I know GH is fond of saying "this is our best squad ever", and that with the loss of JP and Kev he probably *won't* be saying that this year, but to to me the squad does look more balanced and deep than any I can remember.

We know how good our 1-5 are, and we also know that we have very good reserves in Golding, Handley and Keinhorst. No switching Ablett to centre and no one injury away from Joe Vickery.

Replacing the JP of 2015 is not the same thing as replacing the JP of a couple of years earlier. In some respects Cuthbertson and Garbutt took some of the slack off him last year and while we'll always miss his presence the addition of Galloway and Ferres leaves the pack looking stronger than it has for a long time. (Similarly, Kylie is a Leeds legend, but replacing the actual impact he had in 2015 is not that demanding and should be well within either Mullalley or Baldwinson's capability). Again, there's more depth than we've been used to, with Keinhorst, Achurch, Mullalley and even JJB/Delaney out of a first-choice 17.

The question marks that remain are:

1) Will Falloon be an adequate replacement for Aiton? If he is, we're well set. If not, we don't want to be relying on Burrow as hooker all year.

2) Will we be able to replace Sinfield/Peacock's direction and game management? Kev has been doing less ball-in-hand and even open play kicking over the past couple of years, so I think we can replace that. Whether we can replace his smarts is another matter.

3) Goal-kicking. We're just going to have to face that we'll average 2-4 points less a game due to the difference in ability between Sinfield and Sutcliffe/Hardaker. No easy answer to this (other than score more tries) and it could cost us a few tight games.

But overall I'm more confident ahead of this season than I've been for a while. Now watch it all go wrong...

Lilley could well get a chance. I'd be surprised if either of the 1st choice halves goes through the season uninjured. Plus, as Gotcha has pointed out, he could well be our best goalkicker which isn't to be sniffed at.

I think he'd really have to go some to get a new contract. Ferres for a start will be offered a longer and better paid deal after this year and potentially better money for the likes of Lilley or another youngster if they have a good year. Add to it that Falloon will either be like Ferres and offered a new longer deal or we'll be on the hunt for another starting hooker then Achurch's rumoured big salary will possibly be needed to make some of the above possible on the 2017 salary cap.

I think the sheer grind of the new league structure requires a considerably bigger squad than previously. Hopefully the kudos of playing for this undisputed champion team will keep players patient for a piece of the action...

If we go with McGuire and Lilley it means burrow and Sutcliffe fighting it out for the last bench spot. Might be a good idea for the first few games while Sutcliffe gets comfortable with his leg.
Achurch must be gone at the end of this year. He seems to constantly injured or average at best and with Ablett,ferres,Ward,Delaney,JJB and keinhorst we don't need him.
His cap space should easily improve deals for Ferres,Falloon and Lilley if needed.