what do you think the 17 for the new season will be? hard to pick a 17 as we have so much strength in depth

Shaul
Micheals
Sa
Yeamo/Talanoa
Lineham
Pryce
Sneyd
Micky P
Houghton
Watts
Ellis
Mini
Westy

Rankin
Green
Feka
????

Got the feeling I'm forgetting someone important

Shaul
Talanoa
Sa
Michaels
Lineham
Pryce
Sneyd
Paea
Houghton
Watts
Ellis
Minichiello
Westerman

Feka
Green/Bowden
Thompson/Hadley
Rankin

Can't decide on the bench, and would need Houghton to do 80 minutes.

This is what I think it[i will[/i be, not necessarily what it [ishould[/i be:

Shaul
Talanoa
Yeaman
Michaels
Lineham
Pryce
Sneyd
Paea
Houghton
Bowden
Ellis
Minichello
Westerman

Watts
Feka
Hadley/Thompson
Rankin

No Sa?

For me without seeing any pre season games or training i'd go with

Shaul
Lineham
Sa
Micheals
Talanoa
Pryce
Sneyd
Paea
Houghton
Green
Ellis
Mini
Westerman

Feka
Watts
Cunningham
Whiting

In bold are the ones that are nailed on to be in the 17, injury apart.

Looks about right to me, Mrs B.

I would rather see Sa than Yeaman but don't think we will.

I don't think we have signed Michaels as a quota player not to play him.

Thinking of who else who may not make the 17 - Green, Whiting, Lancaster, Logan, Abdul, Cunningham - we seem to have a pretty strong squad

Isn't Sa quota too? With a full pre season, Sa would be starting for me.

Sa is nailed on. Not 100% at centre, but 100% for the 17.

Shaul
Talanoa (I'd have Michaels for pace personally)
Sa
Yeaman
Lineham
Pryce
Sneyd
Paea
Houghton
Watts
Mini
Ellis
Westy

Cunningham
Feka
Bowden
Hadley

Don't see Rankin getting in, don't want the halves messed with so what's the point?

Rankin can cover half back, full back and arguably centre or hooker. Your bench is all forwards. What happens if one of the backs is injured?

Hope you're right, but wasn't there a rumour that he hardy trained last season due to persistent injury problems?

Me too. But we are not picking the team.

How many teams carry a back on the bench? Most benches are all forwards, 2 props a 2nd row and a hooker.

You would drop one of our most consistent and best performers(coaches player of the yr no less) last yr for a player who has mostly been in the centres in recent times and keep yeaman in?
Regards the talonoa 'pace' thing. Most over blown thing I've heard for a while. Not lightening but I've not seen much to say his pace is a problem. Strong as an ox, makes good metres, safe, defensively strong, got good hands, always finds front and a fast play of the ball. All great assets and key parts of being a modern winger. Sum of all them is far more valuable than fast. Also with an offseason this yr he could be better still!

Same except I'd have Paea off the bench.
It's the team I'd pick now but heard some good stuff about naughton n I think he may end up in there!

I want my wingers to be fast, clinical at the line and positionally sound. Three things Talanoa isn't.
As for Michaels, his last few games were in the pack.

It's not make or break, I'd be happy either way probably. I just don't think Talanoa is as good as some make out. He's certainly not as good as LR makes out, his one of the best in SL comment was laughable.

For me, you've got to Whiting on the bench

Michaels should play centre, which is his best position and not be moved to the wing just to accomodate Yeaman.

Talanoa is as good as radford says I agree. There's stats to back a lot up but mostly I prefare my eyes. From the first games last yr I was walking away from the ground thinking what a good game he'd had. Even when the team had been dire often.
Finished everything put his way. Positionally caught out a few times but I think some was team defensive structure n the fact he'd been out the game a long time. Speed wise monaghan isn't particularly fast, but he was top try scorer.

How do you know centre is Michaels best position? I watch the Gold Coast avidly and I've seen nothing to suggest that's true. But he does have a lot of pace, something we were lacking last year, that's my reason for picking him.

I remember a couple of occasions he made breaks but threw the ball away, one at home particularly stands out. I just don't think a winger should be picked on his ability to make yards.
He's a good player and I certainly won't complain if he's given the job (which I'm certain he will be) I just want pace in my back line.

Put Talanoa in the Warrington team and he'd score a bagful, I hope we get to the level were our wingers score walk ins. Plus how many of Monaghans tries are due to his ability in the air?

I think I'd swap Sa and Michaels around but at the moment that looks like our team. Plenty of time for things to change though. Rankin can move past Pryce in the pecking order and Cunningham could earn himself a spot on the bench.

Liking the look of that lineup Mrs B on paper looks good but we all know that stops when they take to the field lol