Taai a bit over the hill

Noticed England has signed for another year. If he can stay on the field he's an asset.

[quote="Bullseye"]

Would love to get O'Brien.[/quote]

Awaits Greg from the fax board to come one and tell us "why would O'Brien sign for a mess of a club like ours when he can sign for the powerhouse of Halifax :wink:

In all seriousness I think he'll sign with fax as its his hometown club, but I would hope we're making a serious play for him. Best Hooker by a mile in the league.

Happy with England. As I said I want to see us keep the majority of the squad and add a few quality additions. Look at well Fax have done over the years with having continuity.

What you mean dropping to 7th?

I don't think its a huge rebuild needed but we have some areas needing to be strengthened:

Full back - I think Holmes is good there as an option but I prefer him in the halves. Jowitt can play there too but if we could get someone like a Matty Marsh or even Jamie Shaul I'd be very happy.

Wingers - I'd like to see us try and get Jorge Tuafoa for another year. Think with him and Blackmore as our wingers for the full season would be massive. If not, could we tempt someone like Jermaine McGilvery over for one last year (injuries permitting). Add in another back up option too

I think we are good at Centre - Gill and Myers would be my first choice next year with Arundel as back up, maybe need one more as cover (maybe a wing/centre option).

Half back even if Patton leaves I think we are at our strongest here with Holmes, Gaskell, Lilley, Lawford and Jowett.

Props again we may need an extra one with Fenton unlikely to get another year on loan and Baldwinson to come back from injury. Lawrence is another year older but looks like he will go another year and alongside Scurr, Doro and Matongo this would be a good starting platform. Could someone like Scott Taylor or Liam Watts be an option?

Lilley needs to be in the hooker role next year for me and back up to half back. I don't expect GFS to play that many games so this leaves us one short. I think James Segeyaro has been great when he has come in but seems like he is not staying next year which is a real shame. I think Adam O'Brien might be too similar to Lilley in that role so would he bring the impact needed (or visa versa?)... don't see too many other options though.

Back row is where I'd like to see us really strengthen. Brad England and Chester Butler seem to be signed on for next year and hopefully Appo will follow too but if we are to push for a title tilt we need to be aiming higher than this. Ben Helliwell, Luis Johnson and Alex Sutcliffe are all off contract and would be good options to consider for me. Baitieri for another year would be a good shout. I think we are 2-3 light in this area.

Same here, I wonder if getting Pickersgill back might be an option? He seemed like an odd signing for Fax when they have Woodburn Hall.

I think having some size on the wing has been a real plus this season so if we can keep Taufua and Blackmore then great. McGilvery would be useful but only if fit I agree.



Agreed. We need three at least.



Is Lawford staying? I heard a while back that Wigan were interested in him. Is he out of contract? He’s not going to stay without some assurance that he’s going to get some gametime. Apparently he’s been playing well at Hunslet. He’s going to want regular rugby at championship level.



Do Hudders rate Rogers? They seemed happy for us to have him back when they had a brief injury crisis. Is he under contract there for long? Perhaps we could get him permanently? If not we need another but I’m not sure I’d spend big on Taylor or Watts unless we wanted someone in place to be the heir apparent to Lawrence when he retires.



We definitely need another option here as backup for Lilley. It’s the most influential position on the field. AOB would be great I reckon or another experienced championship (or even L1 hooker).



We need to keep Appo if possible who I think will be even better next year having acclimatised and had a full pre season with us. Baitieri will hopefully stay. One of those three off contract you mention would be good or failing that a decent season long loan of someone.

A lot of course depends on budget. For the first time in ages we’re seemingly not making it up as we go along with one year contracts. That suggests there’s a bit more money around. It’s be nice to see us build to be definite top 3 outfit. We’re not there yet (too inconsistent) but with the right tweaks it’s doable for next year.

I think we quality rather than quantity next season, would try get Hooley for full back, he’s got speed & always caused us problems when at Batley, won’t be getting much game time at Leeds with them getting Miller.
On the wing, bit of long shot but Greg Eden is OOC, in his thirties now but scores tries for fun.
Prop, Mason OOC at Hudds went well for us in his short stint.
Back row is dependent on who is staying & leaving. Would try keep Batieri.
Would also want to keep Doro & Wynne for next season.

Agree Bullseye, we seem very stable at the moment and agree about becoming a proper top 3 team, maybe even top 2 next year. Just need some tweaks and improvements.

I think they'll be some fall out for teams in regards to how this year finishes.

How will Fev react if they don't go up? Toulouse as well. They've a tiny squad this year. Can they afford another year in the championship?

I agree Luke Hooley would be a great addition. Not going to get in the Leeds team next season.

Seem to recall he signed a 3yr contract with Giants whilst he was back with them, only to get shipped back to us almost straight away. I'm guessing they see him as a potential for the future, especially as Hill won't go for much longer.