What we thinking team wise?

It's going to be that starting front row that will be the biggest talking point. I'd probably look to split Mago and Byrne and start with one. I'm confident Mago has more minutes in him. My post from last season that mentioned how tired he'd looked in a game for Souths has been talked about quite a bit but we've covered plenty of times now that it just looks to be 'his look' and I think we should now put that to the test. In that Souths game I believe he payed an hour plus, so we may need him to do that tomorrow.

As for the rest, I think I would O'Neill a shot and you'd expect Partington and Havard to come in (although Peet seems to be hinting it may be another week with Havard). I'd swap Hardaker and Bibby around for this one as well. We need more from Hardaker wherever he plays but he is a bit wasted on the wing.

I'd go-

Field
Bibby Pearce-Paul Hardaker Marshall
Cust Leuluai
Mago Powell Partington
Bateman Farrell Smithies

Subs
Byrne Havard Isa O'Neill

I'd move K P-P back into the pack, great off-load on him and defensively sound but he's never going to make a break out wide, seen enough of him now to see he hasn't got the pace to play out there.
Field
Miski
Hardaker
Bibby
Marshall
Cust
Leuluai
Partington
O'Neil
Byrne
Farrell
Bateman
Smithies

Mago
K P-P
Havard
Shorrocks

Out of the 3 there, only 1 will get their winger away and its the one you've moved to the pack

The trouble is that the man outside of him is Hardaker and he ain't a winger. Don't see any changes myself, apart from the enforced ones.

Not Cas game related but does anyone know what the prognosis is on Havard? He's been a big miss in my opinion and that will be compounded now Ellis is out too for his enforced period.

In the squad isn't he?

In the squad and the fan forum talk from Rads and Peet seemed to suggest he’ll play a part tonight. I look forward to watching him more than anyone under this new coaching set up. He should be aiming for the absolute top but like with everyone under Lam, he’s been up and down.

OT & slightly negative, so sorry about it but...

It became really clear last night, how much of a disaster Lam's time with us really was. Peet talked about how, 5 years ago, we were at Saints current level and IL is talking about us being at year 1 of a 3 year journey. That's an 8 year span to get back to being competitive. Guys have forgotten how to be consistent week in week out. Standards have slipped and players haven't progressed. I put all of that at the feet of Lam.

I don’t disagree although I’d put some blame at the door of the people who thought having an interim coach until Shaun Edwards turned up was a good idea and who then didn’t pull the plug on the caretaker when it came out that Edwards wasn’t coming after all.

That’s old news though and everyone makes mistakes. It’s hopefully upwards now for us.

I look forward to seeing what he can do this year also. He is a great talent, his numbers are great every game and he has immense potential imo.

I do have some slight worries though:
1 - He seems to get injured a lot (Ankle Ligaments, Back Injury, anything else?)
2 - He hasn't really improved since making his debut (He did hit the ground running. Could the injuries be taking a toll? Could it be due to the way things were under Lam)

There are questions there, so we’ll see how he goes. His talent is huge. I’d be worried more by a possible lack of mongrel in him than I would injuries tbh. I just worry he’s a bit nice but that might change with time, age, confidence, the right coach etc.

I look at Byrne this season and he looks much improved and I think if they can get that out of Havard, he could kick on multiple levels.

Well we are carry on where we left off errors wise, fantastic!!