Last Year’s issues : Fixed or not?

[Mysterio]

1. Awfully exposed right side Defence. Dreadful. Really. Has enough been done since to fix?
2. Lack of creativity and execution. Especially on our left edge. Is this likely to resolved ? Have we seen anything new in terms of attacking patterns?
3. Square pegs round holes. Do we have enough strong cover in each position now?
4. Busted players. Do we believe Millo for example is now the golden version of Tutankhamen or the mummified? Same for any others that we think may have benefitted from healing time?
5. Injuries : do we know of any valid understandable reason injuries will be hopefully less this year?
6. Full back. Is Jordan what we really,really have cried out for since Zak?
7. Recruitment; do we now have far more belief in our recruitment planning for future and who is doing what? Do we think we’re looking 2/3yrs ahead or 2=3 months

Your opinions please, and where you think we may impress & disappoint.

Best wishes guys,

[classycas57]

You are right in everything you say. And I think the answer is no in most of what you said. I think the only thing that we will be much better with is our attacking play and the ability to cause confusion and surprise which is where 70% of the trys in today's game are scored.this coupled with the fact we will have more of the ball should ultimately mean less points conceded.

[classycas57]

Oh and 3 months ahead with the retention of some of these players. Having said that I bought a season ticket recently so I'm optimistic a little

[tigerfeat]

The right side defence had been fixed towards the end of the season and we will be better in attack almost certainly
The other questions are all fair points that time alone will tell
Point 7 being the most important in my mind that we have a clear vision where were going sometimes to me it looks like we make it up as we go along

[nottinghamtiger]

1. Awfully exposed right side Defence. Dreadful. Really. Has enough been done since to fix?
2. Lack of creativity and execution. Especially on our left edge. Is this likely to resolved ? Have we seen anything new in terms of attacking patterns?
3. Square pegs round holes. Do we have enough strong cover in each position now?
4. Busted players. Do we believe Millo for example is now the golden version of Tutankhamen or the mummified? Same for any others that we think may have benefitted from healing time?
5. Injuries : do we know of any valid understandable reason injuries will be hopefully less this year?
6. Full back. Is Jordan what we really,really have cried out for since Zak?
7. Recruitment; do we now have far more belief in our recruitment planning for future and who is doing what? Do we think we’re looking 2/3yrs ahead or 2=3 months

Your opinions please, and where you think we may impress & disappoint.

Best wishes guys,

1. Yes. Last year we had Minikin and Clare, with a number of different right-sided back-rowers. This year our centres are all good in defence (Shenton, Blair and Mata’utia) and Feki is a lot more physical than Clare.
2. Yes. We played last year with one half-back. Fingers crossed Trueman and Richardson stay fit.
3. Yes, except in the halves.
4. Only time will tell, but they were under contract so we go with them. The fitness of Moors is a worry though.n
5. There is always luck involved with injuries. But the number of tears (as in muscle tears) we get in training is a bit weird.
6. No. Not good enough to be an attacking threat against better defences.
7. With Moors, Millington and Sene-Lafeo all probably leaving at the end of the season, I hope the club are already planning ahead.

[gateman]

planning for seasons ahead is the way to go, it as been pointed out some of our players excellent servants they have been are feeling the knocks , Millington on his day is a top forward and should be used sparingly , Moors is on the sidelines more than on the field and needs replacing , how long can we keep Shenton fit the lad for me as nearly run his race , this may sound harsh but farther time takes its toll

[nottinghamtiger]

how long can we keep Shenton fit the lad for me as nearly run his race , this may sound harsh but farther time takes its toll

I think we’ll see Shenton move over the the right this year. Most teams attack down the left and he’s still very good defensively.

[the machine]

1. Yes,blair and feki will be stronger than last year
2. Yes,two halfbacks are better than one
3.yes,need to trust those players now though
4.millo has been my favourite player at cas since his arrival but hes just knackered now,rwally dont see him and moors been effective for us but fingers crossed im wrong
5.pass
6.rankin proved he was effective for us last year when used correctly,he now has two halfbacks and a full preseason to get the plays working
7.recruitment still probably not looking as far ahead as we need to be

[Mysterio]

What would be your own 3 questions you’d like answering,
Hopefully we can narrow a thread down to something meaningful and I shall email Jon Wells our questions. It’s in his job description I bet to respond.

[the machine]

What would be your own 3 questions you’d like answering,
Hopefully we can narrow a thread down to something meaningful and I shall email Jon Wells our questions. It’s in his job description I bet to respond.

