Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 1:49 pm  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 247442.stm Says we're very strong 1-17 and hope we stay injury free, dont we all!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 247442.stm Says we're very strong 1-17 and hope we stay injury free, dont we all!

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:23 pm  

Saint's do look strong from 1-17. No stronger than any of their rivals but certainly on a par. It's out side the 17 where you falter, and it's been proved time and time again that squad depth and quality outside the regular 17 can make or break a team's season.

I'm still interested to see where Sia will play, centre of secondrow?

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:42 pm  

LovesToSpooge wrote:

Saint's do look strong from 1-17. No stronger than any of their rivals but certainly on a par. It's out side the 17 where you falter, and it's been proved time and time again that squad depth and quality outside the regular 17 can make or break a team's season.

I'm still interested to see where Sia will play, centre of secondrow?

As for the 1-17 we do look quite strong,if we keep them fit we will be there or there abouts come the end of the season.
I would imagine Sia will probably play centre rather than 2nd row.

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:11 pm  

LovesToSpooge wrote:

Saint's do look strong from 1-17. No stronger than any of their rivals but certainly on a par. It's out side the 17 where you falter, and it's been proved time and time again that squad depth and quality outside the regular 17 can make or break a team's season.

I'm still interested to see where Sia will play, centre of secondrow?

I don't think we're any weaker than anyone else in the replacements, almost all of ours have shown that they can come in and do a job in the first team. What we can't withstand is the loss of our two first choice half backs, plus a few of the reserve half backs, but name me a squad that can.

We're looking at 5 or 6 teams that can compete for that top 4 (depending on how Leeds coaching team do and if Huddersfields increased presence in the International arena takes it toll), which is only a good thing.

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:50 pm  

Strong from 1-22. If we can keep three of Pryce, Eastmond, Wheeler and Lomax fit at any given time we'll be right up there.

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:55 pm  

I think wigan have more strength in depth than us, so injuries (or lack of) will be cruicial. Warrington, IMO were very fortunate with injuries last year, and with a very old squad, it could be a big factor for them

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:26 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

Warrington, IMO were very fortunate with injuries last year, and with a very old squad, it could be a big factor for them

The turnover in players that will be required at Warrington in a couple of years time is frightening. You look at their squad and and the players that make them tick, Briers, Monaghan, Morley and Hodgson all vital to them yet are only a couple of years away from retiring. Not forgetting a whole host of other Wire players over the age of 30: Carvell, Higham, Clarke and Solomona. So while their challenging for honors at present the likelihood of them keeping that up after loosing so many key players to retirement seems slim.

Granted their reserve teams are coming on leaps and bounds but we've yet to see a great filtration of those players to the first team like we do at the likes of Wigan and Saints.

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:40 pm  

LovesToSpooge wrote:

The turnover in players that will be required at Warrington in a couple of years time is frightening. You look at their squad and and the players that make them tick, Briers, Monaghan, Morley and Hodgson all vital to them yet are only a couple of years away from retiring. Not forgetting a whole host of other Wire players over the age of 30: Carvell, Higham, Clarke and Solomona. So while their challenging for honors at present the likelihood of them keeping that up after loosing so many key players to retirement seems slim.

Granted their reserve teams are coming on leaps and bounds but we've yet to see a great filtration of those players to the first team like we do at the likes of Wigan and Saints.

whilst they have Moran willing to pay big transfer fees for young players, they dont really need their own production line bringing players in.

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:43 pm  

Our squad is as good as any in the league I think.

What we cannot withstand are the loss of Leon and Kyle together or 4 or 5 outside the first choice pack and bench against the big boys without injuries.

If we have same numbers out then I'll take our kids against anyones, if we are asking them to do the job against your Peacocks, Morleys, O'Meleys without several experienced team mates I think on occasion we will struggle!

Re: Soliola Interview : Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:00 pm  

THELAST3YARDS wrote:

Our squad is as good as any in the league I think.

What we cannot withstand are the loss of Leon and Kyle together or 4 or 5 outside the first choice pack and bench against the big boys without injuries.

If we have same numbers out then I'll take our kids against anyones, if we are asking them to do the job against your Peacocks, Morleys, O'Meleys without several experienced team mates I think on occasion we will struggle!

to be fair, any team, like us last year, who loses both halfbacks at once is bound to struggle