16 Feb: SL: Hull FC v St Helens KO 3pm

[Bleep1673]

Hull FC by 10 in a high scoring match

[Hullfan]

8 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

Both Hull and Saints have already been on TV twice. Surely it's better to see all teams on TV over the season rather than those who just happen to be near the top of the league at the time.

That wouldn't include hull then, they don't happen to be near the top at all. Dreadful season coming up 

[Old Frightful]

Not biting today mate.

[Hela Wigmen]

Think we’ll probably lose, though we have returnees. Those returnees haven’t played since the Grand Final, so there will be some questions over their fitness and readiness to be playing but we’re short on the ground in a couple of areas. We rode our luck last year in terms of injuries and managed a one legged James Roby without many hiccups last year, so we’ve been due some bad luck and I’d rather it now than come August time. 

I think we’ll struggle against Hull’s pack. We do struggle against physical packs and I think we will again here. 

FC by 10+ but a better performance from Saints than last week. 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

Saints by 8.

[Old Frightful]

A few changes to the Hull starting line up, Andre Savelio being the most notable absentee, here's the two squads :

Hull FC: Jamie Shaul, Carlos Tuimavave, Josh Griffin, Adam Swift, Jake Connor, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Josh Jones, Ligi Sao, Jordan Johnstone, Masi Matongo, Brad Fash, Jordan Lane, Josh Bowden, Mahe Fonua, Connor Wynne, Kieran Buchanan, Gareth Ellis, Ratu Naulago, Charlie Patterson-Lund

St Helens: Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Regan Grace, Jonny Lomax, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley,  Luke Thompson, Zeb Taia, Dom Peyroux, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Kyle Amor, Jack Ashworth, Joseph Paulo, Aaron Smith, James Bentley, Matty Costello, Jack Welsby, Lewis Dodd, Tom Nisbet.

 

[FearTheVee]

More confident having seen the squads (and I think people might be reading a little bit too much into Saints' performance last week).

Saints by 8

[Hullfan]

2 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

A few changes to the Hull starting line up, Andre Savelio being the most notable absentee, here's the two squads :

Hull FC: Jamie Shaul, Carlos Tuimavave, Josh Griffin, Adam Swift, Jake Connor, Marc Sneyd, Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton, Josh Jones, Ligi Sao, Jordan Johnstone, Masi Matongo, Brad Fash, Jordan Lane, Josh Bowden, Mahe Fonua, Connor Wynne, Kieran Buchanan, Gareth Ellis, Ratu Naulago, Charlie Patterson-Lund

St Helens: Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Regan Grace, Jonny Lomax, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley,  Luke Thompson, Zeb Taia, Dom Peyroux, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Kyle Amor, Jack Ashworth, Joseph Paulo, Aaron Smith, James Bentley, Matty Costello, Jack Welsby, Lewis Dodd, Tom Nisbet.

 

Can only see a saint helens victory here. Hull have a weaker looking squad week by week. The writings on the wall

[MZH]

Now that I have seen the squads I have to edge towards Saints. Walmsley being there and Savelio not being there is a pretty big swing in terms of the overall strength of the packs. We can still put out a good starting 13 but the bench will be pretty weak.

I think this game will tell us a lot about who we are this year. No shame in losing but I don't want to see a lacklustre effort and excuses about injuries. If we lose easily and Radford comes on and immediately starts talking about all the missing players then I know nothing has really changed from last year. 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I was a bit on the fence with this one but I have to say I'm not too confident having now seen the squads. 

[fieldofclothofgold]

Saints will be hurting and want to bounce back .Hull are looking a decent team and should be up for this . If Saints lose this it could be a season " after " hangover . I'll take Hull by 7 

[ELBOWSEYE]

Saints squad is better with big alex back and in need of a performance before the WCC next week, Hull with a number of forwards missing, could go either way just fancy saints. 

[Wellsy4HullFC]

Hull side could be:

Shaul; Naulago, Tuimavave, Fonua, Swift; Connor, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Sao, Jones, Griffin, Ellis; Bowden, Matongo, Fash, Lane.

Still a good squad, but not our best squad.

What is Saints' likely lineup?

[Lowdesert]

13 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Hull side could be:

Shaul; Naulago, Tuimavave, Fonua, Swift; Connor, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Sao, Jones, Griffin, Ellis; Bowden, Matongo, Fash, Lane.

Still a good squad, but not our best squad.

What is Saints' likely lineup?

No Johnstone?

[Chris22]

16 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

Hull side could be:

Shaul; Naulago, Tuimavave, Fonua, Swift; Connor, Sneyd; Taylor, Houghton, Sao, Jones, Griffin, Ellis; Bowden, Matongo, Fash, Lane.

Still a good squad, but not our best squad.

What is Saints' likely lineup?

I would guess:

Welsby, Makinson, Naiqama, Costello, Grace, Lomax, Fages, Lees, Bentley, Thompson, Peyroux, Taia, McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Subs: Knowles, Amor, Paulo, Smith

I'd be surprised if Walmsley plays, but think we will bring Makinson, Amor and Knowles back if we can. Unsure whether last bench spot will go to Paulo or Ashworth. The former has been better so far this year in my view and from Woolf's comments I think he feels the same. Of course, both might play if Amor isn't ready.

[Old Frightful]

16 hours ago, ELBOWSEYE said:

Saints squad is better with big alex back and in need of a performance before the WCC next week, Hull with a number of forwards missing, could go either way just fancy saints. 

Agree with this now, having mulled over the squads. Think Saints by 8. ☹

[ckn]

7 posts removed. Play nicely...

[Old Frightful]

1 minute ago, Hullfan said:

Your biting today then, keep ya chin's up!! 

You could easily have affected the plans of Saints fans who have around 130 miles to travel each way.

It was a brainless thing to post.

[Treize Hombres]

Just now, Old Frightful said:

You could easily have affected the plans of Saints fans who have around 130 miles to travel each way.

It was a brainless thing to post.

Well said. It certainly messed me about for the last hour or so. 

[MZH]

So anyway after that strange little exchange, I can confirm that the weather in Hull actually isn't bad at all. In fact by kick off it should be pretty good conditions for RL, although the wind will still be fairly stiff.

That might play a part actually, the boy Welsby hasn't looked totally convincing under the high ball when I've seen him so I expect Sneyd to be putting snow on some of his kicks to test him out a bit. 

I go hopeful rather than confident today. We have a good enough team to win this and have played well so far, but until I see evidence that we have improved our mental fortitude I will always be slightly fearful going into games like this. 

[MZH]

4 minutes ago, Treize Hombres said:

Well said. It certainly messed me about for the last hour or so. 

Hopefully it hasn't affected your plans. Safe trip over if you are still making it. 

[Hullfan]

Saints fans don't travel out of St helens do they? 

[Treize Hombres]

5 minutes ago, MZH said:

Hopefully it hasn't affected your plans. Safe trip over if you are still making it. 

Thanks for that. At least I can finally set off now 

[Hela Wigmen]

Hearing that Lewis Dodd will make his debut at 7, Lomax will move to 1 and Welsby will be in the centres. 

Interesting move and a ballsy one a week before the Sydney game from Woolf. 

[Ullman]

22 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

Agree with this now, having mulled over the squads. Think Saints by 8. ☹

If Hull get that close it will be a significant improvement on last season. Saints were the only team in the competition we didn't beat last year and were head and shoulders above any other opponents we faced. To borrow one of Lee Radford's favourite phrases, we didn't lay a glove on them.

Looking forward to it. It's a good test for us.