I think we might have a bit more genuine competition for places, with the emergence of some good young players. The left hand side is probably clearest - Galea - Welham - D. Hodgson.
I'm not clear yet on whether Horne is coming in primarily as a centre or a backrower. We're releasing 4 experienced backs (none of them centres, admittedly, but things could be shuffled), and have good depth in the pack. But if Newton does go, and we sign an experienced right winger, then it'll look different. Latus hasn't looked out of place and Hall did very well on the other side against saints (my DVD came
).
Given the number of powerful forwards, playing with that type of player at 13, rather than than a ball player like Murrell, would make the structure of the team better match the balance of the squad. Murrell would then 'only' be cover for 6, 7 and 9.
A new coach may see one or two things differently to JM, so there's every possibility one or two fringe players might step up or a couple of regulars might drift down the pecking order.