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| Quote Offside Monkey="Offside Monkey"What's the deal with Brotherton? Will we see him next year?
He looks big (6'3"), is no slouch and from the reports is could under kicks (offensively and defensively). Will we see him or is Ade going to resign and stand in his way for another year?'"
Well he is doing pretty well in the u-20's scoring 19 in 18 games that despite playing in an ordinary team this year (mainly due to half of the team playing in the first team each week!). So he appears a decent finisher and with several full length efforts he is no slouch. However according to rugby oracle Rogues in the games he has seen him in he is not yet good enough to play first team, in saying that he is presently only 19 so there is no rush.
I'd at least hope to see him get somes games preseason and in the cup next year and go from there. |
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| Quote Chris Saint="Chris Saint"Well he is doing pretty well in the u-20's scoring 19 in 18 games that despite playing in an ordinary team this year (mainly due to half of the team playing in the first team each week!). So he appears a decent finisher and with several full length efforts he is no slouch. However according to rugby oracle Rogues in the games he has seen him in he is not yet good enough to play first team, in saying that he is presently only 19 so there is no rush.
I'd at least hope to see him get somes games preseason and in the cup next year and go from there.'"
Playing wing these days isn't about being Athoney Sullivanesque. It sounds like they use him under the bomb in attack, in which his height gives him a massive advantage.
He's big and reasonably fast. If he doesn't have many errors in him I don't see what's going to stop him getting first team action - we don't have masses of talent in front of him and injuries do occur. Armstrong will also probably leave this year.
No one has been good enough to point out any flaws in his game |
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| Quote bolinsblues="bolinsblues"Pryce will not be the only first team player who won't renew his contract!!'"
Yeah we already know. |
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for me the concern next year is will the pack go well without graham? its hard to tell i`m not going to use hullkr as a barometer for next year. the other concern is the kicking game. i think this has been demonstrated when leon got fit. there is no kicking game as neither pryce or lomax offer a kicking game. i`ve no idea whether lance can kick but if not a combination of lomax and lance may offer similar kicking options to lomax and pryce. with pryce not signing there has to be room left. and looking up the thread what about a checky bid for briers
gaskel can kick but whether we will play him ahead of lomax and lance is unlikely even if it means a less balenceed kicking game.
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| Quote bewareshadows="bewareshadows"for me the concern next year is will the pack go well without graham? its hard to tell i`m not going to use hullkr as a barometer for next year. the other concern is the kicking game. i think this has been demonstrated when leon got fit. there is no kicking game as neither pryce or lomax offer a kicking game. i`ve no idea whether lance can kick but if not a combination of lomax and lance may offer similar kicking options to lomax and pryce. with pryce not signing there has to be room left. and looking up the thread what about a checky bid for briers
gaskel can kick but whether we will play him ahead of lomax and lance is unlikely even if it means a less balenceed kicking game.'"
I think you'll see Clough come into his own next year. He's the tirless worker to get the no nonsense yards.
I aslo think that a Wellen,Lomax, Hohaia combination will be massively lacking in terms of kicking and distribution. I think Gaskell should come into that set up for Wellens. |
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| Quote Offside Monkey="Offside Monkey"Playing wing these days isn't about being Athoney Sullivanesque. It sounds like they use him under the bomb in attack, in which his height gives him a massive advantage.
He's big and reasonably fast. If he doesn't have many errors in him I don't see what's going to stop him getting first team action - we don't have masses of talent in front of him and injuries do occur. Armstrong will also probably leave this year.
No one has been good enough to point out any flaws in his game'"
I agree, look at how useful a tactic it is for Wigan with Richards (not their only one before the Pies snipe) but with a good kick he is almost unmarkable.
Brotherton does have speed & height things that you can't coach & sounds like he is solid under the kick so he definitely has potential, as for his readiness I am only quoting Rogues, who despite having his favourites is generally fair but how much he has seen of him I don't know. It is impossible for me to see any flaws as I haven't seen any u20 but things like his defensive reading/positioning are not something we can tell from match reports/stats so he might have issues there.
I agree if there is nothing obviously weak I'd like to see him get the chance in 2012 chuck him in the for preseason, then the cup and if he handles the step well try him in the league. |
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| Quote The Chair Maker="The Chair Maker"I am not overly concerned with the departure of Pryce.
He has been an excellent player for us, however he has missed much of the last two seasons through injury and as a result we have played a lot of RL without him and done pretty well.
The loss of Pryce, Graham and Eastmond in one season is a blow, make no bones about it.
