Mr. Zucchini Head wrote:Excluding the youngsters who haven't properly broken through I would categorise the players as follows:
Must keep (would get into almost any side imo):
Shaul (needs to improve a lot but huge potential)
Lineham
Paea
Westerman
Thompson
Must go:
Yeaman
Paleaasina
Whiting
Howarth
Michaels
Then you've got a mix of guys like Ellis, Minichiello and Pryce, who can still do a good job but aren't worth another contract due mainly to their age. Guys for whom the jury is still out, ie, Sneyd, Cunningham, Hadley. And then guys who are solid Superleague standard players, but won't ever amount to more than that such as Houghton and Watts.
It's not a title winning squad in a million years, but it's really not a terrible one either. They should be comfortably making the top 8.
I'll put my neck on the block, too. Not actually too dissimilar to you.
Keep:
Shaul
Lineham
Paea
Get rid:
Sa
Yeaman
Paleaaesina
Green/Bowden (I'd keep one but not both, personally I'd lean towards keeping Bowden and ditching Green)
Michaels
Rankin
Howarth
As you say, the rest are a mix of those worth playing out their contracts but not renewing, some who need to prove they're worth keeping, and the solid but unspectacular that every squad needs, but we tend to have in too much abundance.
What's concerning now that I've listed it out (and I made a similar point on another thread) is how many of those I'd outright write off are recent signings of the current coaching set-up. It just shows that we're still not getting it right.
