[list=[/list
Moves to cas after we go bust?

Yes.
Seat 6A on the next QANTAS flight from Manchester to Australia. At least it's a window seat.

Waste of space.

NEXT

Agreed.

It seems people are picking Billy Mygoolies simply because he's Australian, therefore, he's taking up a quota spot, therefore, he MUST play.

For a man who's played 17 NRL games, we seem to be pinning a lot of hope. By God, I hope Powell's trust in him is not wasted, or we could just meander through the season.

This is nearly as funny as those who say Jason Clark does a lot of great stuff people don't see. If they both have to be here this season they can take it in turns to bring the kicking tee on.

I don’t think anyone has posted that about JC but you.
If people don’t see him do great stuff, then it’s very likely he hasn’t.
However…
What some people say about JC is he ‘does the ugly stuff that goes without credit’.
Very different, but I cannot answer for the condition of anybody's eyesight but my own.
Tackling, 1st up or cover, dummy running, constantly looking at the defensive lines, being vocal and shifting position. Basically doing the tackling for the backs.

I think that 1-13 will be as per the squad numbers, where I see us deviating from the squad numbers is in the bench selection. I'm pretty sure that Mulhern will be there along with Bullock then it's two from Walker, Davis, J Clark and Magoulias (of whom we know very little).

You're quite correct Duckie, his constant looking at the defensive line is world class, give him a contract extension. Imagine if he could break a defensive line??

There HAS to be a place for longstaff in the 17. I don't care how old he is, he's better than all the bench options suggested there.

Cannot disagree with what JC does, but we need players to unlock defences within our pack. We have Davis and Hughes as well as JC, and all three of them don't provide a great deal in the way of go forward, or a well timed pass. Maybe, with the change of coach, this will be addressed across the entire squad, and we will see the type of flowing rugby that we have not seen since TS was in charge. We do need players who do the hard graft, but we appear to have had too many of them under SP.

You've just listed the absolute BASICS of any RL forward, worth a shirt.

However, this is a bloke who's occupying a shirt, overseas spot and (presumably) a big salary. We only had him last year, so he could hold Inglis' hand, yet we extend his contract.

Any others fancy an easy wage, please contact Mr K. Fitzpatrick .

We've already got one plodder, in Hughes.

Well for the first time in many seasons I have no real idea about our starting 13, let alone the 17.

If they're all fit 1-13 could well be 1-13.
Subs could well be any of 14-19, and there's decent experienced back up all the way down to 28.

1-7 are nailed on.
Not sure about Phils starting - I might be in tbe minority but I prefer him coming off the bench, however Mulhern is the obvious option. (Is Margoulis decent at prop, or more of a back rower? I suspect the latter). Bullock looks promising and will do a decent job. Less sure about Harrison and Butler (not seen much of the latter to date, but then again SP was coach).
9-12 nailed on, and I suppose as JH is captain he'll be 13 but.......

Philbin forgotten or deliberately omitted?

i'm intrigued to see what we do with holmes, will he be started, on the left, usual position and displacing currie, on the right, not his usual position, at 13, on the bench or even pushed up to prop/middle.

Had an ankle op. Out for 10 weeks.

You’ve GOT to be kidding me??? The curse of new signings for 2022.

Powell OUT!

I’m an “early adopter”.

Really bad luck for the bloke, but hopefully this means longstaff will be selected on the opening day.

Dammit. Was quite excited to see if he could add an attacking dimension to our loose position. Never mind, probably wasn’t down to start anyway.

If Powell selected Magoulias at 13, it meant that we were moving away from the current trend of playing an extra prop in the pack.

Sincerely hope that this set back does not mean that we will still play with a prop at lock.

1. Ratchford
2. Ashton
3. Mata’utia
4. King
5. Charnley
6. Widdop
7. Williams
8. Cooper
9. Clark
10.Mulhern
11.Currie
12.Holmes
13.Hughes

14.Philbin
15.Bullock
16.Matty Davis
17.Walker

Just a personal note on Magoulias - i'm going to be up front and say that i've never seen him play (other than the obligatory Wire signing announcement video) and heard very little about him from his time in Aus...but does anybody else think his body type looks more a kin to being in the south stand with a two pinter rather than a professional athlete? He seems to be rather on the portly side to me, judging from photos of him that i've seen since he's arrived. He may well be one of those players that just 'carries it well'

He was roundly tipped to take the 13 shirt on long term when Paul Gallen retired, and was very well thought of as a junior. It’s fair to say his development has stunted, and that includes being at a club that have had significant changes in the pack, with Prior leaving, Fafita being in the reserves for long periods and long term injuries to Graham for example.

It could be be a master stroke to give him 12 months to showcase his talents, but it remains to be seen. Realistically, aside from the occasional chip and chase, I’m not sure anyone can point to anything that will show that he is anything more than ‘another’ small forward with potential going alongside Davis, Robson, Longstaff etc.

He doesn't look out of shape at all and has massive quads. Some people gentically carry weight regardless. If you've been on the aussie forums he's highly rated buy shark fans and opposition fans who think the Sharks are stupid to let him go. I liked what i've seen of him and think he's clearly got alot of skill and talent. Be a shame if he does missthe first 7-8 games but hopefully will see what he can do as the season progresses. Not saying he's amazing but i like the look of what i've seen and think he will do well for us


But if he doesn't work out he's only here for a year

I’ve only seen the games available on YouTube, but he does seem to read a game well. If we are indeed going with a more skilful approach, then I like the look of him too. There aren’t many 13s around like that in SL. I’d also be happy with Currie there I think. Maybe that’s how Powell is going. Hughes and Holmes, with Currie locking?