Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sat Jun 18, 2011 9:31 pm  

Is this an idea the club could run? IMO with LMS and Perry as the only recognised prop forwards in the entire squad for next season the club needs to search every inch of the globe to find another pair of props. There has got to be a couple of big lads somewhere. Union dropouts, players from outside the heartlands that have never played league, players that had given up on the game at a young age but could actually make it? I'm sure they could get television coverage of it too.

If the quota rules we assume exist are true we've exhausted our options for overseas players already. Was the signing of Lance Hohaia a mistake? He's clearly good enough for Super League, but seems to have made the move to SL on the promise of playing half back which is his preferred position. Now, if that means we still have Wello at 1 and lose Pryce and put one of Lomaskell on the bench, I can't see how we benefit from it. Did we sign Lance to replace Kyle and then regret it because Lomaskell actually turned out to be pretty good? I can't help but think the overseas spot he's taken up would have been better spent on a big, massive, aggressive prop from the NRL?

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sat Jun 18, 2011 11:06 pm  

Is the plan to play Laffranchi at prop?

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sat Jun 18, 2011 11:21 pm  

TP and Laffranchi to prop as well,rumours are we are looking to bring in another one,but lets right next season off before we start eh ? Is Lance a mistake ? how the hell will we know until next year ?

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sat Jun 18, 2011 11:59 pm  

willy manu wants to be released from Hull to join saints next year.

I just made that up, but lets roll with it.

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:05 am  

brook40 wrote:

TP and Laffranchi to prop as well,rumours are we are looking to bring in another one

Has Laffranchi ever played at prop? If you include both those as props, it leaves us very lightweight in the backrow, with only Wilkin and Soliola of any real stature. We're a couple short still.

brook40 wrote:

but lets right next season off before we start eh ?

Who has written next season off? I won't be doing that until at least October this year

brook40 wrote:

Is Lance a mistake ? how the hell will we know until next year

I'm asking for an opinion, not a categoric answer. It just seems that with the development of Lomax and Gaskell it's a position we have players in and perhaps the quota space would have been better used on a forward. I'm not criticising the club as the decision was obviously made when Kyle announced he was leaving and I doubt anyone would have predicted how well Lomax and Gaskell would do. I'm also not sure what impact those two will have on Leon Pryce. If fit, he is our best player still, but I can't see how they can accomodate Leon, Lance, Lomax and Gaskell with only two places available.

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:14 am  

Saddened! wrote:

I'm asking for an opinion, not a categoric answer. It just seems that with the development of Lomax and Gaskell it's a position we have players in and perhaps the quota space would have been better used on a forward. I'm not criticising the club as the decision was obviously made when Kyle announced he was leaving and I doubt anyone would have predicted how well Lomax and Gaskell would do. I'm also not sure what impact those two will have on Leon Pryce. If fit, he is our best player still, but I can't see how they can accomodate Leon, Lance, Lomax and Gaskell with only two places available.

And then there's Wheeler to add into the mix. I think one of them are going to be at full-back in the long term. If Wello's recent poor form continues in the same vain, then I can only see him becoming a utility squad player next season. Sad, but it's going to happen some time.

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 12:27 am  

I can see you using Hohaia at FB mainly, still lacking some grunt up front though.

Wouldn't be surprised to see you try and bid for Watts from HKR, he's got a lot of potential.

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:13 am  

Ok I'll give you a possible 1-17 for next year there are a few question like leon, will he ever gain his form?

FB Leon Pryce
Wing Foster
Centre Meli
Centre Shenton
Wing Makinson
SO Lomax (to be rotated with Gaskell and Lance)
SH Lance

Prop Perry
Hooker Roby
Prop LMS
2nd r Soliola
2nd r Wilkin
LF Laffranchi

sub
Tony Puletua
Clough
Flannery (reckon we'll keep him as he don't count as non-fed)
Wellens

That gives us 4 props, a 2nd rower on the bench of quality and a utility back, who can also play 2nd row or loose or hooker if needed in Wellens. Basically Wellens can play a stand in role at every position bar prop. I'm a huge fan of Wellens, but either due to injury or time, even I have to say he may need to be moved.

So that's the first 17.

This leaves us with
Wheeler, who can cover every position too up to prop
Scott Moore assuming he is still with us
Ashurst
Dixon
Gaskell
Megennis
Nathan Ashe ( can see this guy as a long term FB)
Scott Hale (really liked what I saw in this guy)

Personally I'd like another prop like the guy from Leigh but this team would still be a year on in experience, however it would mean our much vaunted academy players would not make the first 17. I think Megennis needs more time to grow, this is his first year. Dixon and Ashurst well the jury is out for me, but I can see 1 more year. Scott Hale, well I'd like to see him get the odd game inbetween, adding some bulk, but not too much.

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:47 am  

There is Jordan Hand in the u20s who appears to be making a great impact. He's an out and out prop. I'm surprised we haven't seen him given a go while Cloughy has been missing as it would be well worthwhile to see if a bloke from our own ranks could make it in the first team while we also have some seasoned props on the pitch. (I keep hoping that we will train up young guys instead of just sticking them in to cover for injuries but we don't seem to!)

Re: Prop idol 2012 / Is Lance a mistake? : Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:51 am  

Hohaia is a very good signing for us. He brings a bit of gamebreaking ability to our backline and hopefully if he settles well he'll prove to be a big asset for us either in the halves (which we assume he'll play initially) or at full back. Gaskell and Lomax are doing a good job but I think they've struggled a bit at times due to their inexperience and they'll need that support friom an an experienced player whether that be Pryce or Hohaia.

In my mind we require another back and a prop forward to replace Graham which would allow us to move Laffranchi into the back row or Loose position. I admire our trust in the youth players but we lack a bit of experience and need a bit more depth in our squad.

A pack of:

Puletua
Roby
New signing
Clough
Wilkin
Laffranchi

Bench:

LMS
Perry
Soliola
Wheeler

I'd be happy with that.