as long as we don't lose by 30 we wont be last

Lighten up FFS!

I've always liked him, I think he's underachieved generally at his other clubs though for me. When Arona comes back, where's he going to play?! I know it's an if, but if we get Fifita, Arona, Green, King all back in the next few weeks, we just seem to have an abundance of forwards in the squad. Navarette for a full season? A couple of years ago the team picked itself, we had real continuity, I don't think Chester knows his 'best' team when everyone is fit. It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks who gets left out completely.......

I think Westerman is a great signing if he can be consistent. A real handful and great offload game. Gives us another dimension and can be swapped out for any of the back 3. Chester not knowing his best side is a benefit, genuine depth all over the place.

I would like to see us make a game of it and get away from the predictable boring rugby we’ve been playing the past year or two.

21 for The Wire



TOM JOHNSTONE

BILL TUPOU

REECE LYNE

JACOB MILLER

KYLE WOOD

MATTY ASHURST

DANNY KIRMOND

JOE WESTERMAN

JAY PITTS

CRAIG KOPCZAK

JAMES BATCHELOR

ADAM TANGATA

JORDY CROWTHER

JOE ARUNDEL

MAX JOWITT

GEORGE KING

JOSH WOOD

LEE KERSHAW

RYAN HAMPSHIRE

KELEPI TANGINOA

ROMAIN NAVARRETE

I would go with -



Fullback – Jowitt

Wing – Johnstone

Centre – Tupou

Centre - Lyne

Wing - Arundel



Stand Off - Miller

Scrum Half – Hampshire



Prop – King

Hooker – Kyle Wood

Prop – Tangata

Second Row - Ashurst

Second Row – Tanginoa

Loose Forward - Westerman



Bench



Koppy

Navarrete

Josh Wood

Kirmond

From that three quarter line I'd personally go with:



Tom Johnstone

Joe Arundel

Reece Lyne

Bill Tupou

Jowitt

Johnstone

Tupou

Lyne

Kershaw

Miller

Hampshire

Koppy

K Wood

Navarette

Ashurst

Tanginoa

Westerman



J Wood

King

Tangata

Crowther/Batch

Maybe you guys will have better luck with Westerman, but having looked a real star when he broke through at Cas he never matched that promise in either spell at Hull and was generally very disappointing for the Wire. Not terrible, but very ordinary.

Warrington's 21 :- Sitaleki Akauola, Matty Ashton, Blake Austin, Keanan Brand, Luther Burrell, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Luis Johnson, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Jake Mamo, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Ellis Robson, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51449490

Warrington's 21 :- Sitaleki Akauola, Matty Ashton, Blake Austin, Keanan Brand, Luther Burrell, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Luis Johnson, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Jake Mamo, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Ellis Robson, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/51449490

Yeah maybe so, frustrating as he clearly has the potential. I think at least the threat of having a big lad who can get offloads away and another experienced head in the squad will do us well.



Not expecting him to be a world beater or anything but he's just a different kind of problem for opposition to think about than what we have in the pack without him, if that makes sense.

Westerman never reached his potential and never will, he has an attitude problem and most people know it

However, he has the skills and in a team like ours, that's a precious resource.



He's also a game breaker and though I agree that for Warrington he was fairly anonymous, I don't agree so much at Hull, where I always thought he played well.



If we get half a dozen good games from him it could be enough to help get us in the top end of the table. He's at that point in his career when the pressures off, which can be a good thing, he's no longer a kingpin player on a HUGE wage though I'm sure it's still sizeable, how he responds to that we'll have to wait and see, but I don't look on him as a messiah, just a very good journeyman and all teams have them.

King back is a bonus, good direct runner so should be ok in these conditions, also you’d hope he had a point to prove. Ditto Crowther who is a player willing to graft.

I know you like your stats and refer to them often Pop Tart. Westerman had, 2 missed tackles, 2 penalties conceded and 4metres av gain v KR. Some fans would have the knives out (Not you by the way) with those stats if Batch or Crowther got them. Goes to show that getting MOM or playing well isn't always about stats. Great try he scored and adds to the squad like all our signings. As we've seen with injuries we need a strong squad and we've noone who wouldn't look out of place in the 17.

Although I get your point I don’t think many would bag those stats whoever they came from, there not bad.



Westerman will always give penalties away but generally they will be smart penalties if you know what I mean. I think like Fifita we’d better prepare for that.



Agree with PT, if Westerman likes it at BV he could be a useful signing, if not then so be it, some gambles don’t pay off.

You make a good point. I hadn't checked the stats.

I guess I just liked what I saw.



He was doing a lot of passing. I'm guessing the run and pass before the line isn't counted as a carry.

For his misses he still made 30 and only TJ made more tackle busts.



Time will tell but he offers something I think we've missed.

We are a club that have to sign gambles. History has shown some work some don't. But think we've generally done quite well with them.

A bit like family then

How long before last weeks match was it canceĺled?

Coming up from Milton Keynes - or planning to, but would hate a 3 hour drive only to find the match not on.

3 1/2 hours before KO last sunday Fez.



In the same boat. Our coach sets off at 10am for pre match drinks.

Just checked the latest weather update and its looking like same conditions as last week. Rain and 50mph winds

Well the current weather about 3 miles away from BV is no where near as bad as this exact time last week. Light rain and a breeze. Could change though.

Thanks Gaz3376

Hope you make it across, we need your dosh





Hope you’ll be disappointed going home but probably not.