Quote pieeater123="pieeater123"Tuson missed the Warrington friendly with a cork, and was touch and go last night so hopefully he'll be back
Lauaki was meant to be missing the first 2 games of the year, but Wane said in his interview that he hopes to have him back.
Lauaki in for Dudson then
Although I'm not sure Tuson merits a place at present. I thought Thornley had a really good game at centre both in defence and attack, and Wane was very complementary on Hughes in the back row.
I'd imagine Tuson will be in though, probably for Powell which would be a shame'"
I don't see how Tuson can warrant a place in the squad. Hughes has done well enough to earn the second row spot while Powell and Burke have been excellent in pre-season and deserve their place in the squad. To put Tuson straight back in would be bizarre.
If Lauaki's injury is a hamstring I don't think it makes sense to risk him against such a tough pack. The only change I would make is bringing Greg Burke in for Ben Flower. He doesn't add much to either the front or back row. I think Burke would be useful to spell Lockers, Farrell and Hughes because the Wire pack is much more likely to tire them out than Salford's were.
Tomkins
Charnley
Goulding
Thornley
Richards
Green
Smith
Dudson
McIlorum
Mossop
Hughes
Farrell
O'Loughlin
Powell
Prescott
Taylor / Lauaki
Burke
We could easily fall into the trap of thinking 'oh it's Wire we need size' and pack the bench with forwards who don't actually offer anything more or anything different. Powell looked very good against Salford and increased the speed of the ruck when he came on. I also think it will benefit McIlorum to allow him to be spelled. He's struggled to keep up the pace for 80 minutes in hard fought games but allowing him a rest could be a big help and might be better than having another big lad on the bench.
I do worry that Wane will just throw Tuson and Lauaki straight back in, which would be reminiscent of our last game against Wire when he seemed to ignore the fact that players returning from injury probably wouldn't be 100%.