1. Zak Hardaker
2. Liam Marshall
3. Chris Hankinson
6. Bevan French
7. Tommy Leuluai
9. Sam Powell
10. George Burgess
11. Willie Isa
12. Liam Farrell
14. Ben Flower
15. Joe Greenwood
16. Morgan Smithies
19. Joe Bullock
20. Liam Byrne
21. Dom Manfredi
23. Jake Bibby
28. Harry Smith
30. Ethan Havard
31. Jackson Hastings
32. Amir Bourouh
33. Joe Shorrocks

I'd go:

FB 6. French
RW 2. Marshall
RC 1. Hardaker
LC 23. Bibby
LW 21. Manfredi
SO 28. Smith
SH 31. Hastings
P 20. Byrne
H 9. Powell
P 30. Havard
SR 11. Isa
SR 12. Farrell
LF 19. Bullock

S 7. Leuluai
S 10. Burgess
S 14. Flower
S 16. Smithies

Backs unchanged.
I can't see us winning a trophy this year with Leuluai in the halves. We should stick with Smith, who has greater potential. Playing Leuluai off the bench gives us the opportunity to take Smith out of the firing line if he's having a mare. Otherwise he can give Powell a break.
Bullock has looked alright since the break and deserves a spot in the 17 ahead of Greenwood IMO.

I would go

1. French
2. Marshall
3. Hardaker
4. Bibby
5. Manfredi
6. Hastings
7. Leuluai
8. Byrne
9. Powell
10. Havard
11. Isa
12. Farrell
13. Smithies

14. G. Burgess
15. Bullock
16. Greenwood
17. Smith

I think we need Tommy back in against a solid Cas pack for his tackling ability and willingness to get stuck in. Greenwood looked good and gave us a different dimension against Leeds and am hopeful he continues to improve and get fitter. Having Smith on the bench gives us plenty of options if we need to mix it up. Shorrocks would be unlucky because i think he showed up well against Leeds but if George can produce anything like he is capable of he is a deadly weapon to have. We live in hope it will click soon. It's just his fitness letting him down for me. How can he not be fit yet?

That's the team I think though it wouldnt surprise me if Lam puts Flower in and rests one of the younger lads. We really do have terrific squad depth - such a shame we've not been able to see this squad perform as normal in front of crowds as I doubt we'll have a squad this good over the next few years.

I’d go:

1. French
2. Marshall
3. Hardaker
4. Bibby
5. Manfredi
6. Smith
7. Hastings
8. Havard
9. Powell
10. Bullock
11. Isa
12. Faz
13. Smithies

Burgess
Flower/Greenwood
Byrne
Tommy

We need a big, aggressive pack and power off the bench to dominate Cas’ forwards. If we can dominate there we’ll control field position, put them under pressure and force mistakes which we can capitalise on.

Burgess needs a good hit out. I still think he’ll be good for us but needs to pick up his game. I’d like to see Flower back but also wouldn’t mind seeing Greenwood out there, hence the indecision. Flower offers us more aggression for certain so if pushed I’d probably lean towards him.

Overall we need a big performance which is much improved on recent weeks. It needs to be consistent for 80mins, not patches letting them back in.

Swap Greenwood for Burgess and I think you're spot on.
Unless Burgess has had an hip replacement he will keep on running like me. An owd man.
I'd be pretty amazed if he plays this weekend. He has hardly played now for virtually 2 seasons. I'd love him to bounce back but just don't see it happening.
A hit out for Burgess these days is 5 minutes each half. A waste of a squad number. If he can't do 40 minutes a game he's almost useless for me as a senior player. It's time for him to put up or shut up. I want the guy to succeed but his performances so far have been pretty abysmal.


After the truely awful display at Cas the team owes us one so I'm expecting a decent display in what is virtually a full team excluding Gildart. I exclude SOL as he misses more games than he plays.

Hastings has got to step up and start to lead the team around the park and let the ball do the work instead of playing like an extra forward. It looks like he works hard but very ineffective as a main attack option . He thinks he's the best player in SL it's time he started to show it. He's been average in most games this season.

Looking forward to French on what hopefully will be dry conditions.

A good game for Bullock to show if he is progressing. He needs to kick on now if he wants to secure a starting shirt in every game. He's had plenty of time now to throw off his part time background. Personally I'm a fan but he needs more time on the pitch and to be more dominant consistently in attack and probably more importantly in defence.

I said the other week that Havard by the end of the season would be our best prop. He's already there.
Burgess Flower and Bullock need to pick the mantle and kick on.
We are playing so so and still top of the league. Time for the squad to live up their potential. 2 games after the break and 2 average performances so I'm hoping for a stepped change in performance this weekend.

I always like a Wigan v Cas game so looking forward to the game. I hope I see mard s mard lip.

Tommy has to play and so does Sam Powell. They are our best defenders and time after time we are hammered by this Cas pack (although I don't think they're at full strength as Daryl Powell likes to tell us at every possible opportunity) through the middle. If that means that Sam Powell does time at 13 to accommodate Harry Smith coming on then so be it.

French
Marshall
Hardaker
Bibby
Manfredi
Leuluai
Hastings
Burgess
Powell
Havard
Isa
Farrell
Smithies

Flower
Byrne
Bullock
Smith/Greenwood - depending on how he wants to go

I think the squad looks very strong this year but I'm hoping to still see more new faces at least once. Kilner, Hanley and Halsall all looked exciting in pre-season and it would be great to see if they look like proper first team options. The current crowd-less set up would be a good time to give them a run out. I imagine we won't get to see Harry Rushton in the first team before he heads Down Under so I'll have to wait until he comes back in a couple of years time!

Played every game in 2018 and 50% of them in 2019 which considering he missed 9 of the 13 games he missed with a ban, after which he came straight back in for a playoff game, I don't think he's done too bad.

He clearly has an issue at Wigan (looks far too big IMO) but I'm not prepared to write him off just yet.

As I said he’s hardly played in 2 seasons ie 2019 and 2020.
He obviously has problems which I believe is related to his hip.
I want the guy to succeed along with all of our players but if after all this time he is still struggling then it could possibly be career threatening which would be appalling for the guy.

I hope he plays tomorrow and has a blinder but so far apart from 15 minutes versus 12 men he looks physically crocked.

Hastings needs to step up? He is top for try assists in Superleague this year and the most metres made for any halfback.

Not good enough