2018 squad - discussion : Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:23 pm  

Looking at the three permanent signings, they look like good additions. Ryan Boyle should be very good at this level and provide plenty of go-forward. Liam Harris looks like a player with a big future. He scored 14 tries in 18 games for York, adding 12 goals too. He was Man Of The Match five times in those 18 games. Connor Bower is at university. Read more about him on this link: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/ru ... -fc-577527

Looking at the three permanent signings, they look like good additions. Ryan Boyle should be very good at this level and provide plenty of go-forward. Liam Harris looks like a player with a big future. He scored 14 tries in 18 games for York, adding 12 goals too. He was Man Of The Match five times in those 18 games. Connor Bower is at university. Read more about him on this link: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/ru ... -fc-577527

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Thu Oct 19, 2017 10:20 am  

There is enough pace and creativity in the squad now to be optimistic.

Just a couple of work-in-progress areas ....

1. Forward power ... the club were actively pursuing two props from PNG, but the rules on eligibility have just been changed and they don't qualify yet.
They would have been the clincher re forward power.

2. Leaders on the park ... tight battles are won by good generals. It is not sufficient to expect the captain or some naturally gobby sod to do it all.
It needs a structure just the same as all jobs on the park.

Sort those two areas out and there is no reason why we can't be pretty damn good.

Somebody else's go now.
lol

[Jemmo]

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:45 am  

I think we have kept a good core squad, and the additions in most part improve the starting 17 or add depth.

I would however say we need at least 1 more experienced prop (not old...experienced)

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:37 pm  

Agree with Jemmo re another prop & with S-O re a leader on the park .

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:13 pm  

We've lacked pace and creativity in recent times, we seemed to have addressed that now.

I agree with the other comments made by everyone else.

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:14 pm  

Happy with the signings....... agree about another prop , but hats off to the club for a great deal on the season tickets. Hopefully the crowds will increase.

I was disappointed when the club released Mark Castle , even though his fitness was questionable, I think he still had one good season in him at this level.
Direct strong carries and plenty of aggression, just what you need in a prop.

Good to see us sign a proper half back, as I think we have lacked direction for a few years now.

Re: 2018 squad - discussion : Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:58 am  

On the Launch Night thread there have been a few comments about the retention of a some of the players.

Ideally we'd like to have the best 20 players in the league in the squad but there are two points to consider:

You don't want the players who aren't playing regularly to leave, as that puts you in a bad position mid-season especially if you get some injuries. We've seen numerous players leave mid-season in the past when not picked regularly.

AJB, for example, seems like a hardworking loyal lad and I have to give him credit for that. He might not be the best but he won't let us down if called upon, and as he showed last season, he'll almost certainly still be here if not playing every week.

The second point is that it's hard to get good quality players to drop down to this level. As Carl said at the Launch Night, a few targets haven't been able to be got over the line.

We've potentially got seven new players to add to the match day 17, hopefully with a fully fit Jordan Howden to be added as well. That seems like a good start. I'm sure there'll be a couple more newcomers as well.

We've been treated to some unexciting rugby recently. The pace and creativity in the squad looks like something to get excited about. The first game can't come soon enough... although we need to smash the 1,000 season ticket sales first!