I fancy us to edge it...
I could see Leigh falling in to a similar trap as last year - they've been winning games comfortably and havent been tested in quite some time. When a team of similar quality turns up and has a go; i could see them getting rattled at least for parts of the game. Just look at how they fell apart in the last 20 at Odsal when we finally turned up.
I fully expect us to be fired up for a big 80minutes, and i think after the sheffield game Smith will ring a couple of changes. Should Gaskell be out he'll have to bring Haggerty back in (by no means a bad thing, he's unlucky to be behind Ferg, Olbison & Pitts in the pecking order), moving Addy to the halves.
I'd like to see him ditch Blythe though, thats two shockers he's had in consecutive weeks since coming back in to the team.
Hope he sticks with Joe Lumb - lad hasnt put a foot wrong so far, and this will be his first runout infront of a decent crowd; will be interesting to see how he handles the big occasion.
We had Leigh sussed last year - mark Ridyard out of the game and the rest of them soon start to look a little bit more average!
Plenty of room for optimism though, it seems one of the key things RS has quickly addressed is the lack of aggression in the camp, particularly in the pack. For the first 10mins of the first half and most of the 2nd half on friday our pack looked a totally different bunch from what they were 6weeks ago; running their weight and not holding back in defence. Really positive to see that.
Here's to a good weekend, and hopefully more news on signings and contracts through the week (Y)