With two halfbacks will we see a change in our attack to a more attacking style of play?

With the reserves been used this year do we hope any of the youngsters will be pushing for a first team spot?

[tigerfeat]

What would be your own 3 questions you’d like answering,
Hopefully we can narrow a thread down to something meaningful and I shall email Jon Wells our questions. It’s in his job description I bet to respond.

When he took over he said the club had to rely on bringing players through the youth system two years into his watch how does he feel this is going

[on side]

Forwards going to be about same as last season not really recruited any body that's going to improve the forwards so you would notice. Poor cover in props still if Watts gets injured. Not convinced ranking is a natural fullback but looks like we're going with it. Centres no cover really off a natural centre we speed hope chase as got better with good off season but not guaranteed need Shenton back to his best for full season. Wingers look stronger has do half backs so I would say we half covered half the cracks up not all.

[tigerfeat]

Don't you think Griffin will improve the side I do think he's a good player having watched Salford a lot back end ...was lukewarm when we signed him like

[on side]

Don't you think Griffin will improve the side I do think he's a good player having watched Salford a lot back end ...was lukewarm when we signed him like

Not really average solid player will put in shift but not much better then we have all ready not a massive bloke to cover Watts to get us on front foot kind off a player. Not saying bad signing but still think we needed another super league ready big nasty front rower to compliment watts

[tigerfeat]

To be fair to Mr Wells it seems he tried to pay up big junior so we could bring another top prop in
Can't do much if blokes got a year left on contract and dosnt want to go

[HuddsTigers]

All very much hypothetical questions given we've not played any games yet or at least friendlies with first team and also new players. Hard to assume it's going to be the same with different tactics potentially, different recruits and players in different positions - but here's my take (apologies in advance for long answers but given some of these a bit of thought!)

1) Likelihood is that we'll see a new right edge partnership in Blair and Feki, which is an improvement on Foster/Minikin + Minikin/Clare. McMeeken returning last season had a huge impact and our right side looked better from that point. Barring Egodo vs Gildart, I can't think (off the top of my head, someone may correct me) of another occasion we actually got destroyed from deep down the right.

For me, the biggest issue we've got to resolve is how soft we were in the middle and around the ruck. We leak far too many soft tries from crash balls or from dummy half. Similarly from kicks - people like Sneyd kicked us to death on the left side. Need to work on our defence/protecting catchers

2) It feels like Trueman is playing down the left again next season with Richardson on the right (given the friendly). It provides more balance but I'm not convinced yet by more creativity. Our short kicking game last year needs to improve (or we need to do something different).

3) More depth in backs and versatility. I think the players brought in are of a better calibre to those going and I'm excited to see what Hepi can do (reminds me very much of Bateman). Youngsters also a year older and have experience so likes of Peachey and O'Neill should add more depth. Reserves coming back also gives them an opportunity to play with more senior players and keep developing their game. We have a good 26/27 man first choice squad I feel.

4) I've said for a few years that Millo needs to be nurtured. He's not an 80 min forward any more and I think we need to use him as a 20-30 min breather going forward for forwards than frontline. Moors time will tell, Foster needs to keep fit and could be good depth. Shenton I think has been unlucky (and unfairly targeted on here) - excited to see him back.

5) Better depth, ability to rotate more meaning less injuries, opportunity to rest players than pushing them through on injections? Hopefully better management and different training - club has spoken about lessons being learned. Time will tell on this as we go through the season.

6) Time will tell. He's now had a full pre-season behind Trueman and Richardson to learn the plays and a better understanding and our spine is a settled one (still may be teething issues and take a few months to get into swing of things). He played really well at full back last season and has the speed to unlock defences. May not be as defensively solid as ZH but think he's got the speed and can take opportunities.

7) Yes. Recruitment is always a long-term cycle. DP and JW have said this on numerous occasions. You have to look at it long-term due to contractual changes every year and retention. We're coming into a big year for the TV deal, which may have a huge impact on spending and general RL finances. The club IMO have timed our expiration of overseas stars quite well on this front (Moors, Millo) as they're likely to be on a higher salary than most domestic players. Could be vital cap space/money and overseas spots, especially if we don't retain Rankin/Hepi either.

In this sense I think it's a big year for the likes of Peachey, O'Neill and Summers to grab a spot in the first team as that could help reduce burden on having to signing additional fringe players and help invest more in key players. I think we need to make early calls on FB, HB and Prop probably early on in the season based on performances of Rankin/Richardson. Got a feeling the former is a priority, which will free up Rankin as back-up FB/HB if we retain him post this year.