Kenneth Jarvis, Warrington Wolves Blogger

I think Kurt Gidley will be brought back into the team at the expense of Kevin Penny, whether you like it or not. Considering that would mean bringing in a half for a winger, it would mean a lot of juggling around with the line-up. The performances last Friday of two players in particular, Tom Lineham and Dec Patton, means that there are selection headaches for Tony Smith.

I think given Tony Smith’s selection history, the most likely scenario is that Kurt Gidley takes Stef Ratchford’s position at stand-off, Ratchford will go back and take Matty Russell’s position at full-back and that will means Russell moves into the position on the wing that Penny will have to vacate.

I think I’m safe in saying however that Warrington fans aren’t exactly in love with the idea of Russell on the wing and Ratchford at full-back, and there are a couple of options open to Tony Smith which would keep them in the positions that they were so good in vs Hull FC.

The first one would be to drop Dec Patton, the 21 year old who took charge of the crucial match last Friday and helped bring silverware back to Warrington. Dropping him would be the easy call, he is 21 and not had too many games. Smith could argue that he is too inexperienced for the Grand Final push and he’d be better relying on the 28 year old Ratchford and the 34 year old Gidley. It’d be the easy call, but I think the wrong call. You can’t play the way he did vs Hull FC and get dropped the next game, especially considering the performances that Gidley had in the Challenge Cup final, and the recent Wigan match. If Gidley and Chris Sandow were fit and on form than you’d say it would be a fair call, but Gidley probably isn’t 100%, and Sandow misses out again. Patton surely has to play.

The other option would be to bring Gidley in for another young player, Morgan Smith. If Gidley is coming back from an injury then it’s possible that he’d struggle to last the full 80 minutes anyway. The thinking behind this would be to have Gidley as our second hooker, and a back-up to Ratchford or Patton if they are struggling or injured. Gidley has played there enough times before and would be a decent option whilst Daryl Clark rests during the game. This would enable Ratchford to play stand-off and Russell at full back, and keep Patton in the team.

Having two specialist wingers is something many fans have wanted for a long time now, against Hull FC it worked perfectly and I’d want to see it again. I don’t want to see Penny replaced, surely Lineham is irreplaceable after last week and the same goes for Patton.

The two remaining options are Ratchford or Gidley not making the team, but either of those options seem highly unlikely given their status in the team. Stef Ratchford may not be the best centre, full-back or stand-off at the club, but Tony Smith clearly trusts him. I’m not his biggest fan, and on most weeks I might be calling for Ratchford to be the one to miss out. Like Patton however, he put in a performance vs Hull FC that meant that he deserves once again to be in the halves.

If it were up to me I’d start with Patton and Ratchford in the havles, with Gidley coming off the bench to make an impact, whilst not putting a 34 year old body through 80 minutes following a muscle injury. If Warrington were to make it through, then the situation could be reassessed for the Grand Final.

It’s very possible in the future that Morgan Smith will become an undroppable player for Warrington. For this match however, the best thing for the club maybe to replace him with a man nearly twice his age. Whichever way Tony Smith goes, let’s just all hope it’s the right way. If by Thursday night Warrington are in the Grand Final once again, I won’t have cared who played where.