No idea mate tbh my 1st choice BR is Merrin Ward & C.Smith.

depth yes. quality? not a great deal

0K not been on for a while but this is how i see it .

The Backs select themselves ( though we will miss Hall big style and as well as people think Myler went he is not good enough and the stand off has alot to prove ) , its the forwards where we will struggle . The only go forward player in the pack we had was Garbutt and for what ever reason he has gone . If we go with Suttcliffe and Ferris then god help us . I would go with Singleton ,Parcell and Cuthbertson in the front row , Merrin (who is good but maybe not good enough to be Marquee player) Ward and Smith ( yet to prove himself , but deserves a go ). The bench Ablett if fit , though doubt he will be . JJB , Dwyer and Oledzski . Whatever happens we are more than likely bottom after 4 games and it may be an uphill struggle from then on . Best we can hope for is fifth or sixth but more like 8th or 9th will be the outcome . Lets at least hope for some entertaining Rugby which has been missing for a while , otherwise we will have a half filled stadium at the walk up prices that are being charged .

Merrin is quality and easily worth Marquee player status, I just hope he settles in ok!

My first choice back row too Mark
3 cracking footy players and with plenty of pace too.

Lets buck the trend of using 2nd rowers as nothing more than battering ram type players who aren't encouraged to play what they see during the game.

I just hope that our fans will be patient with our transition should we suffer a poor start or if we lose games along the way.
Let's start the integration of our juniors with the goal of being back at the top table within 3 years and any success prior to that will be a nice bonus

As a fan after watching the 1977 and 1978 CC final wins i had to endure plenty of barren years before we finally became consistently successful

Not often that 8th/9th placed teams are noted for entertaining rugby. I get your point though.

Can I please ask what possible impact you think JJB and Ablett will have off the bench?

A hell of alot more than Ferris . Donaldson , Suttcliffe , Mullaley ,ect .

All together, "Let's do the time warp again......"

Exactly this. You can't have your cake and eat it in RL - if you're losing the energy battle and failing to go forward, you will incur more penalties, more errors, and be out of gas when on attack. We played compressed most of last year because the pack wasn't up to it and some individuals came up with errors consistently (Sutcliffe being one).

Totally agree but our BR cant play if our front row isn't doing it's job. This is why we keep having second rowers sucked in to playing a prop role - we don't have enough proper props. Give us three high-impact props on rotation to create some dents in defences, and then watch Merrin, Ward and Smith go.

We don't know how well Cas will travel this year - we're assuming they'll be up near the top again. I do like the way Powell coaches his sides I have to say.
I do think the friendly showed Leeds being far more competitive already than the ragtag side which limped through the second half of last season.
Cam Smith has to be in the 17 even if not starting, because he's shown he can cover 6/7 as well as BR.
With Hurrell and Watkins here, Sutcliffe is left battling it out with about 8 other players for 3 or 4 BR shirts. I think he needs to go out on DR and get game time at this stage in his career.
In terms of impact and average metres gained per carry (I know that's just a stat, but...) - I'm starting to wonder whether our best starting front row might be Oledzski, Parcell, Crosby. Cuthbertson and Singleton/Peteru off the bench perhaps.