l have to disagree Daz, Sportspeople tend to have big egos, the smallest things matter, look what Murphy is saying in the Examiner, l do agree the cream will rise to the top, probably a player or two outside the first 13 will have a great season and will be rewarded in team selection.
Lets look at it from another point of view. This is a world Cup year, How many players selected for England will not have a starting shirt ? l was hoping Lawrence would get the 11,12 shirt, l think he is already knocking on the door for a full England cap, but his coach does not rate him for a starting shirt, l think Lawrence will be very dissapointed, the shirt No will mean a lot to him. l hope he has a great season and McNamara looks further down the list.
So not everyone will think like l do, but these are a couple of reasons, that l think squad Nos are important

Lawrence is developing into an excellent back-row forward, I think Anderson has got it right in terms of 11, 12 & 13. Ferres I think will play 11 this season, O'Donnell could be argued to be our best second rower and Faiumu is fantastic at 13.

Except faiumu isn't going to be playing 13. How's this for an idea. Faiumu is an international, experienced player who deserves a starting number, Lunt has an ego that needs massaging and as a sweetener for making him return from Leeds he was given the 9 jersey so Lawrence who could well be playing at loose (

) gets dropped to number 14.

It's a valid thought...

very true. faiumu also very highly respected by the players, vice captain not too long ago

Just been looking through some old examiner reports - Ta'ai was originally reported to be joining the club end of November- anyone heard any news on when he's coming? Hope the visa is sorted!

He's spending Christmas with his family back in oz due after Christmas.He is in full training with the Warriors.

As if often the case there is a visa problem,but not serious enough to jeopardize things in the long run.(so they say)

Why not go back to positional numbers on game day ie 1-17 they can still have their club numbers if needed for the RL for id purposes.

Probably doesn't matter to you or I, but many, particularly kids want a favourite players shirt, a budding little Eorl probably loves his Crabtree 8 shirt, not so good if Eorl is on interchange with 15

a reason for squad number is also that players have fitted shirts now, compared to the old days where everyone wore the shirts and it did not matter if they looked like short dresses.

If Eorl was number 15 one week and the following week Luke was rotational hooker, it would look really silly. Either Eorl would be wearing a crop top, or Robinson would be wearing a belt, or a sumo suit underneath

Think there would be more than one set with different size options (especially the interchange ones) and this problem does not appear to crop up in Championship/Championship 1 but it is certainly a marketing tool pinched from football (and American Sports before that) and I guess as a way of identifying players it works be they our players or probably more useful the opposition.