Spot on Dave. Shaul isn't a problem and never was the problem with our attacking game. That's why our club has gone out of it's way to get Kelly in.

I agree regarding Shaul, he is a player that can do things that, until Kelly's arrival, no one else within that squad was able to and certainly has the X factor about him. I think , despite the size and strength of our outside backs, they are not really super-fast, which Shaul is so I'd be surprised to see him ousted at the start of the season, by Connor. That said , we have, at last, depth and competition for places in that position and nobody can rest on their laurels or afford a loss of form, which is the way it should be and a blueprint for continued improvement and success.

I was excited prior to last season by our additions, I feel even more confident this year as I believe that we have actually signed players who are an upgrade on their predecessors and can take us further, if we achieve the same level of fitness and injury management/conditioning.

I think, rather than sign forwards from elsewhere, we can blood the young potential starlets, if we choose carefully where and when to do so. Reminds me somewhat of the time when the likes of Lee Crooks, Wayne Proctor, Neil Puckering and Andy Dannatt came through and I hope we can unearth a future talent by going this way. Time will tell, but we'll never know until we try, to throw them in only when there is a crisis just doen't help their progression and sometimes will actually stunt their development.

Anyway, a good backline, strong pack and two excellent halves, what's not to like?

They will play after Bowden,Green,Thompson,Hadley and they will be good enough,doesn't stop Wigan putting young played in and our investment in u-23s will reap.

I can see Turgut stepping up this season.Body is filling out now and he has a bit of pace for a forward.He will be like Bateman,looks to be small but very powerful

Whilst Shaul had a very good season, I disagree with you on his attacking play. He's a terrific support player and broken field runner, but there's a lot of room for improvement in his passing game.

As we don't utilise a third pivot with our loose forward, we need more play to go through our FB and quite a lot of times last season Shaul failed too execute a play or took a wrong option.

I'm completely nit-picking of course, as I said, elements of his game are excellent and our attacking play as a team was pretty good for the most part, but there's a reason Lomax was chosen over him for England (who also don't use a pivot at 13, Aus & NZ too), which is down to his handling ability.

I imagine this is what he's working hard on in pre-season. With Connor there adding pressure for the position and bringing with him a different skill set, his position isn't as safe as it was last season.

Shaul needs to improve his timing and distribution but many of his problems come from our piiss poor passing along the line. Far too often the ball takes an age to get to him when he comes into the line to create the extra man

So there's our first 13. What would be our second 13 then?

Connor
Noggers
Logan
Downs
Lancaster

Tuimavave
?

Bowden
Litten
Green
Hadley
Thompson
Washy

Not bad in terms of competition. And I reckon we have cap space if we needed a mid season signing.

By the sounds of it, Jack Wray won't be too far off for cover in the halves. Plus there's Rawsthorne in the backs.

Starting 13 are good but bench a bot short on quality and experience then we're into inexperienced youngsters to cover the forwards if we get any injuries at all. 2 or 3 forwards injured and we could be in trouble. It seems a bit daft to let feka and frank go but not replace either but lose 2 backs and sign 4

This. A good number of times when they've ended up being man marked because the passing was too slow and Shaul has been left to try and create something on his own. However, there were times when if Shaul had taken a different option we could have created a chance. Things to work on though, and hopefully with Kelly it'll take a bit of pressure of Shaul.

Forgot about thompson so we have a bit of cover. I'd rotate ellis, mini and manu in the 2nd row and have washbrook and thompson rotating at loose man

Id like to see Hadley make a claim for 13. Think he could be the ideal replacement for Ellis if/when he retires next year.

We have a very good squad, Frank going actually gives chance for some of the others to step up and hopefully with Radford rotating the forwards a bit more more game time for the younger members and indeed more regular games for the likes of Thompson should hopefully mean we finish the back end of the season a bit better.
I still don't think we have any salary cap left of note for a mid season signing and the signing/quota spot of Michaels most certainly isn't wasted IMO, we wouldn't be able to get anyone better for what I imagine isn't a shed load.
Why do people think we have a lot of cap space left even if Michaels wasn't re-signed to get someone who would fill a quote spot and was more influential in the side as people seem to be alluding to such as another pivot player? Think Kelly is it with respect to signings.

I'd also rather Michaels was a starter, he can play either wing or centre so hope Radford sticks with the Fonua/Michaels combo but equally happy with Carlos/Michaels on the left Carlos/Talanoa, Griffin/Talanoa, I'd just rather not drop Michaels who is very reliable and is an excellent tackler as well as bringing the ball up well/generally very safe under the high ball.
We shall see after the pre-season and friendlies I guess as to what's happening.

Get the sense we'll go with Kelly-Carlos-Fonua at first. Excellent combination to put Kelly in today.

agree, thought carlos looked good today, the bloke gets a unfair rap sometimes imo,

Baring injuries, the starting backs today will start against Wakey, thought Carlos looked better and needs to do it more consistently.

I think playing Fonua on the wing, could be a cleaver plan, particularly if he plays centre at times like he did for his first try. Finally got some class,pace and skill in the backs.

Also thought Green went well and is pushing for a bench spot, first game I'd go with 4 forwards on the bench

At a guess:
Green
Bowden
Hadley
Washbrook

That's my bench, think the 17 picks itself, shame we haven't had a chance to see Connor.

Thought Thompson was poor again, had 3 games to stake his place and has failed to take it.

Think Thompson will become surplus to requirements after this season. If we get the chance to offload him I would and replace him for a prop.

I think our standard has improved and he isn't quite good enough, I expect Masi and Turgut to overtake him, agree surprised if he is here next season.

If fit then Connor has to be on the bench for me.

Can seamlessly cover most positions in the backs and change things around a bit if we are struggling to break teams down.

I think Connor will perhaps replace, Hadley on the bench. Although he has the 11 shirt I don't think Radders has even give him a run out at back row yet has he? With Washy and Connor we can cover pretty much every position barring prop.

I think he played a chunk of the second half in the back row didn't he?

I think Bowden and Green are nailed on for the bench, then it's two out of Hadley, Washbrook and Connor. But I expect Radford to rotate the pack quite a bit. If I had to guess how we will go against Wakey (injuries permitting) I would say it'll be Washy and Connor, but let's see how Connor goes against Salford (if he's fit).

Michaels is the safe option. He doesn't do very much wrong at all, and he's got a bit more pace than Fonua. However he isn't the game breaker that Fonua is either. You know that Fonua is likely make at least one brain fart pretty much every game, but you also know he'll do something very special too. Yesterday was him in a nut shell, brilliance for Kelly's try, showed his strength for his first try (Michaels just couldn't score those), made some crunching hits, but also threw two passes into touch. I think what was apparent yesterday is that Fonua is more comfortable defending on the wing. He made some really good reads to cut out promising attacks in the first half, in the second he got done a couple of times. The back line that started yesterday would be my preferred option every time, but Michaels is a good one to have in reserve (as is Naughton actually).