Squad 2020 : Thu May 09, 2019 5:07 pm  

No thread on this yet so....

It's May and players might be on the move. On the basis we are in SL next year (not a given yet, but gotta start somewhere), here's a few thoughts.

Chris Atkin - would like him to stay but Sheens not using him the right way this season so good chance of losing him.

Mags - let him retire, no point squeezing another year out of him

Drinkwater - improved but not 100% convinced. Might be worth it for stability.

Lui - depending on the above 3 comments and Sheens, this might be the reason to keep chasing him.

Hall - got to keep in my opinion.

Shaw - not as good as previous seasons and out of favour. Probably let him go.

Addy - FFS let him go.

Lee - average let him go if anyone else available.

Lunt - hate to say it 'cos he's been great for us, but is it time to let him go? I'd prefer not to on balance.

Scruton - crocked. Let him go.

There's loads I'd keep but most are in contract already.

There's a few tough calls still to make but we have to break away from looking good on paper and actually starting to do it on the field. Addy and Scruts are the only 2 I firmly believe we should drop.

Re: Squad 2020 : Fri May 10, 2019 7:57 am  

Agree with most of that. Hall is a priority. The only thing I would disagree is Shaw. He's one of the first names on the teamsheet for me. Always gives 100%, searing pace, decent defence. I don't get why he gets a bad press from some our fans, compared to Oakes etc...

Also for the love of God can we offload VaiVai to someone...(Skirlaugh 3rd's perhaps?)

Re: Squad 2020 : Sat May 11, 2019 5:28 pm  

Gallanteer wrote:

No thread on this yet so....

It's May and players might be on the move. On the basis we are in SL next year (not a given yet, but gotta start somewhere), here's a few thoughts.

Chris Atkin - would like him to stay but Sheens not using him the right way this season so good chance of losing him.

Mags - let him retire, no point squeezing another year out of him

Drinkwater - improved but not 100% convinced. Might be worth it for stability.

Lui - depending on the above 3 comments and Sheens, this might be the reason to keep chasing him.

Hall - got to keep in my opinion.

Shaw - not as good as previous seasons and out of favour. Probably let him go.

Addy - FFS let him go.

Lee - average let him go if anyone else available.

Lunt - hate to say it 'cos he's been great for us, but is it time to let him go? I'd prefer not to on balance.

Scruton - crocked. Let him go.

There's loads I'd keep but most are in contract already.

There's a few tough calls still to make but we have to break away from looking good on paper and actually starting to do it on the field. Addy and Scruts are the only 2 I firmly believe we should drop.

Agree with much of that. I wouldn't be begging Mags not to retire. Can't recall if Scruton was retiring or had some time left on his contract. Wouldn't be encouraging him to stay on either.

Hall - deffo keep. And Shaw is a keeper for me too - always liked Shaw...fairly speedy and has demonstrated some athletic ability when grounding the ball. Not that he's been in the position to be able to too many times this season.

Yes Drinkwater seems to be improving week by week. Disappointing we didn't get the Drinkwater who seemed to settle in immediately with the Dragons but I'd give him an extended deal.

I can see Atkin leaving. I feel fairly gutted about this and don't think Rovers/the Wizard have handled him very well this season. IMO he should be one of the first names on the team sheet and he's had to make way for Drinkwater and Mags...filling in here and there, mostly out of position.

Vaivai...makes some great runs now and again...probably not enough...and more than a few errors too. He's one of those who you can see moving to another SL team and turning in to a fab player. Bit annoyed that Rovers aren't developing him in to that player...along with a few others.

Mixed feelings bout the result today - nice to beat Salford, nice to get a bit of a confidence boost and distraction from SL...though I now view the Challenge Cup as a recipe for further injury and hindrance to staying up.

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 8:01 am  

The retained list is printed in HDM, Maguire (retiring) Lunt & Shaw not offered contracts, plus others.

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 10:07 am  

The rumoured players wanted are Lui, Jones, Minikin,Abdull,Hadley,Litten... Not exactly inspiring. Drinkwater and McGuire likely not to be here next season so a pairing of Abdull and Lui looks as slow as a pairing you could imagine? Minikin? We have enough reserve centres who flap.Hadley is solid but seems injury prone nowadays. The young hooker could still be anything so that's a fair punt. Jones doesn't seem as good since RU failure but a big unit if nothing else.Id prefer to see Lui or Drinkwater paired with Atkin but seems unlikely

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 11:04 am  

Seems I called it right on Shaw, Lee and Lunt.

I quite like Abdul as a HB if he keeps his weight down. Would like us to extend Drinkwater's contract esp if Atkin goes - we need some stability at HB.

Or maybe use Abdul as a hooker and Lui and Drinkwater at HB?

All this probably means Sheens is getting an extension.

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 11:11 am  

I’d be happy with Litten or try for Cunningham from London

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 11:35 am  

I think if we can keep hold of drinkwater and have a 3 of Him, Lui and abdull you have got to be happy with that.

Supposedly we are bringing in a specialist hooker - A couple of names I reckon are in with a shout - Kris Brinning at York, Matt Parcell at leeds.

We'd have to create quota space so I wouldn't be surprised to see vaivai released with a minikin/ethan ryan double swoop.

litten - Meh.

I think we need another prop as well, Mose, Mitch, Mulhern, Lannon, Greenwood, A N Other - preferably a big man south sea islander. Not sure where we lose a quota spot or two for it though.

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 12:13 pm  

Litten is a very good player,who I honest believe coukd be a top class hooker, similar style to Daryl Clarke or Dywer. Not really been given the chance at Hull and when he has he has done well. Think it will be a mistake if we release him, saying that it could be him wanting to leave as he is unlikely to get much game time at Hull in the next couple of seasons

Re: Squad 2020 : Mon May 13, 2019 12:16 pm  

mean_machine wrote:

I think if we can keep hold of drinkwater and have a 3 of Him, Lui and abdull you have got to be happy with that.

Supposedly we are bringing in a specialist hooker - A couple of names I reckon are in with a shout - Kris Brinning at York, Matt Parcell at leeds.

We'd have to create quota space so I wouldn't be surprised to see vaivai released with a minikin/ethan ryan double swoop.

litten - Meh.

I think we need another prop as well, Mose, Mitch, Mulhern, Lannon, Greenwood, A N Other - preferably a big man south sea islander. Not sure where we lose a quota spot or two for it though.

As it stands you non fed places are full, you will have to lose one player to sign Lui, so unlikely to sign any other overseas players without releasing a player.