I'm sure the club were looking to build the teams long term success around Graham and Eastmond.
Luckily we have replacements coming through who can do Eastmonds job, perhaps not to the same level of X factor, but who are still very talented young players.
Graham on the other hand cannot be replaced directly so you have to adapt the squad somewhat.
Lafranchi is a top class signing on paper, and despite playing most of his RL in the second row he has been playing at prop this season. I also always thought the signings this year of Perry and LMS were actually to cover the probable departure of Graham at the end of this year.
Looking ahead many fans are now saying we will be finishing mid table next year, I think that is just typical ignorance from fans who are not aware of events happening at other clubs. You would think that everyone else is signing world beaters and only Saints are releasing players.
The reality is that Saints major rivals eg Wigan, Wire and leeds all have issues themselves to look at.
For Wigan the loss of McGuire at season end is potentially the greatest loss any club will suffer this season.
As yet we dont know who will replace him, but if it isnt a starting coach from the NRL, then i cant see Wigan hitting the same levels of intensity.
On top of his departure its also been confirmed that Coley is retiring and Hoffman is heading down under. So thats two gone from their pack with no apparent external replacements. They also lost Gleeson mid season and havent replaced him. Its also rumoured that Deacon will be hanging up his boots which leaves a shortage of cover in the halves, Lulu can play there, but that leaves McClorum at hooker which just kills Wigans ruck play. Wigan may therefore be forced to play the inexperienced and lightweight but talented Jo Mellors at Scrum half.
Warrington are facing a player apocalypse. Vast swathes of their squad are well into their 30's and looking forward to their pensions
They have lost Matt King which is a massive blow and also Louis Anderson. Its debatable if the ageing Morley 34 will get back on the field. Brett Hodgson is another with probably next year being his final one. Its not clear yet what is going to happen to their talisman Lee Briers at the end of the season. He may move on, retire or go around for one last year. The signing of Stefan Ratchford appears to me to be an attempt to cover his departure.
Its also rumoured Matty Blyth, John Clarke and Chris Riley are going to Widnes granted they are not star players, but it reduces their squad depth.
Trent Waterhouse has come in for next year and he seems like advance planning for the loss of Morley.
Leeds are another team with issues around key players reaching the veteran stage and also departing. Peacock has probably got one more year in him and is pretty much irreplaceable. Sinfield probably has a couple left but is 31 later this year.
They have also lost Burgess to the NRL, Keith Senior to the now defunct Celtic Crusaders and also Ben Cross to Widnes via Wigan. Danny Buderus is returning to the NRL. Ali Lautiti is also retiring at the end of this season.
Their signings so far announced amount to Richard Moore from Wakefield.'"
Ali is not retiring at the end of the season, he is going to Wakefield |
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| Quote Frosties.="Frosties."Ali is not retiring at the end of the season, he is going to Wakefield'"
And the difference is? |
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| Quote bewareshadows="bewareshadows"for me the concern next year is will the pack go well without graham? its hard to tell i`m not going to use hullkr as a barometer for next year.'"
Quite right too, given we can add Perry, Puletua and Laffranchi to that pack! |
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my choices would be
lomax/lance
brotherton/makinson
shenton
meli
(how he can play centre for exiles yet not be rated by us is beyond me)
foster
gaskell/wheeler(for that balance in the kicking game)
lomax/lance
perry
roby
tp
wilkin
soliola
lafranchi
lms
clough
flanaghan
flannery (i`m assuming we are losing moore)
with 3 half backs already on the field i don`t think we would need another back on the bench. but if we did i`d go with wellens. he can play most back slots and offer a bit in the pack. not long minutes but more than we currently use our spare back for.
wi
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An experimental team I'd like to run with pre season and see how it goes would be along the lines of:
1. Tommy Makinson
2. Dan Brotherton
3. Michael Shenton
4. Francis Meli
5. Jamie Foster
6. Jonny Lomax
7. Lance Hohaia
8. Josh Perry
9. James Roby
10. LMS
11. Sia Soliola
12. Jon Wilkin
13. Anthony Laffrinchi
14. TP
15. Paul Clough
16. Mark Flanagan
17. Flannery / Forster / Wheeler / Wellens (Depending on how Royce wants his rotation to go next year.)
Edit: Personally I think L-Ho has a better kicking game than most are giving him credit for. He's certainly no Dobson / Deacon when it comes to it, but I think he's definitely an improvement on Pryce in that area. Jonny also has developed a very good short kicking game and I feel his long kicking game will improve with more practice.
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