Healthy competition at fullback with Elliot Kear, Elliot Hall and potentially one coming in on dual registration. No worries to my eye at this moment in time.



It's going to be a strange season with Bradford, Featherstone, Halifax, Dewsbury, York, Widnes and Newcastle all using dual registration.

Unless Leeds sign some props they're going to use up their squad as cannon fodder. Oledzki, Prior, Smith and Holroyd - that's it. The squad might have plenty of numbers but most are too young, too small. By Easter week they won't have a single player out on loan or dual reg.

Matty Race removed from the squad list on the club website today. With all 2021 contracts having finished yesterday, I assume this means he’s left. Would love to be wrong but that’s how it looks.

3 Leeds players coming in plus friendly at odsal 23 January on bulls Twitter also working with Leeds on other projects

Jarrod O’Connor, Muizz Mustapha and Corey Johnson are the players

3 good players on loan for you there

I remember Mustapha from the Academy game just prior to the Leeds 2019 Challenge Cup game (what a great day that was), he was head and shoulders above everyone that day. I was hoping he might be one of the players mentioned, very positive news IMHO.

I see that Jamie Pye who was on trial has signed for Oldham, Looks like the travelling was too much and he's found a club nearer home

Has Rooks left? Can’t seem to find anything about him?

Retired due to injury

Which at least explains why he wasn’t included on the updated squad list on the website this week. Charlie Harris also missing.

I think it will depend on what injuries (and suspensions) they get in what positions. It's a fair point you make about Leeds' shortage of middles, they have Zane Tetevano as well but you'd expect a SL team to carry around eight middles. Seems a bit strange that they are letting Mustapha and O'Connor go in the circumstances but after the first two weeks these loans are effectively the same as DR so they'd be able to recall them quickly if needed.



Presumably though the fact that they're being advertised as long-term loans means they are seen as being more than just one or two injuries away from a Leeds first-team call-up, perhaps the plan would be to play someone like Bodene Thompson or James Donaldson as a middle if injuries strike.



All 3 are good players at this level, Johnson in particular is definitely an upgrade on Flanagan and the two middles are real 100% grafters.

The only reason it was updated was to take race off not add anyone on he will be added on when the pics are

Fair enough. Thank you.

This talk of 'middles' detracts from the specialist work of props. Yeah, Thompson, Smith, Donaldson, Tetavano are all technically middles but if they're in the 17 with Gannon, Walters and Mellor, they're getting beat, and more importantly beat up, every week despite all of them being good players.



I hope I'm wrong, the 3 lads are all good players who'd improve any championship side and would them selves become better players with 20 championship games.

Yes of course that's true, as it is at most SL clubs, there is a big shortage of genuine old-fashioned big "props" but the issue is which players getting injured will cause recalls of which DR/loan players, viz-a-viz your comments about no players being out on loan or DR by Easter (acknowledging that SL clubs often recall their DR players around Easter anyway, Leeds have 3 games in 8 days this year so that's a fairly safe bet).



I doubt Johnson will get recalled all season unless there's an injury to one or both of Leeming and Dwyer, for instance. I'm not so sure about someone like Mustapha because he's an out-and-out middle but being sent out on a long-term loan suggests Leeds would intend playing some of their back-row types as middles if Holroyd/Oledzki/Prior get injured.



So if he's say tenth in the pecking order he has more chance of being with the Bulls deep into the season than if he's, say sixth.



Same with other positions - if, for instance, a centre or two is being earmarked for Fev, their availability on DR will depend on whether injuries hit the likes of Newman, Sutcliffe, Tom Briscoe plus Handley and Fusitu'a.



I agree that if Leeds lose some of their bigger units in the middle to injury they will struggle in terms of results. Am not quite so sure I agree that that playing smaller players in the middle necessarily guarantees more injuries - I think all sorts of variables come into play there, including luck - but Leeds certainly have struggled with injuries in recent years, maybe the changes they have made on the conditioning side of the staff will help in that regard, maybe not.

I hadn't realised Leeds were so light on props. Signing Fusitu'a seems to me to be a bit of a luxury signing when they might have got a decent prop from the NRL instead. I imagine Mustapha will be back at Leeds for Easter. At least it won't be a repeat of 2017 when we lost all our loanees just when we were putting some results together and ended up going down.

To be fair from a Bradford perspective I think we are stronger in the forwards than last season

I agree. Whether it's a strong enough squad to nick 3rd position remains to be seen.

That I would agree with more clubs reaching our level now, my one hope is that having more forwards and let’s be honest more free scoring backs might make us a touch more ruthless in games

A lot is riding on us avoiding injury to either of our first choice halfbacks and our new fullback fitting in. Otherwise the attacking threat is decreased quite a bit. Obviously it's the same for all sides.

I think our season rests on the likes of Doyle, Scurr, Kibula, Hall, Gill, Myers. Players with enough games but still unexposed as to how good they could be. The rest of the first 25 squad, possibly with the exception of Anthony Walker is baked in. Additionally, we'd need a Jowett, a Ho to burst onto the scene with a big first season like Bentley did. Lots of ifs.

Also I think Patton could potentially have a massive bearing on the season could be a real coup being bigged up in the media

I think Patton will have to have a big impact if we are going to improve on last season. Losing a proven leader like Brough who can directly control the game will be a loss. Add into the mix a new fullback combination and I feel we are definitely a bit of a unknown quantity and it’s reflected in the bookies odds.



I feel we’ve improved in some areas but weakened in others, so my expectations are a similar placing to last season.

Updated 07.12.21



1. Elliot Hall -2023

2. Ryan Miller - 2023

3. Rhys Evans - 2022

4. Kieran Gill - 2023

5. Matty Dawson Jones - 2022

6. Dec Patton - 2022

7. Jordan Lilley - 2023

8. Jordan Baldwinson - 2023

9. Thomas Doyle - 2022

10. Steve Crossley - 2022

11. Sam Scott - 2022

12. Aaron Murphy - 2022

13.

14.George Flanagan - 2022

15. Dan Fleming - 2023

16.

17.

18. Ebon Scurr - 2023

19. David Foggin Johnston - 2022

20. Brad England - 2022

21. Ajahni Wallace - ????

22. Coby Nichol - ????

23. Anthony Walker - 2022

24. Ben Evans - 2022

25. Jaden Barraclough - 2022

26. Billy Jowitt - 2022

27. Marcus Green - 2022

28. Bradley Ho - 2023

29. Jayden Myers - 2022

30. Lewis Camden - 2022

31. Samy Kibula - 2022

32. Charlie Harris - 2022

34. Joe Burton - 2022

35. Jarrod O’Connor - Loan

36. Muizz Mustapha - Loan

37. Corey Johnson - Loan

43. Elliot Kear - 2022

44. Eldon Myers - 2023