The dog's bollox who must not go on a season-long loan but retain the FB shirt. Discuss.

hasn't it been announced/said/rumoured that Mcdonnell will miss a fair chunk of preseason with his hamstring tear? If Sharon can't train, Shaul should get the 1 shirt any ways.

Toughy when McDonnells fit .

tricky one - shannon had done nothing wrong before he got injured. i would work on the principle that shaul has deserved the FB berth in shannon's absence and the position is his to lose whether through form or injury. needs to work on his fielding of the high ball though, but his positional play is pretty good - he was in the right place every time tonight

I would think It would put pressure on the wing spots also.

Has impressed me hugely and Shannon should not be handed his starting berth back on a plate.

Except the one were he couldn't make his mind up whether to catch it, let it bounce or let Crookes take it.

Shaul is progressing really well but for me when fit Shannon must come back in. Our attack has gone really flat since his injury and its an area of Shauls game which he needs to work on IMO.

We're losing a winger (Briscoe). McDonnell has played wing before a few times and is definitely comfortable there.
One way to fit both into the side would be to play McDonnell on the wing and have Shaul at fullback.

It's a very tough call. McDonnell is definitely the better player at the moment but Shaul is the future of the club at fullback and needs the gametime in order to progress.

A backline of

Shaul,
Lineham
Crooks
Yeaman/Arundel
McDonnell

wouldn't be too bad.

McDonnell to wing (played there in Aus) Shaul - as our long-term fullback - retains fullback position. Let McDonnell and Bigg (is he essential in view of this?) fight it out. I like McDonnell but he is a crab a-la Raynor. Shaul is a Briscoe-esque/(pray to the forgiving god of the presumptuous) Tomkins-type direct fullback whom we've missed since, ermm, Briscoe.

Kinnell, mate! Snap!

To good not to be playing SL.

MacDonal was 3rd top metre making full back in league prior to injury, also was 2nd top tackle buster!!
If you look at some highlights for this yr, Shannon was a major factor in loads of our best attack n tries, in as much as starting them. Shauls a support based player n finisher, still needs to work on his link play.
Shannon still for me. Gonna be plenty of opportunities for both. Shaul can get plenty of game time whilst serving his apprenticeship as it were. A little like roosters have this yr!

I think still go with Shannon for the start of the season and get Shaul game time somewhere on Dual reg so we can bring him back whenever we want/need.

For the time being though Shannon has the spot for me, he's better linking into the line in attack, and he takes a lot more balls on the full than Shaul does because his positioning is better.

I'm sure by the end of next season Shaul will have progressed enough to really be considered our number one.

For me Shaul needs to keep playing for us, Will only get better playing super league level every week . Mcdonnell can go on the wing if needed

gentle is mates with McDonnell's dad. No chance of shaul being 1st choice

Yes, agree with that. McDonnell has been a very good signing for us. Would have made a difference at Wembley.

Shaul is a fantastic prospect though and has to be at the club, not on loan somewhere. As for the wings, well that'll be between Lineham, Crookes and ( tbc) Biggs next season.

Tough decisions for Gentle.

Shaul was very good last night. Positional play on kicks was outstanding for a young experienced lad. He didn't even give Catalans a chance to score from one of their kicks through. Other than the obvious mess up between him and Crookes he dealt with anything that came his way.
Superb try also!

As it stands with no other signings and a fully fit squad my back line would be.

McDonnell
Shaul
Yeaman
Crooks
Lineham

He threw out some absolutely terrible passes as well. He did some brilliant things too, but needs to work a little more on the basics. Whether that's best achieved by playing SL or NL, I can't decide.

McDonnell also only scored 2 tries and had 5 try assists in his 19 SL games, which IMO is a pretty poor return for a full back.

By comparison, Shaul has scored 6 tries in only 7 SL games and averages significantly more metres per carry than McDonnell.

McDonnell has been one of our better players this year, but it's a no brainer for me. Jamie Shaul has already shown that he could be a very special player for us. He's 21 and at a critical stage in his development as a player. In order to fulfil his potential he needs to be playing regular SL, and if that means shifting McDonnell to the wing, or elsewhere (the stand) then so be it.

We've seen the progress Crooks and Lineham have made this year with regular game time. Shaul will do likewise, and bearing in mind where he's at already then that could be pretty exciting for the club.

The kid plays with passion and for the team not just his pay packet. That the sort of players you need. Shaul for me

Gets a tougher call every game, Shaul is continually improving. Looks so much more assured now.

I think it could come down to when McDonnell regains fitness. If he misses the start of next season I think he might not get the fullback spot back.

The other thing to consider is that they're both OOC next season IIRC, so there's a big decision to be made and if we're looking at Shaul long-term it could be damaging to send him elsewhere all year.

I'm sure they said on Sky last night during the game that shaul had signed a new 2 year contract?

he signed it in may, normally it would be 2 years to run on from the end of the current season, so he should be signed up till the end of 2015