Sunday afternoon sees a return to action for a troubled Warrington Wolves, who are looking to avoid a third defeat in four games with a trip to West Yorkshire to take on Daryl Powell’s Castleford Tigers.
Steve Price has named a 21-man squad for this game, which makes predicting a lineup even more challenging than usual. Among the 21 are Harvey Livett and Luis Johnson, who have been recalled from their bright loan spells at Hull KR. Pat Moran also makes the squad for the third straight game, while Mike Cooper is in but with a question mark against his name after he withdrew from the team to play Salford in the warm-up. Chris Hill returns to the fold after serving a suspension, though Sitaleki Akauola misses out as he serves the first of his two-game ban. This game comes too early for Ben Murdoch-Masila, and Price confirmed this week that Stefan Ratchford and Kevin Brown are still a fair while away from returning to match fitness. With those three unavailable, let’s see which players make this week’s Sweet 17.
Full Back - 22 Jake Mamo
It’s no secret that Mamo has been struggling defensively of late but he does contribute a fair bit in attack and so I’d keep him in the team for that. With the semi-final next week,
Winger - 2 Tom Lineham
Lineham had a shocking game last time out against Salford but will keep his place out wide - this will be the first time he has faced Castleford this season after not being in the team either time we have played them so far in 2019.
Centre - 3 Bryson Goodwin
One of the few players who put in a respectable performance against Salford last week. Has been in good form for a while.
Centre - 18 Toby King
Toby King was outstanding the last time we took on the Tigers, bagging a brace of tries. With his form this season, it will be very difficult for Luther Burrell to force his way in before the end of the year.
Winger - 5 Josh Charnley
A big moment in last week’s game was Charnley seeing his early try ruled out incorrectly. Even so, it was good to see him linking up with King again.
Stand Off - 6 Blake Austin
Austin has gone three games without a try, which remarkably is the longest he has gone without one for Wire. He was influential last time we travelled to Castleford and will be looking for a similar performance.
Scrum Half - 15 Declan Patton
Friday night was actually one of Patton's better performances and there has certainly been a bit of an upturn in his game lately. Still need to see a bit more from him on the fifth play.
Prop - 8 Chris Hill
Hill is back in the side after serving a two-game suspension. We have certainly lacked leadership of late and perhaps Hill's return might help with that.
Hooker - 9 Daryl Clark
Our heroic hooker returns to his former home, and in recent years he has put in massive performances at Cas. The only player performing at his best right now.
Prop - 25 Luis Johnson
Johnson has really impressed in his loan spell at Hull KR. I wouldn't risk Mike Cooper here with the semi-final just a week away, it makes far more sense to be giving Johnson a game.
Second Row - 11 Ben Currie
Currie struggled a little in the Salford defeat and will be looking to get back to his performance level from the London game.
Second Row - 12 Jack Hughes
I personally thought Hughes was terrible in the Salford defeat and he will need to improve against a quality side. He played well in both wins over Castleford this season so can hopefully continue that trend.
Loose Forward - 23 Matt Davis
The performance of Matt Davis was one of very few positives from the Salford defeat. His tackling and work-rate were top notch and he should surely keep his place at 13.
Interchange - 17 Joe Philbin
Philbin does some good stuff from the bench and will be better utilised as a substitute this week.
Interchange - 14 Jason Clark
Good to see him bag a try last week, I still feel like he lacks genuine impact though.
Interchange - 20 Harvey Livett
I've been impressed with how well Livett has done at Hull KR on loan, I would be fine with him getting a bit of game time here.
Interchange - 21 Danny Walker
Walker has looked bright in his recent appearances from the bench. If we were in a position to give Daryl Clark some rest during this game then Walker would be a fine replacement for stints.
The four players from the 21-man squad that I didn't select to play are Lama Tasi, Luther Burrell, Pat Moran and Mike Cooper. I wouldn't risk such an important player as Cooper the week before a semi, with his fitness having a major question mark. I don't really think Moran will offer anything that Luis Johnson can't, while Luther Burrell will need to continue to gather fitness before he is included again, I expect. As for Lama Tasi, his level of performance is such that I just don't see how he will offer more than Luis Johnson.
Cas are starting to get a bit of momentum again after a good win against Wakefield last week. Jake Trueman was influential in this win and is one of the best number sixes in the league. Jordan Rankin is in good form, and going forward Cas possess one of the league's best props in Liam Watts. They are a great attacking team and are always a threat at home, though they have lost a lot of big games, with Saints and ourselves both picking up a pair of wins over the Tigers in 2019. We will need to watch out for players like Mike McMeeken and Jesse Sene-Lefao who can be key to Powell's side. This is also a game where I want to see better attacking structure from Wire - we need to be more cohesive and adventurous with the ball, and ask some posing questions of the Cas defence.
This is a big game. I think it's really important that we go into next week's semi-final against Hull FC in a good frame of mind. Also, our grip on 2nd place is loosening somewhat, with Hull FC and even Wigan starting to get close. No excuses, we need to pick up a win here.
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
No comments:
Post a Comment