He has my full support mate.

Don't worry, the boo-boys will soon be on his case if he doesn't start well for us.

By the way the pre season so called friendly ? Where is it ? KC I hope

Will have to resist still calling him McDonut now

And I'll have to forget this little gesture in our direction after scoring at the Etihad.
Probably got the wrong player as well, t0ssers.

Deffinitely O'Hara.

For anyone not sure what he has in his locker, type his name into Ytube.....his last few seasons in the NRL certainly provided evidence he offers quite a bit in both attack and defence.

End of the day, most Hull fans haven't seen much of him other than the derbies and not many of their players showed up in those games. I saw enough in the friendly at the start of last season to think he was decent and has much more pace and years ahead of him than Wade McKinnon. Looking forward to seeing him chime into the line.

Welcome Shannon!

O'Hara ^

McD @ Rovers
Competent under the high ball + pressure. Despite this had an annoying tendency to always let the ball bounce when given the opportunity.
Decent feet but no burst of speed to make the break. Although we mainly saw him on damp/heavy pitches.
Joins the line well and may link well with Galea.
Without doubt the best thing he did for us, was his flick pass on Magic.
----------------
More than once thought he could skin the opposition line out wide only to get bundled into touch on the 1st tackle.
Reading of the game was very poor, but may have improved having no doubt watched a lot more SL games/tactics.
His best defensive moment may have been on the unfortunate Phil Bentham.

You have signed a right lemon here!!

If the Hull fans are not calling for his head by round 10, then I will be amazed!!

Good luck

Earlier this year there was talk of having Horne as our full back for next year. we needed someone else to at least cover or someone good enough for Horne to be cover for.

McDonnell did play for the Exiles, but then again so did, Lauaki, and Hodgson wasn't available,

as with all signings, looking forward to seeing what he can do in a black and white shirt. that's 3 rovers players we've signed now, Watts got better and better, Galea will be solid and committed no doubt, McDonnell being a recognized full back is a great thing, he has a lot of try assists on his stats which is promising

"Richard can play full-back for us when he comes back to fitness and he's already done it this year to good effect." www.thisishullandeastriding.co.u ... story.html

"Richard can play full-back for us when he comes back to fitness and he's already done it this year to good effect." www.thisishullandeastriding.co.u ... story.html

I'm a bit unsure about this signing. He's clearly good in attack, but has often looked suspect under the highball and has made a few errors this way.
However, he's only 25 and it often takes players a while to adjust to SL when they come over from the NRL.
He should be getting better service in attack than he did last year - allowing his strengths to come to the fore.

However, we were all fairly uncertain about signing players such as McGoldrick and Aspinwall last season and they both turned out to be great for us, so I'm not going to bash McDonnell before he comes. He also has a good relationship with Gentle - family friends - which should stand him in good stead.

I think he'll probably just get the nod over Horne, but this means that there will always be competition for places and they both know that they'll have to be at their best to get in the side regularly.

McDonnell also gives us a bit of cover on the wings, too. We only have 3 'proper' wingers - Briscoe, Crookes, Lineham - and McDonnell has played there in the past, so I could imagine him switching to Wing with Horne at fullback if 2 of those 3 get injuries (I'd rather keep B. Crooks in the centres and Whiting elsewhere), so this signing offers us a bit more depth in the backs.

I reckon you're right. I thought all along with the stories of him going back to the NRL that there was a very small handful of clubs where he'd have a chance of a first team spot, so I would have thought any offers would have reflected that.

That being said, I agree with those who say he is probably about the best available, so you can't knock the club at all. Hopefully he'll do well for us.