Kenneth Jarvis, Warrington Wolves Blogger

With a game happening a week before the Challenge Cup final, it puts an interesting question to debate on whether Warrington should rest players in their next Super League match vs Castleford.

One of the reasons to do this would be due to the fact that Warrington are almost assured of a top four finish. Due to Catalans indifferent form it’s now almost a guarantee that two of Warrington, Wigan, St. Helens or Hull FC will be contesting the Grand Final, so if that’s the goal then the temptation to rest players becomes greater. Warrington are seven points ahead of 5th place which is just not a gap that will be caught up in the five remaining matches.

Warrington however, will want to finish in 1st place. Not only would this win them the League Leaders Shield, but it would get a more favourable draw in the semi-final. Winning the league being counted as the 3rd most important trophy is a curious quirk of Rugby League, and one which I disagree with, but winning the Super League is winning the Grand Final, and not who is first after 30 games.

If we rest players and lose on Saturday, then were not really in worse position for the Grand Final, and would be in a better one for the Challenge Cup final. it’s a tempting thought and one that Tony Smith may be giving consideration to.

If we use some of our squad, then we’d still have a great chance of winning the match too. Obviously all the players wouldn’t have to be replaced but giving a rest to Kurt Gidley and limited time to Chris Sandow would be the biggest risks to the result of the match.

Some replacements would be tactical workouts. A lot of fans want to see Tom Lineham and Kevin Penny back on the wings anyway, and the Castleford game could be a great opportunity to play them and give them a chance to impress. If they don’t, then the likes of Matty Russell and Rhys Evans would have been given a nice rest. It would be an opportunity to give some of the fringe players a game knowing that if they perform well, then they’d have a chance of appearing at Wembley.

Winning the Castleford match could be important, and they are a team that are playing well, even if they do have nothing to play for. I’d still want Warrington to put out a strong team but with a few changes to protect ourselves for the final. Matty Russell is a player i’d leave out. Partly due to the fact that it’d be good to give both Penny and Lineham their chance to impress, but also due to his injury record. I would also leave out Gidley and bring in Declan Patton, Gidley is a man who would probably benefit the most from a rest and has already had to miss the odd match this season. There are a few players that i’d consider irreplaceable this year, and Gidley is one of them. So is Sandow, but I still want to win the match enough for him to play. He same applies to the likes of Chirs Hill and Ben Currie.

Whatever changes, if any, Tony Smith will make we’ll have to wait and see. Warrington fans will just be hoping that we can win that match and come away with no injuries. Hopefully we get both.