Re: Done with recruitment : Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:09 pm  

Right decision by the club - There has to be a chance of the younger lads getting to play first team when injuries arise or whats the point? If you notice the two teams that contested the GF where the two teams who had to do this and ended up being the difference between them and us imo

Re: Done with recruitment : Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:25 pm  

Sebasteeno wrote:

Right decision by the club - There has to be a chance of the younger lads getting to play first team when injuries arise or whats the point? If you notice the two teams that contested the GF where the two teams who had to do this and ended up being the difference between them and us imo

Exactly.
What's with all this we need a prop we need a prop, shouldn't have resigned Michaels panic all about?
We haven't lost a prop all be it Frank was an impact player.
We have a better balance to our squad right now.
And unless we give the younger players a go we will never know if they're ready or not.
Let's put a bit of faith in our youth and give them chance to develop and shine.
Otherwise all we are doing is stiffling their growth and opportunity.

Re: Done with recruitment : Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:30 pm  

I agree with the poster who said it gives us a more balanced team.
Think we'd have been found out a little bit next year, relying on the power game and kicks for tries.
Can see Radford tweaking things next year in how we play. Kelly gives us some unpredictability now. Keeps the opposition on their toes.
Also think a lot of our strength with the young players lies in the back row - now is their chance.
I really see Connor being big for us next year as well. Expecting big things from him over the next couple of years.

Re: Done with recruitment : Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:40 pm  

Marcus's Bicycle wrote:

The young players will get a chance this season. Bringing them in for the odd game to gain experience is what you want but you can't expect them to play week in week out if we have long term injuries. I still think we should have signed another forward instead of Michaels as we already had enough cover in the backs.

Not sure why not other teams do it, some of them are 21/22.

saying that if we could agree a deal with Huby for the right price then I wouldn't complain, on a huge salary at Hudds, that's why they want rid and that would make it unlikely we could sign him.

Re: Done with recruitment : Tue Nov 29, 2016 8:29 pm  

bonaire wrote:

didnt know about that.Good player though.
I think we are a missing a prop.its an injury prone position and we only need Taylor and Watts out at the same time and we will be very lightweight there.

Only what I've seen on twitter. Agree, but I suppose there are players such as Ellis and Thompson who could do a short term job in the front row. Trouble is finding a balance in the salary accomodating someone who would mainly be cover. I guess Radford sees Fash, Osborne and Matongo capable of doing that job.

Re: Done with recruitment : Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:29 am  

I'm happy with the squad, especially knowing that we have cap space to big a player in should we need it.

On the face of it, we're probably a forward light in that we've lost Pritchard & Feka from the squad but not brought anyone in. But, I think we have to trust Radford & the staff that they're confident that the younger lads can step up if/when needed.

Re: Done with recruitment : Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:25 am  

jamesg794 wrote:

No we're not far off...where I think we'll struggle in comparison to last season is the interchanges. Last season we blew teams away with our interchanges, thriving in the 30-70 mins mark and I think we'll miss Pritchard a fair bit. Put that along with Radford hinting Connor will be used as an interchange and I think we'll lose a lot of the fire that worked so well last season. Saying that though the addition of Kelly will allow us to play a different game to the power play.

With Tala Fonua and griffin in the backs taking a lot of work out of the pack with their size and strength we can afford to carry connor on the bench. Gives us a great balance.

Re: Done with recruitment : Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:09 pm  

Agree we need a third front line prop. Rely way too much on Liam & Scott - we wore them out through overuse last season.

Josh & Chris also dipped as season wore on - both need to up it consistently to spread the workload more evenly.

We are just about capable up front but IMO too dependant on too few blokes, 2 injuries to our big boys would really hurt.

Re: Done with recruitment : Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:17 pm  

airliebird,runninglate! wrote:

With Tala Fonua and griffin in the backs taking a lot of work out of the pack with their size and strength we can afford to carry connor on the bench. Gives us a great balance.

Id prefer to see tala and griffin doing that sort off work in opposition half , rather than our own 20, just think our bench needs to make a differance instead of seeming like a stop gap until our better players have a rest , at least with pritchard it felt like he was bringing something to the team when he came on

Re: Done with recruitment : Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:33 pm  

al283 wrote:

Agree we need a third front line prop. Rely way too much on Liam & Scott - we wore them out through overuse last season.

Josh & Chris also dipped as season wore on - both need to up it consistently to spread the workload more evenly.

We are just about capable up front but IMO too dependant on too few blokes, 2 injuries to our big boys would really hurt.

Completely disagree about Green. Thought his 2nd half of the season was his best run at the club, backed up after Wembley really well IMO. As others have said the players most likely to break through are all back rowers so push Ellis/Thompson to prop if injuries and let these guys come through.