gentle is mates with McDonnell's dad. No chance of shaul being 1st choice

Yes, agree with that. McDonnell has been a very good signing for us. Would have made a difference at Wembley.

Shaul is a fantastic prospect though and has to be at the club, not on loan somewhere. As for the wings, well that'll be between Lineham, Crookes and ( tbc) Biggs next season.

Tough decisions for Gentle.

Shaul was very good last night. Positional play on kicks was outstanding for a young experienced lad. He didn't even give Catalans a chance to score from one of their kicks through. Other than the obvious mess up between him and Crookes he dealt with anything that came his way.
Superb try also!

As it stands with no other signings and a fully fit squad my back line would be.

McDonnell
Shaul
Yeaman
Crooks
Lineham

McDonnell also only scored 2 tries and had 5 try assists in his 19 SL games, which IMO is a pretty poor return for a full back.

By comparison, Shaul has scored 6 tries in only 7 SL games and averages significantly more metres per carry than McDonnell.

McDonnell has been one of our better players this year, but it's a no brainer for me. Jamie Shaul has already shown that he could be a very special player for us. He's 21 and at a critical stage in his development as a player. In order to fulfil his potential he needs to be playing regular SL, and if that means shifting McDonnell to the wing, or elsewhere (the stand) then so be it.

We've seen the progress Crooks and Lineham have made this year with regular game time. Shaul will do likewise, and bearing in mind where he's at already then that could be pretty exciting for the club.

The kid plays with passion and for the team not just his pay packet. That the sort of players you need. Shaul for me

Gets a tougher call every game, Shaul is continually improving. Looks so much more assured now.

I think it could come down to when McDonnell regains fitness. If he misses the start of next season I think he might not get the fullback spot back.

The other thing to consider is that they're both OOC next season IIRC, so there's a big decision to be made and if we're looking at Shaul long-term it could be damaging to send him elsewhere all year.

I'm sure they said on Sky last night during the game that shaul had signed a new 2 year contract?

he signed it in may, normally it would be 2 years to run on from the end of the current season, so he should be signed up till the end of 2015

Would rather waste a cap place then a very promising youngster who is already up to it.
McDonnell for utility player for me, with Whiting getting a starting loose forward berth in his testimonial year.

What positions has McDonnell played before and how effective was he?

McDonnell had the second best stats of any FB in the league when he got injured IIRC.

Difficult decision to be sure. Shannon is the more complete player and better as an additional attacking link, but Shaul gets better every game and has natural pace and agility. Shaul will finish more moves but McDonnell will help create more.

Easy to make a case for either to be first choice. Glad it's not my decision!

Interchange full back on the bench. It's the future.

Shaul has done superbly well but Mcdonnell to start next season,he is the more complete full-back and Shaul to step in for 2015...if he is still here as he may spit his dummy.

Rooster have the next super star fullback learning his trade on the wing behind minicello. Would be perfect for us to do same, whilst also covering the full back role itself.
Still has much to iron out n tweak in his game. Being a support player won't carry you over a full season. He is without doubt the future though!