knockersbumpMKII wrote:Honestly I think Briscoe is done, he's not going to improve by coming to us. He's still a reasonable std winger but is nowhere near where he was and has fallen down the pecking order massively with respect to England, he also hasn't learnt from his defensive frailities when with us, has lost some pace and even the Leeds fans are stating he (And indeed Ryan Hall) doesn't have the capability of busting lines/bringing it out as strong as he used to. I think there are better options for us frankly that won't cost as much, as Cas have proven, if you can get the ball out you don't need a superstar on the wings.
Anyway if Griffin pulls his finger out like he did on friday then the right wing slot is his for next season with Nick Rawsthorne the back up wing so i dont think we need another wing particularly as Logan will be pushing for first team and can also play wing. Like Knocker said if you move the ball out wide fast and create the space you dont need a superstar wing but Radford likes the wings to be big and powerful to get us moving forward at the play the ball and Griffin for all his faults can do that. If we are to spend some money i would rather we sign a centre or big second row.
do we need a second rower for next season? Hadley, Washbrook, Turgut, Mini, Manu, Thompson (though played as a prop quite often), Fash, Downs Props; Watts, Bowden, Taylor, Green, Matongo. if anything I'd say we need another prop rather than a SR but as I've said previously trusting to the younger/junior squad members and they continue their development and getting playing time is by far the better longer term option IMHO, yes we will need to be looking to replace Minichello (though the rate he is going 2019 isn't out of the question) and indeed giving the likes of Litten some game time too. IF we do get both JA and Hadley back for 2018 (I don't think we will IMHO) then in all honesty aren't we really looking at a one player, maybe even just bringing through another back/forward from the juniors?
Shaul Griffin/Rawsthorne Connor CT/Logan Talanoa Kelly Sneyd Taylor Houghton Watts Mini Manu Hadley/Thompson/Washbrook
Subs from; Bowden Fash Green Washbrook/Thompson/Hadley Matongo Turgut Downs Litten
Retaining Michaels solves some headaches in that he can play either side at centre or wing, we don't know what money he is on but who could we get that is of decent quality to replace if griffin is a non starter on the right and Rawsthorne is out on loan? happy to get Logan going as soon as to see how he's overcome his injury/being dropped from last season but really all depends on what Radford sees in terms of who plays where that works best for the team.
We are quickly approaching the sharp end of the season so decisions on personnel for next season and how we are going to go next season will need to have some serious thinking done.
It proves how much of a good job radders as done with the squad , when you think what he had when he took over . We're getting to the point we're Leeds use to be when they hardly signed much each year which I think is a good sign . Gets you no where signing 5/6 players every season . Saying that though I do think it's good to sign one or two just to freshen things up in the squad which I think is needed for next season .
FC-Steward wrote:It proves how much of a good job radders as done with the squad , when you think what he had when he took over . We're getting to the point we're Leeds use to be when they hardly signed much each year which I think is a good sign . Gets you no where signing 5/6 players every season . Saying that though I do think it's good to sign one or two just to freshen things up in the squad which I think is needed for next season .
Indeed, but we MUST avoid not recruiting the next generation, Leigh, Widnes, Leeds and Salford are all showing that a team of "experienced" players only goes so far.
There have been a lot of downs and ups along the way in this 3.5 year period, plenty of mistakes, some down to lack of experience, some down to lack of knowhow/understanding, some bad luck too. Upsides for me from 2016 and this season (After an appauling 2014 and 2015) is that our attack has improved immeasurably, yes there are games when we've still looked a bit clueless in the opposing 20 but that is starkly different to 2014/15. Radford this season has identified what he did wrong last season and previously and ensured youngsters are getting plenty of game time and acknowledging that a fresh enthusiastic young un can perform to as good a standard if not better than a jabbed up/physically drained senior/1st choice player if they are given some game time to mature. Defence has remained stout for the most part though some horrendous lapses this season with massive scorelines though this was a reflection more of where the mentality was of the players. In that aspect we have seen change in the last few games were players have dug deep were previously we have wilted and Radford has to take credit for that.
Maintaining the balance of experience plus youngsters coming through and indeed playing players in their best position/addressing issues is so vital both in terms of outright performance and sustainability financially. Though nothing is won yet I'm content as to where we are and where we are going, 2014/15 we just looked like a rabble, yes radford was forming his team but comparatively speaking he underperformed hugely compared to genetle in his first two years. The other aspect of radford is he is finally taking responsibility for when we are not performing, previously he wouldn't, even so far as blaming/turning on the fans which for me was the lowest of the low.
Good point made earlier. We've come a long way as a club when we just have to tweak things now and again. We also now seem to be a club where players want to stay.
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