Heres my first 17 for the coming season.... what do you think??

FULL BACK - Brett Hodgson

WING - Cudjoe
WING - D Hodgson

CENTRE - Lolesi
CENTRE - Whatuira

HOOKER - Lunt

STAND OFF - K Brown
SCRUM HALF - Drew

2ND ROW - Gilmore
2ND ROW - Fa'alogo

LOOSE FORWARD - Wild

PROP - Mason
PROP - Raleigh

SUBS-

PROP - Crabtree
PROP - Griffin
HOOKER - Faiumu
2ND ROW - Kirmond

That will leave as back up for injuries

robinson, patrick,lawrence,finnegan,aspinwall,horne and grix

think we are light in the prop forward department, only patrick to come in but fa'alogo can also play prop

grix n robinson to come in if drew and brown doesnt work!

Kirmond and wild will prob miss start of season so aspinwall and horne could get the chance to stake there claim for first team spots

FULL BACK - Brett Hodgson

WING - Cudjoe
WING - D Hodgson

CENTRE - lawrence
CENTRE - Whatuira

HOOKER - Lunt

STAND OFF - K Brown
SCRUM HALF - Drew

2ND ROW - Gilmore
2ND ROW - Fa'alogo

LOOSE FORWARD -Faiumu
PROP - Mason
PROP - Griffin

SUBS-

PROP - Crabtree
PROP - Raleigh
utility Lolesi
SH / Hooker Robinson

That is based on injuries atc. however there is a long time to go before round one and anyone can force their way into the team before then.

i dont think faiumu is as effective at loose forward, when hes played there before he hasnt really impressed much, id rather have aspinwall or grix in at LF (thats if wild doesnt make the start of season)

and like to see griffin n crabtree off the bench together..think they make a massive impact !!

apart from that id go along with your team

for my original team i cant pick between putting drew as starter or robinson

Gilmour. The guys name is Gilmour.

I don't understand how people can spell the name of our own players incorrectly. Been a top player for a decade, do him the honour of at least knowing how to spell his name.

Shows how deep we are that some choose not to pick Wild in the XVII. Saying that he'd be in mine.

GILMOUR!!! GILMOUR!! calm down



yeh wild is in my first team everytime... will he be fit for the first game though??? if not would you put faiumu, grix or aspinwall in???

Why is everyone playing a crock Hooker at Scrum Half? Robbo will be at 7.

I think DG must have forgotten about him. Maybe he's not in his Laura Crane Calendar?

I haven't picked it up yet but i thought Wild was injured for the start of the season

Finnegan and Drew and I think Kirkmond will not make start of season.

Drew a bench player at best.

Having a thirty odd year old at Scrum half is crazy talk.

Build for the future.

lolesi and Whatuira were poor last season too. Go for Lawrence and Gilmour

1-B Hodgson
2-Cudjoe
3-Jammer
4-Gilmour
5-D Hodgson
6-Brown
7-Robbo
8-Mason
9-Lunty
10-Fa-alogo
11-Wild
12-Raleigh
13-Drew

14-Fatz
15-Lawrence
16-Griff
17-Crabtree

At th end of last season Brown was talking about Robbo playing at hooker and apparently talkeed to him about it.


Whether Brown sees him going there this season or next it looks like that is where he will be ending up.

I would guess that Brown will be playing some sort of combination of Drew,Robbo and Lunt at 7, 9 and interchange.

Where they end up on the pitch is another matter. I would expect that when Drew and Robbo are on the pitch together that Robbo will be at dummy half and Drew wil be at 1st or second reciever.

Whatever happens i am sure that Brown will surprise us and most importantly use the interchanges very cleverly to give us the creative players we need in the right place at the right time.

Drew has greater variety in his game and a better reader of the game. He played 21 Sl games lst year - just 2 less than Robbo and more than players like Myler and Brough.

But unless I am mistaken he isn't getting any younger and has had a knee op in the off season and won't be fit for the start of the season.

Additionally both you and I know why he went to Wakie in the first place.

N Brown will not have sign Drew for no reason his experience is possibly second to none and Lunt will learn alot from him as will Robinson. we all saw last season how much Leroy improved with Brett here.

No one is getting any younger. he played more games than younger guys like Brough and Myler - and many others. He is a game breaker and far more adept than Robbo at controlling a game.
Many players have a clear out op pe season.

The fact that we have Robbo and Drew + other quaity options in the halves and hooking roles is all to the good.

Drew only played more because Lazarus et al were injured.

I personally would like to see Cudjoe getting some game time at full back. Hodgson won't be here forever and for Cudjoe to really learn he needs to start playing in his best position and as much as I like him, his best position is not on the wing.

fatz n lawrence on the bench???

no place for faiumu?!!

Fa alogo is a loose forward, lets play him there

Hodgson

Cudjoe
Whatuiara
Lolesi
Lawrence

Brown
Robinson

Griffin
Lunt
Mason

Fa'alago
Gilmour
Grix

Crabtree
Faiumu
Raleigh
Finnigan

Wild Drew and Kirmond would all come in if fit before the start of the season. Looks like you've got a nucleus of around 21 or 22 strong players when you add Aspinwall and Hodgson to the equation.

1 B. Hodgson
2 Cudjoe
3 Lawrence
4 Whatuira
5 D. Hodgson
6 Brown
7 Robinson

8 Crabtree
9 Drew
10 Mason
11 Fa'alogo
12 Gilmour
13 Wild

14 Lunt
15 Lolesi
16 Raleigh
17 Griffin

1 B. Hodgson
2 Cudjoe
3 Lawrence
4 Lolesi
5 D. Hodgson
6 Brown
7 Robinson

8 Griffin
9 Drew
10 Mason
11 Fa'alogo
12 Gilmour
13 Wild

14 Lunt
15 Kirmond
16 Raleigh
17 Crabtree

And Gilmour is a Second Row but he didn't do bad at Saints as a ?,
Leroy is a Fullback but played well on the Wing, Jammer a Second Rower, Browny a ? Wild a Loose Forward, need i go on.

Don't think players fit the positions we would have thought anymore, Think Fa'alogo is more of a ball playing Prop/Second Rower rather than a Loose Forward.

As to previous quotes suprised that I left Faiumu out, don't rate him but that is purely my opinion, Fatz on the bench but on a par with Jammer (just wanna make sure he fully fit 1st) Lawrence on the bench as still learning and IMO Gilmour and one of the other 2 a slightly better option at the mo.

ATEOTD ours are just opinions and the man that matters is Nathan Brown in whom I have full trust, Think Drew will feature in his team, as last season lacked a clever tactical player with good short kicking game, something Drew posseses.

The squad is massive. There is the 22 mentioned above plus Larne Patrick and Greg Mcnally who should be somewhere close. We also have Elliot Hodgson and Jermaine Mcgillvary on full time contrats plus the lad they have just signed from Castleford on a part time deal.
there is also the three Kyle Wood, Alex Brown and Josh Griffin at batley who we can call back at short notice if needed.