They do both. Tala was both our top try scorer and the main man at getting us going. Griffin is just going to add to that. A tremendous asset to have such massive units in the backs with the skill sets they have.
It's often Tala that makes the forwards look better in the first place. I'm sure they don't want him to change his style any time soon.
Didn't think the bench played like stop gaps tbf. Frank was a big part granted but Bowden and green were big for us for lots of games and washy straightened us up and added some direction in many games

Bowden started the season really well, green was ok with a some good games back end off the season, think thompson probably the best impact from the bench for next year . Agree about tala , would just like to see more from all of our backs in opposition half, and if we aint, we need a bench of forwards who can make an impact , and I dont think we have

Radders could potentially start with Hadley & Manu in the second row and play Mini from the bench to provide that impact.

Green is also capable of doing so, if he can carry on the form from the Cup final onwards, the guy is massive and should be bullying opposition defences.

Green, Bowden, Mini & Connor isn't a bad bench at all really.

Hadley wouldn't be in my 17, and definitely not the 13, mini always a starter for me Green, Bowden hopefully better after another year playing plenty, connor can change things, Id go with Thompson over Hadley for bench spot, would of looked a lot better with Pritchard on the bench imo

I like Hadley, he's pretty solid and I'd like to see him get plenty of game time this year to allow him to step up and replace Mini/Ellis the year after. Mini, Ellis and Manu (who knows how serious a back op it was) are all another year older, so we need to make sure rotation is spot on to get the most amount of games out of them. Hadley, Washbrook or Thompson can all spell any of them.

Really? I rate Hadley. Although it's either starter or nothing for Hadley really as his game suits playing longer minutes. Mini is certainly better, but having him on the bench could give us the balance & impact over 80 minutes to really wear defences down.

Tommo I don't particularly rate. He's capable of the odd big run and making a half break, but I think he's a little bit anonymous in defence and makes a fair few mistakes positionally around the ruck and at A/B defender, which result in problems. Plus he seems to be favoured playing down the middle rather than wider in the 2nd row channel.

Agree on Pritchard. I used to get a warm feeling knowing that after 20mins or so he'd be unleashed.

Unless there is a big improvement in Thompson he shouldn't be near our starting 17 (depending on injuries) apart from the odd moment he has been poor the last two seasons, needs to find a position as not sure were he fits in. Should be behind Hadley and Washy in the pecking order and personally I would rather see the likes of Masi or Turgut given a chance as at least they have some potential.

I hope I'm wrong but I feel we have moved up a level the last two years and Thompson has been found out abut.

That's the reason why we need another forward.

The trouble is if we go out and sign another forward, it puts the likes of Osborne, Matongo, Fash, Turgut, Downs et al. further down the pecking order. There's probably only going to be one of Washy, Hadley and Thompson playing each week, which means we can provide cover to two injuries before having to rely on the youngsters. Having not seen any of the 23s games last year I have absolutely no idea how well theyd fit into the first team, but if I've learnt anything over the past couple of years it's to trust the people that see these blokes day in, day out.

Hadley have always rated and think he can be a very good player for us. Thompson hasn't cut it for me. Time to give some of the youngsters a go turgut etc . Let's see if they can step up if needed

You might be proven correct should injuries strike and the young lads don't quite make the step up, but the fall back is that we should still have a chunk of cap space available should we need to go out and sign another forward.

Granted it's slim pickings mid season, but there are always options, and sometimes pretty goods ones too as we saw with Fifita at Wakey & Segeyaro at Leeds last year.

Thompson is only a year older than Hadley, and bar far the most promising of our fringe players, the odd moment? are you serious, not near our 17, think that's seriously harsh, If you was talking about Hadley, id agree

I agree, I rate Thompson and would rather him in the 17 than Hadley.

For me I think they are decent honest squad players but its not an easy choice between Thompson & Hadley as they are both different types of players. Hadley is reliable and will carry out the coaches plan and will do the hard yards all day long. Thompson for me is abit of an enigma, he can be either pretty good or anonimous, he has good speed, good footwork and can create space for himself but can also be unreliable at times.

with Hadley you get reliability & Thompson either good or unreliable so it all depends on what we need in a game but Thomspon although not as reliable does offer more than Hadley so its bit of a catch 22 in someways.

I think both will need to up their game to get a shout in the 17 next season.

If we're going to be successful beyond a year or two we need some of these younger players to come through and play regularly so maybe we need to accept that we maybe take a short term hit for the longer term gain. We probably have 4 or 5 forwards who have the potential to come through and be first team regs and if 2 or 3 do then we will be in a good position going forward