To actually answer the question, big year for Tom Johnstone, to recover a second time and find your form again is a massive ask, if he does we (club and country) get back one of the worlds best wingers. Ryan Hampshire needs to put up or shut up now as to whether he is or isn't an HB or become a utility player which so far is all he's been.

As for youngsters, Conner Bailey is the one with the credentials with full academy international honours, probably a 6 maybe a 13. The other is Titus Gwaze who I didn't rate but was in truth the only Trinity player to truly shine on boxing day.

Yeah I hope for a good year from Johnstone too. Very exciting player. As you said it's very hard to come back from two knee reconstructions so hopefully it won't have affected his speed (or confidence)

One positive in his recovery is the timing of his injuries in that he gets all (or at least a decent chunk) of pre-season under his belt. He's not playing catch-up throughout the year. I remember James Donaldson at 18 was flying and did his 1st ACL in half way through the season. Didn't come back until half way through the next year and was in and out of the team. Then he did his ACL again the next year and again the following season was just playing catch-up. Was 4 years before we knew it without getting any kind of consistent run. Hopefully Johnstone gets a clear run this year.

I have a few Wakefield fan friends and they were just as frustrated with him. I've also seen how bad/lazy his defence can be. That being said, he did fit in very well when he was here last season, is coming into a very workmanlike pack that can cover his defensive deficiencies and has so far looked liked he means business fitness wise (he started pre-season before anyone else). We shall see but I'm cautiously optimistic.

He will probably go well for the first half of the season and overall when you consider the lack of big men in the British game compared to the NRL he's worth a punt. Also, he may just fit in better at Salford, some players only work at certain clubs. That said I stand by my assertion that he will never peak as a player for the reasons I gave. Maybe just maybe he could overcome lack of fitness etc but he'll never be a player, in that there are simply too many basic flaws in his game to ever overcome that. You have far better players than PP IMHO.

However, as a battering ram especially when close to the line he can be a real asset, best of luck with him and you never know we have all been wrong about players at our clubs who leave to prove us wrong.

As for starting the pre-season before anyone else I'm not surprised, he needed too

Agree but to add to that, Tom and Bill's partnership along with Ashurst who were all struck down for long period last season, so if they can establish themselves again it will put Trinity in good stead. Fifita is also coming back after a foot operation and until he got injured he was unplayable at times, so he's another that's returning from a major operation and is looking in great shape as well. I'm also looking forward to see what Tanginoa goes like after a full pre season under him. The bloke was a beast when he fell off the plane from down under and was excellent in the 13 or so games he played last season for us.

Mine are:

Harry Newman.
Jack Walker.
Alex Mellor.

Agree on Lannon. He's got the tools to be a really decent 2R and just needs a consistent run of games.

This is by far our most balanced squad in a long long time. Hastings is irreplaceable and we'll miss Jones' blockbusting runs but I'm quietly confident we can grab a mid-table finish and not be worrying about the annual relegation dogfight.

Having seen Lewis play from being around ten years old I can only agree. He's going to be a superstar , and really shone on Saints recent Academy tour to NSW. He scored a fantastic solo try against South Sydney that rounded off a fine individual performance

Still no news from Catalans Dragons about a centre replacement for Brayden Williame. So Gavin Marguerite could get his chance in the centres for Catalans, at least at the beginning of the season. If so it could be very interesting.

He was voted man of the match in every game by the opposition.

I think Castleford have a pretty safe bet in Danny Richardson. He is a very talented player and still looked in good touch when he played for Saints last year. The only problem he had was not being involved enough, which lead to the coaching staff wanting him to take the line on more. With some time to settle in I am sure he will get more and more involved. He will get extra ball at Cas so more time to have an impact. I suspect he will be in the dream team/England picture at the end of the year.

I think the only reason why Saints were happy to let him go is Lewis Dodd. However 2020 may be a bit early for him maybe 2021 is when he will make a bigger impact.

Saints players to watch are probably;

Jack Welsby: Another high quality Academy player and a big part of the England Academy's win over the Aussies a couple of years ago. This year should be his break out year, it is just a question of in what position given he can play almost anywhere 1,3,4,6,11,12,13, I guess it is down to what long term injuries Saints have in 2020.

James Bentley: Likely to become a starter in 2020 with Saints backline getting old. He does have a very similar style to John Bateman, if not the skill level yet, with his strong low centre of gravity running style. Just missing out on the Grand Final but a good bet to be on the bench at the start of the year.

Aaron Smith: The current player most likely to replace James Roby. He will spend a lot of the year covering for Roby who will not be playing 40+ games for 80 mins in 2020. A very accurate passer and a quick runner from dummy half.

Honorable mention to Matty Costello, who is very under-rated by Saints fans. He could play a much larger role for Saints in 2020 and is currently first choice backup for the centre, ahead of Welsby.