Had this been last season, I would agree with that completely. The only thing making me doubt, is that Lauaki looked a bit better against Cas and lasted longer. Sure it was against kids, but he was still putting more effort in than he did in any game last season. Saw someone say he managed about 40 minutes, although I don't know how accurate that is, I didn't have a stopwatch on him.

Did he have a cardiac arrest afterwards?

If you can get the minutes out of Lauaki, he would be better than Walker. When Clough is fit, would either of them get into the 17?

No but he made his way to the bench very slowly.

Clough, Sidlow & Kavanagh are clearly our best props. Head and shoulders above the rest from what I've seen. The 4th place could be any of Crossley, Lauaki, Walker or Mitch Clark. Hopefully form will dictate who plays, as well as a bit of rotation to keep people fresh. There's also Dan Fleming, but I would expect him to be behind the rest too (as well as Haggerty), as he's showed very little since signing.




There were rumours that 10 chilli dogs were rushed to the bench to help replenish his energy levels, but I can neither confirm nor deny.

1. Thomas (don't think Mathers will be up to speed yet).
2. Caro
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Williams
6. Gaskell
7. Jacks
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Pitts
13. Addy

14. Ferguson
15. Lauaki/Fleming
16. Haggerty/Walshaw
17. Halafihi

1. Thomas
2. Williams
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Clare
6. Gaskell
7. Jacks
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Pitts
13. Addy

14. Ferguson
15. Lauaki/Fleming
16. Haggerty/Walshaw
17. Halafihi

Similar to what's been said but I'd have Willian's outside Purtell they worked well last season

Not a bad squad , I think some teams will underestimate Fev this season.

1. Thomas
2. Williams
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Clare
6. Gaskell
7. Jacks
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Pitts
13. Addy

14. Ferguson
15. Walker
16. Haggerty
17. Walshaw/Caro

Agree Lauaki did better minutes against Cas but still looks unfit and incapable of more than 20 minutes in a real game. I would give the newbies a run.

Fev to me look to have a strong 17. However their broader squad doesn't look quite as good. If they keep people fit, they could do well. One or two injuries though and it could make a big difference.

1. Thomas (only due to Mathers having no game time)
2. Clare
3. Whelam
4. Purtel
5. Williams
6. Gaskell
7. Addy
8. Sidlow
9. AOF
10 Kavanagh
11. Olbison
12. Ferguson
13. Pitts

Bench gets complicated (probably all forwards he will go with based on last season)
14. Walker
15. Haggerty
16. Mellor
17. Luaki

1. Thomas
2. Clare
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Williams
6. Gaskell
7. Addy
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Mellor
13. Pitts

14. Ferguson
15. Walker (if fit), Lauaki if not.
16. Haggerty
17. Halafihi

1. Thomas
2. Williams
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Clare
6. Gaskell
7. Addy
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Ferguson
13. Pitts

14. Mellor
1), Lauaki
16. Haggerty
17. Halafihi

I heard they were having off field issues - could that affect them?

[url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbulls/14249950.Lauaki_vows__I_m_fully_fit_and_raring_to_go/Lauaki says he's fully fit[/url

I'll believe it when I see it.

HC,

I think you are sport on, in the case of injuries for me it will depend on the quality of the Leeds DR players (not that I think DR is good for the game, because I don't).

He certainly fully fit's his shirt. He makes refernce to only playing 10/15 minutes. That's not a good target when we've got guys having to run for 50/60/70 minutes to cover his lazy backside. If he can't pull a minimum of 40 minutes a game then he should be dropped and fined for his poor fitness

And given the current weather report for Sunday, we're going to need our forwards punching forward as it's going to be a cold slog in the rain

Fit is defined as being suitable for a purpose, so I guess we need to ask what Lowesy has asked a particular player to do before considering whether he's fit to carry out those instructions.

Not being fully on song with all the modern training techniques, I'll stand to be corrected, but I d guess that a guy who is expected to do 60+ minutes every game is going to be a different shape to someone who has been asked to come on for 10 minutes [or so each half and charge in a bit.

good summary Bc. power or stamina. the proof is on the pitch and its a simple one. Will he run forward with power for 10-15 minutes and open up gaps either by breaking tackles or pulling in defenders and offloading (assuming he has support...), or as last season, will he run sideways?

We'll soon find out.

My problem last year was is complete lack of effectiveness for the brief periods he was on the field.

I thought he was more effective against Cas last week, although it's hard to judge considering the standard of opposition. He also did more minutes too as mentioned previously.

I agree though. As well as ideally lasting a bit more, you can excuse 15 minute spells to an extent as long as he makes an impact during it, which he just didn't last year.

Given the squad announced my team would be:
1. Thomas
2. Clare
3. Purtell
4. Welham
5. Caro
6. Gaskell
7. Addy
8. Kavanagh
9. O'Brien
10. Sidlow
11. Olbison
12. Ferguson
13. Pitts

14. Blythe
15. Walker
16. Haggerty
17. Mellor

The two to miss out- Lauaki and Mathers.
However I expect Jimmy to play Mathers at full back instead of Thomas and Lauaki as sub instead of Haggerty.

Yeah, I agree with that, it's just that I'm far from entirely sure that Jimmy does.

Like others have said he looked a bit more aggressive and put more work in against cas in the friendly. Hard to judge based on that but the article in T&A did mention he hadn't had a proper pre season in 3-4 years so maybe this will see him actually put a bit more in.

I don't mind him being used as an impact prop for 10-15 mins. I expect that was the plan last year but he needs to actually make the impact while he's on and should be trying to run though walls whilst he's on.