I'd agree with most of that. The one thing I would question is how deliberate any resting of players was. On several occasions the message "No, they really are injured" has gone out when yet another different line up has taken the field in a league game. My view is we can take that at face value and I don't go in for this idea at all that the club is so deliberately misleading in its statements. Hansen may be fresher this year at this time of the season than last but he is an example of a player who has played fewer games for what was definitely an injury not because he was rested. This applies to several other players as well. Also part of my reason for thinking this is I don't think playing different teams on a weekly basis is good preparation for a final and the fact we won doesn't prove it was. I don't think Wane will have wanted to do this.

Yes I think the majority of players that have missed games were injured HOWEVER they haven't been rushed back this year and have been given the time they needed to recover. How many 'setbacks' did players have last season compared to this? Sam and Lockers for example would 100% have played in that match against Huddersfield last season.

Fair point but I think they would have played this season v Hudds if fit enough and would have been rested v Cats. The reason I think Lockers didn't play was simply he wasn't fit, not caution because I don't think Wane will have viewed having key players missing so much prior to the final was a good thing.



Whether by accident or design we can't say our players should be tired for the play-offs but I think we have a had a very unlucky season with injuries. To come out of it with a CC win is fantastic.



What I don't think has been so good about the "resting" is the inconsistent selections of replacements. Where has Burke gone for example? Seemed the logical choice when Lockers was out and given Lockers was always due back at some point (i.e. he wasn't out for the season) then Burke was in little danger of over exposure especially given he is so good. Instead we have had Tuson and Hughes playing 13 in recent weeks (IIRC). You could flip a coin to try and guess who was in the centres. I think the team being more unsettled than it need have been has contributed to our poor league form of late.

You are making an assumption that all players you see as possibles are fit? Maybe they are not.

Thats part 1 sorted.



part 2 begins.

Rest most of the side v hull , then play most of them v Leeds to build to full match fitness in rd 1 of play-offs.



I think i speak for most when i say we dont care about the hub cap now we have the Challenge cup, but we wouldnt mind a jolly to Old trafford, and hopefully win there

Burke has been fit, certainly lately when we have been playing Hughes and Tuson at 13.

If my maths is correct, the LLS is out of reach now anyway. Can we finish 2nd and get Wire at home? I think we can. They have 2 tough games to finish the season. Sts away and then a trip to France to finish the season. Do we want to finish 2nd and get Wire at home or do we want to finish 4th and go to the JS Stadium? Tough one. In the 2 games against Hudds this season, we came very close at their place and were injury ravaged when they came to the DW. Now that we have a seemingly clean bill of health, I would expect us to turn them over.



Wire are still the danger for me and it is just a matter of time before we face them in a final.

Please no.





I said a few weeks ago that it will be a Wigan/Leeds final and I'm sticking to that.

I do think it's inevitable. We have both been the best teams in the league for a good 3-4 years now. It's the final that most neutrals want.



Don't get me wrong, I think it will be awful. The thought of getting beaten by them in a final is almost too much to take. I could take getting beaten by Leeds, or even Saints (just), but to see the look on their smug faces as we leave the ground would be unbearable. On the other hand, the feeling of winning against them would be amazing!

Agree. I couldn't take the build up either. Just wouldn't enjoy it.



You're sig is out of date BTW

Well spotted. Just testing you understand...

Under 19s picked for Friday, just the next phase of the Masterplan. Roll on 2015 when the Masterplan is to win as many games as possible! Revolutionary!