I agree, Garbutt was a great piece of business. A real no frills metre muncher we had been missing, and willing to do the hard graft too.

Not bad in the tackle too.

I might be in a minority here, but I don't think we will struggle with the pack as much as some people thought at the beginning of last season, knowing that JP and Kylie were leaving. Singleton and Garbutt will improve further this year, and it will be interesting to see what Galloway brings to the table.

I don't either.Especially if we can pull off the signing of Ferres.

If he carries on where he left off at Wests, very similar attributes to JP. Never takes a backward step in attack or defence, not afraid to put his head in where it's going to hurt. Big physical presence in the middle of the field.

Was quite a big presence off the field for Wests as well, very active in the local community with good causes.

I don't get many surprises in my life but when I do they are usually very pleasant - SL 2015 was one of those very pleasant surprises.

The main criticism I've read about Galloway is that his PTB is too slow. It might be less of an issue in SL and for a team which is more likely to be on the front foot than the struggling Tigers.

Agree with that.We were never going to replace JP like for like however, what i have seen of this guy he was about as good a replacement as we could have found to cushion the blow.Of course he still has to go out there and prove it, plenty of big name forwards have come over in recent years and turned out to be duds.

Quick PTBs weren't exactly JP's strong suit.

Have to agree with being VERY pleasantly surprised with how Leeds performed.....but let's not forget who could have predicted how valuable the signings of Cuthbertson AND Garbutson were. As others have already stated, BOTH were incredibly astute signings (when you consider some of the 'big name' duds that other clubs sign)...and McDermott of course must take huge credit for the way he utilised them to their maximum. We must all learnt o believe in the sleeve

All I can say is there must be some bluddy good props in the NRL if the likes of our two new props are considered surplus to requirements !!! If our 3rd new prop is anything near as good as his two predecessors....along with a furher improved Singleton.....I honestly believe Leeds are in for another good year (imagine two successive trebles ...how well would that go down with the likes of Wigan ?). Okay. maybe a little too optimistic....second row remains the biggest concern (JJB and Ward def out long term; Delaney forever patched up. Ablett over worked again through lack of options?).

I am coming round to the idea of signing Ferres IF the remaining playing staff agree. The squad would then be near as damn it perfect as anybody could rightfully expect.

One of the major differences we'll have between Galloway and even late-model Peacock is that Galloway won't play anything near the minutes that Peacock did. Singleton's minutes will have to go up to compensate.

I think we have the only player in SL who plays the ball properly (Garbutt), by actually rolling the ball with the underside of his foot. I think it adds the best part of a second to each ptb. In the first few games, you could see the acting half having to check whilst it was rolled back.

Whilst I wish every player did this, I wonder what, if any, effect this has with regards to the speed of play. On the flip side, it almost guarantees a smooth pick up by the player.

yes, Cuthbo and Garbo were quite the duo

Not a bad thing IMO. Singleton was very effective at times; the natural progression for him is to do it in longer stints. Between them, I think they might well replace 2015 Peacock adequately.

The forwards with the inclusion of Ferres would look strong enough.
The backs are good too.
I just hope McGuire and Sutcliffe can do the business.
Talking of injuries to a couple of our forwards.
How many games did Ferres miss last year?

He played in only 13 of the 30 league games last year but a chunk of those missed games came as a result of that sh*thouse 3rd man in attacking the legs tackle from Rangi Chase that saw Chase get a 7 match ban.