup three tries from the fullback position against Castleford and has 6 to his name this season which has all come from when he has played at fullback. He has played in the halves before in the NRL so he has the distribution skills to setup tries and link up in attack.

That depends whether you agree with my belief that we are stronger with Phelps at FB and Roberts on the wing, than with Roberts at FB and Goulding on the wing.



My belief is that we put out our strongest squad. There's no room for sentiment here; if there are better player's than Goulding fully fit and performing, then they have to go in ahead of him.



I'm obviously assuming Phelps is fully fit. If he's not, then it's a no brainer, he doesn't play. I also don't buy into giving him another week's recovery for the Easter period; if he's fit, he's fit. Maguire's not stupid.



That's fair enough. As I said, it's a tough decision for MM, and potentially a match winner or loser.

To be honest, I'm happy with whatever Maguire opts for. He'll be making the game plan, and he'll have seen both players in training all week.

Yeah, I can't say I'll be stressing about the decision - either way we'll be strong.

It doesn't. To say someone has been performing brilliantly, but should miss out is a ridiculous statement IMO.



Our strongest squad though is not always what looks strong on paper. Games are won on grass and not paper.It's whose performing and playing well at the present time and at the moment that includes Darrell Goulding who is in fantastic form. I don't see how there is any sentiment in that.



I would still go with Goulding regardless of Phelps' fitness, but for me Phelps wasn't fully fit against Castleford. However I'm not Michael MaGuire and the coaching staff will know far better than me.

I back MaGuire's judgement and it should be interesting to see who he goes with. It's a tough decision for Friday and it is really great to be having these positive debates IMO about which players deserve to be played because they are in such fantastic form.



My thoughts exactly.

To be honest I think Maguire will be thinking long and hard about this particular selection dilemma this week and it won't get much easier the closer we get to the game.

For me, I think we need to look at the players each one will be up against. Saints will have Gardner and Meli on the wings, both of whom are very dangerous in the air when attacking. Goulding is quite small, so there's a danger he could struggle with Meli if they kick to the corners.
One of Meli's weaknesses, however, is his aerial ability when defending. In my opinion Roberts would be better suited to cope in defence and to make the most of challenging for kicks when attacking.

As much as I feel it would be very harsh to drop Goulding, I think it tactically it might make sense. Although, Maguire will know better than others how Goulding could cope with that particular threat, and it may be that he doesn't believe it will make too much difference.

Although, if Riddell is injured (is he?) then maybe Phelps, Roberts and Goulding could play.

Yes we'll keep hold of Ainscough.

Goulding claimed every high ball that went his way on Friday. Most of the Saints fans I know bemoan Meli's stone-hands under high balls at both ends of the field. It's pretty tough to defend against a well-kicked ball where the attacker has a ten-yard run-up on you and you have to compete from a standing jump.

Our team selection pretty much depends on the fitness of Phelps and Riddell really. If it wasn't a two-day turnaround before Wakey I think they'd probably both be patched up and thrown in