Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:41 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

You don't need experienced half backs to offload the ball in the tackle.

No, but good ball distribution comes with experience, and that is what I was thinking of in response to the comment about going to the left.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:52 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

No, but good ball distribution comes with experience, and that is what I was thinking of in response to the comment about going to the left.

Even at U15's I could pass the ball left and right, it's obviously a tactical ploy from the coach to target play down the left hand side. Whilst they're inexperienced at SL level Jonny and Lee have both been playing for at least 10 years and are able to distribute the ball BOTH ways should that be required. It's tactics going down the left, nothing more nothing less.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:52 pm  

BackrowSaint wrote:

Carmont, Richards, Finch, Leuluai, Hoffman, Lima, Cross.

Jog on Rogues. Oh and if you're going to count Flanagan as overseas then I'll count Harrison too seen as Flanagan has only been there a couple of years.

Meli
Hohaia
Perry
Puletua
Laffranchi
Soliola
Flannery

Looks like seven too me.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:53 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Meli
Hohaia
Perry
Puletua
Laffranchi
Soliola
Flannery

Looks like seven too me.

Apologies I missed Flannery. My point still stands that it's no less than you have right now.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:56 pm  

BackrowSaint wrote:

Even at U15's I could pass the ball left and right, it's obviously a tactical ploy from the coach to target play down the left hand side. Whilst they're inexperienced at SL level Jonny and Lee have both been playing for at least 10 years and are able to distribute the ball BOTH ways should that be required. It's tactics going down the left, nothing more nothing less.

Strangely enough I was discussing the very same think with my son in law over my birthday drink or three last night. We were taught too pass a ball off both hands when we were kids. I find it very strange that some modern day players find it a difficult skill.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:58 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

Strangely enough I was discussing the very same think with my son in law over my birthday drink or three last night. We were taught too pass a ball off both hands when we were kids. I find it very strange that some modern day players find it a difficult skill.

Happy Birthday for yesterday then. But yes, it isn't that difficult to pass a ball proficiently of both hands, especially for a half back which is why I can't see past it being tactics rather than skill.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:40 pm  

Won't be good enough for you to break the Wigan Wire top 2 of this season unless some serious signings are made.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:51 pm  

Sihill88 wrote:

Won't be good enough for you to break the Wigan Wire top 2 of this season unless some serious signings are made.

Had we hung on to our half time lead at Wire earlier this season, we'd have been a massive 1 point behind them going into last weekends fixtures. That's despite all our bad luck with injuries.

This "gulf" between Wire/Wigan and us is nothing of the sort. We're a fair crack with injuries away from mixing it at the top of the table again. We may even knock one or both of them off in the play-offs if we can get players back and keep them fit (big if in recent years).

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:02 pm  

Our squad quality and squad depth has been decreasing for 5 years now. Next season will be our weakest squad for many years IMO. How many of the players in our squad would you class as star players? We're a solid team, with great work rate and some promising young players but I don't see much cutting edge in our squad. Hohaia and Lomax in the halves could go one of two ways - it could be exciting or it could be that two similar styles clash and doesn't work out. After that we have Gaskell (solid player - decent kicking game) and Wheeler (can't string any games together).

I'm genuinely concerned that we're going into a new stadium with one of our weakest SL squads, possibly one of the weakest we've had. Losing Pryce and Graham is a massive blow IMO.

Re: Team for Next Season : Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:08 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

So that's a first team of seven overseas players, and only five who have come through the clubs academy (I'm discounting Moore as I expect him to be elsewhere)

Where are all these fantastic juniors that Saints supporters keep telling us about?

Don't be fooled by all the " were going with youth " crap. That's just a disguise and really means were going cheap.

Longy, KC, gidley, pryce, eastmond, pryce, Graham and hargreves have all left over last few years and no way we've usd their wage to bring in new players.

Not a chance in hell we are spending to the cap.