Chester Challenge : Tue May 24, 2016 10:52 am
Sunday was an epic performance full of grit and determination and a huge amount of bravery, I loved it.That said we didn’t IMHO play especially well, or not compared to what we are used to of late - we looked a bit jaded and in need of freshening up a little. This is no surprise after a battering against Hull and two very hard fought victories at Widnes and against Warrington - both hugely difficult wins. I also think this showed most with the introduction of Bill Tupou who IMHO had a vey positive impact as did Anakin.
Now this is not a Vasty masterclass in RL, Chris Chester pretty much alluded to the above in his post match interview. I know most on here believe you should stick with a winning team and mostly I agree. However player rotation or at least freshening up is part of modern RL and possibly overdue in our case. For once we have a few options not least the fact that any player coming in is joining a winning team - this applies to existing squad members and anyone recruited from outside.
So long as it’s made very clear to any rested player that this is a reward for their efforts and not a punishment and that their return is guaranteed within reason I see no issue.
I’m going to have a FWIW stab at it but clearly Chester is the only man who really knows and is in a position to act and this as the topic title suggests will be Chester’s challenge and probably his biggest so far. It must be incredibly difficult to balance players needs and emotions with the needs of the team but I suppose that’s what we pay him for so best of luck.
Jowitt still looks OK to me, he will hit the wall but not yet IMO.
Johnson has been under immense pressure to perform every week and he has - he’s a star but he’s young - he also took a pounding against Catalan and picked up a knock. I’d rest him for a game only and let his non to shoddy understudy Owen have a run out.
Tupou and Arundel look fresh in the centres and BJB is starting to find some form so that’s the back line sorted for me.
Sadly we can do nothing about Finn and Miller as on form they must play and as we know we have no viable alternatives.
In the pack I’d like to rest Sio who’s been immense, perhaps Ashurst and if we could Kirmond. Not sure on Kirmond as he has finally embraced the captaincy and is a positive influence but Scruton or A Tupou could cover. In the pack Anderson has returned quite strongly which helps, I’d like to give England another week as he’s played more minutes than any other prop and I feel will benefit hugely from a break before rejoining for the final push. Maybe rest Simon also.
So for Salford we could go with injuries permitting
Jowitt
Owen
B Tupou
Arundel
BJB
Miller
Finn
A Tupou (reckon he could do a longer stint than so far)
Kirmond
Anakin
Scruton (seems to be really fit at present)
Howarth (I rate him others don’t)
Arona
Anderson
Walker if fit or Yates if available
Molloy if fit or Walton if fit or even young Crowther who could I’m sure manage one game easy enough - think he’s due a pop.
Tansey (he’s versatile)
Not our best team I know but with a CCup coming up and a few home games to come it could be worth the risk as with Miller and Finn on board they still have a reasonable chance against Salford.
I know it’s risky and some won’t agree but hey.
Finally I assume Carter held some cash back using the same theory as last year - spend to win the MPG. I’m guessing the NRL player is a big forward, something we will need as we hit the final third of the season - however he won’t by the end of the week. Other than that I don’t see any outside support arriving any time soon as I suspect Carter/Chester wants to save cash for next years team building.