Ellis and Ticks will play in the back row. Whiting, Westy and Galea will battle it out for 13 and a bench spot. One will miss out of the 17.

Bench probs two props, Heremaia and a backrow.

Did anybody actually think we missed Tickle? I didn't, and I'm a big fan of his.
I'd play Whiting ahead of Westy through the middle, but Westy over Whiting wider. I think the way Gentle talks about Westerman tells us that he thinks Joe could be great.

I think with better halves and quicker ball out wide Westy could thrive like he did at Cas. O also think Galea right now is better than both of them.

Think we would have missed him more if we didnt get foster in on loan for his goal kicking. otherwise it seemed other players stepped up in the mean time

Some of Westermans plays are superb, he just needs consistency.

To have 5 back rowers of our quality is quite amazing.

I think we'll see Tickle more in the middle next year, Westerman is far better out wide than the middle, as is Ellis, and Tickle's game wouldn't need to change all that much whether he wears 12 or 13, since most of his game is based around hitting good lines and working hard.

Aint it nice to have this headache, thankfully its PG`s choice of bench warmers. Ellis Tickle Whiting for me. Rotation after a couple of weeks with one or two changes to keep the fellas fresh without disrupting the fluency of our play. Not anticipating any injuries next season FFS.

Injuries and keeping players fresh will ensure all 5 get plenty of game time,PG,s headache on who to select would come in big games at the end of season if all 5 were fit.
I think a lot of our supporters are going to be really surprised how good Galea still is.

Agreed. I think some comments about Galea are completely disrespectful.

I also think that Galea could do a job from the bench in the front row.

I would doubt Gentle would specifically sign him and then not use him.

Regarding Whiting, well 3 years ago I was not convinced, but i was wrong about him. I though the injuries he got (broken leg at London, specifically ) would have been a bit too much to come back from. Again, gentle offered him an extension, Whiting will be used.

If we end up with completely new halves (if Prince signs) I think we will see a far more effective Westerman as he will have more time, space and gaps to run into. If anything, the signing of Prince would make Tickles kicking slightly more replaceable.

Front row?

Rich Whiting WAS most of the season our best player by a mile last year and will carry on to be one of our best players this coming season and given the comments PG made when he was injured about him at the end of the season PH knows all too well just how good a player he is and how valuable he is to the team ..
Our next captain ???

What an excellent position to be in next season for PG, as he said last season his players played through the pain barrier, injections, niggling injuries etc etc and played on despite of all the problems. This now gives him the oportunity to rest certain players when a week or so off gives them the time to recover properly from these niggling injuries rather than play on with injections etc, quality in depth is what he's after and long term keeping them all as fit as possible. I hope PG stays for the next ten years, he knows what he wants and the way to go about it long term and I for one wish him well for all our sakes. He'll use the squad to the full next season and keep them all fresh, got to be good ! We've got quality all over the park and some to spare for the first time for ages, if ever !