How do you think this team would go in 2001?



1 Patrick Ah Van

2 Gareth Raynor

3 Chev Walker

4 A.N Other

5 Shaun Ainscough

6 Leon Pryce

7 Marc Herbert

8 Bryn Hargreaves

9 Matt Diskin

10 Danny Sculthorpe

11 Olivier Elima

12 Ian Sibbit

13 Shad Royston



Yep, you guessed it. It's a team made up entirely of new recruits. OK, I stretched it a bit with Sculthorpe - although he is effectively a new player. Plus I have taken the liberty of signing up Leon Pryce

and we'd need another signing or a trialist for left centre....



I have to say I'd not be super-confident to go into our first game with the line up above (i.e no Lynch, Scuton, Langley et al) But even so, it's interesting to see the depth of squad we are building.

Why 2001 and why no subs?

It seems pretty average to me, considering you've signed all them players only a handful are actually decent the others are rejects be it from NRL or SL clubs.



I reckon you'll be top 8 for sure but will be battling it out with Salford for the 7/8 places with the top 6 the same as last year.

You did notice he deliberately left out the players already on our books didnt you? We wont put out the team named above. Add Kearney,L'estrange,Lynch,Scruton,Whitehead,Platt,Langley into that team and it looks a whole lot better.

Yes I know.. and I stand by my comments. 7th/8th with Hull KR or Salford taking the other spot.



IMO, Wire, Hull FC, Leeds, Saints, Huddersfield and Wigan to finish above you guys.



You seem to have spent a lot of money on a lot of average players rather than a lot of money on a handful of really quality players. The saving grace is that all of them have a lot to prove so maybe you could push up a bit higher with a good team spirit.

depends who we get for standoff and the other signing. Until squads are complete hard to predict. I could see us breaking into top 6 with imo hull fc, sts and leeds all capable off slipping out based on their signings so far. Thing to remember is we were top 4 at halfway point last year with this squad +orford and menzies. The only position we're weaker than last years first choice 17 at moment is scrum half ,with genuine competition and improvement in most other positions, and we havent finished recruiting yet.

Kearney

Ah Van/Ainscough

Platt

Walker

Raynor

Herbert

Pryce (seems likely)

Lynch

Diskin

Scruton

Elima

Whitehead

Langley



L'Estrange

Hargreaves

Kopczak/Sculthorpe

Addy/Donaldson



That looks like a strong lineup to me, and I'd be expecting a top 6 place from that team.

Sykes

Ah Van

Walker

Platt

Raynor

Kearney

Herbert

Hargreaves

Diskin

Lynch

Whitehead

Elima

Langley



Addy

Le'strange

Scruton

Kopczak/Hall

The former was a typo and as for the second question, the clue is in the topic title... 'Starting 13'





Obviously, we are not going to be starting with that 13, I was making the point that we virtually signed a new team, whereas for 2010 the squad was so paper thin that we'd have had difficulty in even making up a team from the people not in the first choice team.



I think we've signed a lot of players in the 'something to prove' category, which seems like a better option that throwing all the salary cap on expensive people who may not even want to be here, or get 'homesick' and want to leave after a year

Got to say, the forward lineup looks top notch however im still suspect of our backs. Not enough quality for me.

Decent pack, poor backs. Will be interesting to see how you guys go considering you've signed some complete drab (Sibbit and Ainscough), and on the other hand Hargreaves, Elima and Diskin complete a good set of forwards. I think your forwards will compete with the best, but outwide, good teams will run in plenty of points.

Platt was defending excellently last year, and Raynor has a wealth of experience. I've no idea what Ah Van is like, do you know something I don't about his defensive ability?