Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 2:04 pm  

Nothus wrote:

Yep, tonsil surgery.
Right now we have Clark, Clough, Crossley, Campbell and Mendieka out injured according to the t&a. Purtell hoping to play Sunday despite not playing in either friendly.

Cheers

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 2:08 pm  

HamsterChops wrote:

I didn't think Lauaki went bad against Cas, but he certainly still doesn't look at the peak of physical fitness. With Clough, Crossley and Clark out though, I'd have him in the side. As much as I don't rate Mathers particularly, I do think he's our best choice at fullback. Thomas way too questionable defensively for my liking. I'm hoping Mathers tutoring Thomas will make him into a good player, but I'm not convinced he's there yet.

Assuming Welham, Williams, Purtell & Sidlow are back, and Jacks is available, I'd go with:

Mathers
Clare
Welham
Purtell
Williams
Gaskell
Addy
Kavanagh
O'Brien
Sidlow
Olbison
Pitts
Mellor
SUBS
Jacks
Ferguson
2 of Haggerty, Walker & Lauaki


Kurt Haggerty can play prop as well as back row, so I can't decide which 2 of him, Lauaki and Walker I'd have on the bench. I'm not sure I've seen enough out of Walker to justify a place in the 17, especially since he's bound to be a penalty machine. Starting lineup picks itself for me at the moment though, only possible changes are starting Ferguson and putting one of the other back rows on the bench, and picking Caro ahead of one of the other wings. Personally, I think Clare & Williams are better players though.

Walker is definitely a penalty machine, and he doesn't make massive metres, but you'll get more minutes out of him than lauaki. Haggerty can play prop, but loses some of the stuff that makes him good when he plays there.

If I was a bulls fan, I'd have Haggerty on the bench and probably walker too. Better to get 40 minutes and concede a couple of pens than getting 15 minutes of nowt from Lauaki

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 3:40 pm  

Iggy79 wrote:

Walker is definitely a penalty machine, and he doesn't make massive metres, but you'll get more minutes out of him than lauaki. Haggerty can play prop, but loses some of the stuff that makes him good when he plays there.

If I was a bulls fan, I'd have Haggerty on the bench and probably walker too. Better to get 40 minutes and concede a couple of pens than getting 15 minutes of nowt from Lauaki

Had this been last season, I would agree with that completely. The only thing making me doubt, is that Lauaki looked a bit better against Cas and lasted longer. Sure it was against kids, but he was still putting more effort in than he did in any game last season. Saw someone say he managed about 40 minutes, although I don't know how accurate that is, I didn't have a stopwatch on him.

[Bullseye]

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:23 pm  

Did he have a cardiac arrest afterwards?

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:52 pm  

HamsterChops wrote:

Had this been last season, I would agree with that completely. The only thing making me doubt, is that Lauaki looked a bit better against Cas and lasted longer. Sure it was against kids, but he was still putting more effort in than he did in any game last season. Saw someone say he managed about 40 minutes, although I don't know how accurate that is, I didn't have a stopwatch on him.

If you can get the minutes out of Lauaki, he would be better than Walker. When Clough is fit, would either of them get into the 17?

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:25 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

Did he have a cardiac arrest afterwards?

No but he made his way to the bench very slowly.

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:35 pm  

Iggy79 wrote:

If you can get the minutes out of Lauaki, he would be better than Walker. When Clough is fit, would either of them get into the 17?

Clough, Sidlow & Kavanagh are clearly our best props. Head and shoulders above the rest from what I've seen. The 4th place could be any of Crossley, Lauaki, Walker or Mitch Clark. Hopefully form will dictate who plays, as well as a bit of rotation to keep people fresh. There's also Dan Fleming, but I would expect him to be behind the rest too (as well as Haggerty), as he's showed very little since signing.

Bullseye wrote:

Did he have a cardiac arrest afterwards?

There were rumours that 10 chilli dogs were rushed to the bench to help replenish his energy levels, but I can neither confirm nor deny.

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:07 pm  

1. Thomas (don't think Mathers will be up to speed yet).
2. Caro
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Williams
6. Gaskell
7. Jacks
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Pitts
13. Addy

14. Ferguson
15. Lauaki/Fleming
16. Haggerty/Walshaw
17. Halafihi

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:46 pm  

1. Thomas
2. Williams
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Clare
6. Gaskell
7. Jacks
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Pitts
13. Addy

14. Ferguson
15. Lauaki/Fleming
16. Haggerty/Walshaw
17. Halafihi

Similar to what's been said but I'd have Willian's outside Purtell they worked well last season

Re: What's everyone's 17 for Fev? : Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:10 pm  

Not a bad squad , I think some teams will underestimate Fev this season.