now the squad numbers have been given out thought id pick my first 17

some hard choices! which is good, could easily swap a few round


mamo

mcgillvary
cudjoe
turner (though im yet to be convinced by him)
murphy (mcintosh too)

leeming
brough
rankin (gaskell can also slot in)

symonds (taai)
hinchcliffe
ferguson (roberts/lawrence)

ikahihifo
wakeman

bench-

roberts
taai
walne (clough)
obrien




where are people thinking taai will play, will he push up into the props as cant see a need for him in the second row..

not even mentioned mellor or smith!! or new signing roche !

decent squad. top 6 if we have luck with injuries and then who knows what can happen in the super 8's..

the new half back combination needs to work though

Finally a very difficult group to pick from!

Mamo
Jerry
Leroy
Turner
Murphy
Rankin
Brough
Seb
Leeming
Ta'ai
Bruno
Ferguson
Hinchcliffe

Wakeman, Walne, Roberts, O'Brien.

I'm still unsure on the use of Brough. Not been the same since losing his captaincy. I feel he let the team down with his suspensions and dummy spitting last season.. Class player but is he losing his touch!?
Sadly topped it off with disgracing the internationals and again letting his team down.
I hope he can get back on the ball and see his career out at the Giants in style..
But to build we can't afford guaranteed spots for players.

Cracking squad this year though.

i think brough is having less of an influence now, our attack is not great and the halves are supposed to create but i dont think brough does... maybe working with rankin will help

lets hope he has one last big hurrah for us next season! no bans or arguing with refs!

1. Mamo
2. Jerry
3. Cudjoe
4. Turner
5. McIntosh
6. Gaskell
7. Brough (hope its Broughs last season)
8. Seb
9. Leeming
10. Walne
11. Symonds (has a lot to prove for me. Another injury early on and I would release him)
12. Lawrence
13. Hinchliffe

14. O Brien
15. Ukuma Taai
16. Wakeman
17. Roberts

I'm not a fan of fergy personally and Murphy has been gradually getting slower each season.

I still think we're a prop short too!

1. Mamo
2. Jerry
3. Cudjoe
4. Turner
5. McIntosh
6. Gaskell
7. Rankin
8. Seb
9. Leeming
10. Clough
11. Roberts
12. Lawrence
13. Hinchliffe

14. O Brien
15. Ukuma Taai
16. Wakeman
17. Symonds

Given that this year you get a decent run with minimal injuries as against last season, where do you realistically hope/expect to finish this season?

top 6 not far off top 4 for me

Rankin was very specific in the piece on him on the website...he is in the halves this season so that gives you 2 from 3.....the arguments for Brough being a shoe in are diminishing in my opinion....even his goalkicking was very average last year and I'm getting fed up of his blow ups....hopefully he will be back to his best and be tantrum free! This could be though the indication that maybe we are looking at an alternative half back pairing. Is it possible Cudjoe may not be starting the season and Gaskell will be in the centre? Still a fair time to wait and speculate!

Distinct possibility seeing as Leroy is still wearing strapping on his leg.

Mamo
Jerry
Leroy
Turner
Darnell
Gaskell
Rankin
Seb
Kruise
Walne
Symonds
Taai
Hinchy

AOB
Wakeman
Roberts
Bruno/Walne/Clough/Smith/Mellor/Dickinson

Hard to pick a team to provide maximum quality for 80min, I'd maybe put Taai on the bench and start Roberts to give us a bit more impact from the bench.

I hope Brough comes back refreshed for us, hes been a shadow if himself the last 2 years.

It's a tough league, so I'm hoping if we are injury free we should comfortably be in the top 8.
Rick Stone has kept to his word so far about gradually improving us so I guess I'm expecting the same.
I'll be happy with us challenging for top 4 in the final few games of the 8's AND not losing out in the CC to a out of form lower league opposition.

yeh a good cup run would be nice again, been a while from what we were used too!

stone says he his starting to shape his squad .. prob 2019 it will be more his own stamp but interesting times by then as he his ooc end of next season as are brough, mamo and ikahihifo among others

If we can keep relatively injury free are the key words, some other teams were badly hit by injuries last year with yours just about being the worst yet you still managed 8th spot, Wakey by comparison were lucky with injuries which maybe reflects why we did so well, so if you are lucky to keep your key players fit then perhaps 4th is not unrealistic, as for the cup there are two many imponderables so fingers crossed and hope your your lucks in is how I always look at it.

we have a new physio team in place at the club, hopefully that will help on the injury front too

guy from leeds rhinos coming in at the head physio and will carlos an ex academy giants player too

He may want to play in the half's but he is not a half back.Full back is his best position but whilst Mamo is fit its unlikely he will get a game there.
Thats why i think he will end up playing on the left wing.All his first team games in Australia for Wests were on the left wing.

I did hear last week that Leroy would not be fit until halfway through the season and that his injury was worse than Bruno's from last season

out till may time?! that would be a big blow, already! him and mcgillvary with that link up. Last i read stone said it will take most of the off season till he is right... which you would think means he will be right for the start of the season! no rush even if he misses a few weeks of the start we have a ready replacement in gaskell/wood/mellor but no where near as good

[urlhttp://www.giantsrl.com/news/article/6571/giants-return-for-pre-season-training[/url

saw him in the gym doing light weights with his knee still supported though

cudjoe not certain to be back for the start of season

would think gaskell will slot in for him

then again the other options are sam wood and mellor

Isn't Sam wood on loan somewhere? Bradford?

Mellor is perfect cover.. and arguably a better defender than Leroy. Hail our squad size.

You can argue it all you want- but I won’t be convinced- I remember that game against cas where they spotted him all game and he missed 9 tackles.
Tbf it’s an area I do think he made big improvements in as the season progressed.
Given a choice I’d have Leroy at centre every time. More importantly I reckon Mcgilvary would too!

sam wood at hudds.

mellor better defender than cudjoe

not for me

for 2018???