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.

defoe would play England, but a very good post

Is Owen suitable for our style of play any more? I was a big fan of his just prior to the injury but he aint gonna be making breaks like Johnstone, BJB, Jowitt or Hall is he?

I agree with the spirit of your post but I wouldn't make too many changes. The Salford game is really important for us.
We need to win the games against our nearest competitors and Salford are one of them.

I'd play Bill Tupou definitely. I agree he had a positive influence and will be useful against the big backs at Salford.
I'd keep the back three intact if no injuries but if Johnstone does have a knock and needs a rest I think I'd put Hall on the wing, partly because I haven't seen Owen play yet. If back to his best then of course he deserves fis shot.

Forwards I'd rest Simon and bring England back. We'd be struggling with both missing.
I'd still play Sio but would play Howarth off the bench so he does actually get a rest. I'm with you on Howarth. He has skills.
I really like Molloy so if he is fit would be good rotation. Ashurst has been one of our best back rowers so I wouldn't be upset if he needed the rest or if Kirmond took a break.

But for all the scenarios, if everyone is fit, I'd play the best team. Salford isn't a game to rotate for the sake of it. It goes a long way to securing our top 8 status.

Sts are away to Hull so we could actually pull level if we win this one. We'd need a swing of 46 points to go above them though.
But equally both Widnes and Cas are at home against Huddersfield and Wigan respectively and both have good records against them at home, so a loss could make it all tight.

Did he ever get the chance before? I agree to an extent but we are talking one game. He's also much safer in defence than Hall IMHO.

The principle is sound - but your suggested changes are too wholesale for me. I'd certainly want to give some players a break, but not at the cost of changing the dynamic of the team too much; especially not for Salford, who are potentially one of the easiest beats of our upcoming difficult run of games.

Only Chester knows I guess, if the 2nd choice options are ready to play the systems and structures that are working for us - but I'd hate to see us tinker too much with a system that is working.

Sorry I've misled people here, I was more truing to show options than actually picking a team - I don't really bother with that particular exercise in vanity - I think you need to be with the team for the week to make that choice and of course be a qualified coach.

It's funny how many folk on here don't recognise either of those restrictions

What a great position to be in though.
We are discussing who to rest and which more than capable replacement to us.
When have we ever been able to do that before.

I thought Chester had already been doing this? I remember the last time Michael Sio didn't play Chester said he had seen signs of fatigue so rested him...most changes have been enforced with bans etc...but I think most players are still relatively fresh..

Johnstone I would play all day every day...he's young and could probably play one game straight after the other...the fact he scored a hat trick against Salford last time which was ultimately the difference, makes it impossible to sit him out for me...

With the likes of Anderson and Tupou (two quality players) who we've missed for a while, coming back and playing well that's another huge boost...if I was to pick two players to possibly rest they would be Simon & Ashurst....England is very similar to Simon so no damage done there....Ashurst has been excellent and not as easy to replace like for like but Jordy Crowther would come in and not let anyone down.

Important I feel to not make too many changes...keep the momentum and good run going!

Absolutely, play the best team we can put out, if and when a top 8 position is secured then by all means rotate the players and freshen the squad for an assault on the play off's, certainly not at our expense against teams desperate for points to get out of the bottom 4.

nah

You're kind of assuming (?) though that your best team is the one that just won. What I'm suggesting is due to injury and fatigue the 17 who won against Catalan may no longer be our best 17. As I say I'm guessing because I'm not involved but my gut feeling tells me we may fade if we depend to much on the same players.

So basically yes I agree the best team every time, but we can't be sure the last winning team is it.