At the moment I'd have Miller over Holdsworth.

And moving Whiting to centre weakens the team overall. He's needed in the forwards.

If Miller stays in it won't have anything to do with Gentle's 'pride'.

Fairly sure that Gentle won't consider the loss of our leading try scorer as any kind of 'opportunity'. Neither would having to justify his decisions to folk like you figure in his considerations.

miller needs time, pre-season will give him that, before he arrived, horne and holdsworth were in the halves and we were playing better rugby

if not whiting in centre, who else?

as for gentles' pride, that was sarcasm as I said previously he would always choose dj and miller over horne

If Horne and Holdsworth are fit,Miller shouldn't be anywhere near the team.

It's been that long since we've had a decent 7, it's obvious by the rhetoric towards Miller that most fans have forgotten what they do.

That squad is good enough to beat Catalan at home without risking Crooks or Lynch. Next week away from home however is a different story. The extra week will do them good...........

Erm, put the ball in the scrum?

We are not in the 80s any more. There is no discernable difference between a 6 and a 7, the two are interchangeable. Miller is a lovely crisp passer of the ball, has a step, is quick and is willing to take the line on. He's not ready yet, but those things make me confident he will be a good player in the future.

There's plenty of difference when the positions are played correctly.

On current form Miller should be in the team ahead of Holdsworth.

Exactly. We have only got one SH, the decision is between Horne & Holdsworth and we need DJ's kicking game, which is why I'd put Horne to FB.

Completely agree, but Holdsworth's kicking game is too important.

Hornes kicking game was as good as it,s ever been prior to his injury & he does take the line on unlike Holdsworth.

That would be my team, only change Johnson for Kent. Picking a team to win the game then Horne starts for me and I wouldn't drop the two halves so Shaul would miss out.

Id keep Kent in as think he offers more than Johnson,who has been poor for me,Big heart but just not big enough for me and would be very harsh on shaul and would rob us of pace and our only support player should the forwards get their hands free.

That was then, this is now. Horne's been out for a long spell and Holdsworth hasn't been the same since returning from his concussion. Miller at least plays at the line.


Horne. Which is why it's not such a 'no brainer' to move him into the halves as some think. It would be different if we'd managed to get one of our centres back fit.


At the moment there are some good reasons to stick with Miller and DJ in the halves due to the makeup of the side overall while we have so many players out. It's a far from ideal situation and it will place limits on what Gentle can - or might want - to change.

Johnson isn't big enough sadly but, I'd trust him more than Kent for this game. It would be harsh on Shaul but we have to think of this as a one off game. We need DJ's kicking game and the combination with Miller and in the centres Horne is wasted.

DJ is the player who needs to improve. Last week all he did was stand and pass.

Yes, Miller can look like a bit of a loose cannon, but is there any wonder? He's just turned 21 and played every game since he's been here. At least he's trying to put players in gaps and take on the line. We'll see the best from him next season onwards.

Very strong Catalans squad, I think they'll have too much fire power for us tomorrow night (hope I'm wrong).

For me;
Starting line-up
Shaul
Crookes
Horne
Yeaman
Briscoe
Holdsworth
Miller
Watts
Houghton
Green
Westerman
Whiting
Ellis

Bench
Heremaia
Bowden
Johnson
Pitts

Missing out
Kent
Tickle
I would have Westerman running left second row with Whiting running right second row. Ellis gets a free role in the middle to cause as much damage as possible.
Tickle offers less than any of these three apart from his goal kicking which, for me, is not enough reason for giving him a place in the team. Westerman or Holdsworth to kick depending on who fancies it most.

Catalans problem, as it always seems to be, is their poor travelling form. Not since the season they had Greg Bird have they been consistently good on the road and capable of winning big games, against decent teams away from France.

Cats squad looks strong on paper but they are unpredictable and inconsistent like we are and don't travel well. If Gentle comes up with the right game plan and IF the players execute it properly we can win, but it will require a big improvemebnt on recent form.

We had won 5 on the bounce when we went to their place in the league and took a humping!!
We had lost 4 on the bounce when we went to their place again in the cup and beat them!

Who knows what is gonna happen with these two??

Think this game should have billed the 'Jekyll & Hyde' tie.

Two teams that on their day are capable of a great rugby but also total dog doo.

Kosh, I admire your optimism.

You state that Holdsworth hasn't been the same since returning from his concussion. He got that in the 3rd game of the season so I'm intrigued by all this pre-concussion form you base that on. One of those games was v Leeds when he was as poor as the rest. The concussion argument is a get out of jail card folk can play when it suits, to get away from the truth that he is not the half back we really needed. I would say his form was patchy, peaked in the semi and has since detoriated almost game by game to a standard that is bordering unacceptable.

You state there are some good reasons to stick with Miller and DJ in the halves due to the makeup of the side overall. I can see a fraction of logic here becuase of our chronic lack of backs but the positives of playing Horne there far outweigh anything else. He is a class player, who is more likely to come to the fore on Friday night than these two.

I'm far from optimistic, which anyone who knows me will be only too happy to confirm. More fatalistic than anything else when it comes to FC. Years of experience.



I seem to remember DJ at least playing at the line in the few games he had before being smacked. Maybe I dreamt it. I'm certainly not suggesting that DJ hasn't been a disappointment because apart from his field kicking he certainly has - and seems to have got worse if anything.


I'd jump at the chance to have Horne in the halves if we had any other decent options at centre. But we haven't. Our only option would be to move Whiting there and he's needed in the pack. IMO the overall balance of the side is better with Horne at Centre and Whiting in the forwards to the point where it's worth persevering with Miller and DJ. It's not ideal at all but IMO is the lesser of two evils.