I'd move Mago to 13 this weekend if I thought he could do the minutes you need from somebody in that position. His handling ability is superb and comfortably better than what we've seen from Ellis so far. He's worked hard on his fitness and it's much better but you'd still need to get another stone or more off him if we wanted to use him as a starting 13 IMO. As things stand he's a good option to use there in shorter bursts for sure but probably not a starting option.

Do you not think the minutes thing is a hangover from his previous lack of fitness rather than anything we're seeing now? He's played longish minutes on occasion already this season and didn't seem to be struggling in any way? Ellis isn't playing long minutes there as a rule either.

Mago isn't the "tackling machine" 13 we're used to seeing there but he brings other things that, say Smithies, didn't. It's a trade off, for sure, but it's certainly one that gives that something extra in attack.

That said, I don't think Peet would go that way as he likes a tight defense, particularly in the opening stages of matches.

Mago for me needs to come off the bench. He is best used as impact in my opinion either side of half time.

His fitness has obviously improved significantly but I still think he lacks a bit of mobility and can be targeted by fresh legs.

For me throw on the older heads early in the arm wrestle in Cooper and Thompson backed by Mr Consistent in Havard (who swear is morphing into Fielden) then rotate the 2 older lads for Dupree and Mago leaving Havard on for longer.

Harvard is a freak in the best possible sense of that term. I've been watching the game a long time and I don't ever recall a player who could spend a protracted time on the sidelines and come back as though he hasn't missed a minute in the way he can! It's crazy just how good he could be if he could get an injury free couple of years.

I suppose that's my only concern and I hope he doesn't follow the path of Dom Manfredi. Dom could have been one of the best ever were it not for injuries.

We'd have to see longer minutes in practice in a big game I suppose. I do still think he looks shattered at times, including on Thursday but he is weird because he still seems to be able to then put in another big run and his defence is better than previously. I think my worries around his fitness and the ability to deal with fast paced games also comes from the lack of trust Peet obviously had in him on Good Friday. There must be reasons behind that from Peets point of view.

I know what you mean. I've seen him hands on knees seemingly gasping for breath and then make a blockbusting run the very next play. I think it's more a peculiarity of demeanor than an actual fitness issue. He doesn't seem to have a problem making multiple tackles in defense in the way that he once might have and teams certainly don't seem to be targeting him in any way.

I think not putting him back on on Good Friday was more a reflection of having a man sent off than anything else. I know Peet wanted his best and most mobile defenders on to try to plug the gap and, whilst Paddy is decent in defense, he's probably not regarded as amongst the best and is not the most mobile. I don't think Peet would have had the same reticence had we still had 13 on the pitch. There's certainly been no evidence that I can remember this season or the back end of last anyway.

Still annoys me GF, one more score and that was game over, instead of going for it with Mago and Nsemba on the field Peet tried to defend it out for half an hour, disappointing to say the least

Cheers and to the others who posted including Masdogg on our forum.

We are pretty well covered in the middle, but very weak in the backrow (doesn't help when you overseas backrower can't get a start in the reserves) really like some punch out wide, so think he will play there.

speaking of props, whens walters due back for you guys? and who's under threat in the 17 if peet gives him his chance?

He played for the reserves on Saturday and is in contention to play first team this week but the expectation is that he'll be fighting for a second row spot, rather than a spot in the middle.

He'll definitely give you punch wherever he plays. He's not the biggest but he runs it in as though he was!

I hope he does play 2nd row for you guys as that's where he could stake a claim for us too. We have so much strength at prop that he'll struggle to find a place there. The fact that we've just loaned 2 out and are still debating which 2 or 3 will need to miss out in order to give Walters some game time tells you just how competitive it is in that position here.

I do think he'll make a good 2nd rower given time. He has good hands, boundless energy and runs it in hard. He also has a very useful offload. He may struggle positionally initially, particularly in defence, but I genuinely believe he'd make the transition given time. I've advocated the move several times during discussions on this board

Eseh back on loan to Cas

Really, he was quite vocal about playing the middle when he signed on with you guys.

He was actually very vocal about playing in the backrow when he signed.

He was signed as a secondrow who can fill in at prop, not the other way round both he and the club mentioned it when he was recruited.