Looking at the 2013 squad as it stands at the moment, is it stronger than last years? What improvements are needed? And, is it good enough to get into the play-offs?

squad looks ok to me improve the tackling and see out games when were in winning positions bradford cas wigan cats games spring to mind and i think we will do a lot better (one thing about last season the attacking play was a massive improvement on morgans last season )

Signings wise, the players coming in probably aren't as good, but hopefully they'll at least play every week unlike Webster, Clinton, Green and Galea.
Improvement has to be in defence were we were absolutely garbage.
IMO playoffs depend on teams like Bradford, Wakefield and Huddersfield and how they strengthen and perform.

We're weaker.

The players coming in are either gambles (some of them positive, I liked Caro a lot at CP when The Broncos came) or Aussies who may or may not go well.

Paterson I hope will go really well.

This is a Mild Rover point of view but one which is shrewdly observed, strength in depth is shot. We've lost a number of decent squad players that were not necessarily first choice seventeen but were valuable top twenty five that we will miss.

Yes, we have the likes of Green, Petersen, Griffin and Salter to step up, but it's a very big leap to be part of the match day eighteen and perhaps play five or six games to having to turn in a performance on fifteen match days Particularly when we're going to need these players to all do that throughout the season.

If. And it's a big if, Sandercock can get these young players through the year with them all improving and none of them going left field then we may. may, start to reap some rewards.

It won't be next year though.

On paper, we look weaker, however we all know rugby isn`t played on papar, and if the youngsters step up to the mark in the way of good constant performances, I think we will fare well.
Leeds` squad looked weak the start of last season and blood lots of youth, and they did`nt do too bad.

Gleeson for Webster- Rather have Gleeson.

Paterson for Galea- Galea was showing his age and dont think he would of played many games this season (NO SOUR GRAPES), just think last season was a good indicator that he is getting past it. Rather have C.P

Tuimavarve for Clinton- Time will tell for E.T but Clinton was rhubarb apart from 2-3 solid games. so a fresh face will certainly imrove against an ageing Clinton. Rather have E.T

Burns for Green- 2 seasons ago I would of said no way, but last season was a good indicator that he isnt as good as he once was. Would be very upset if it was Dobson. Overweight and lost loads of speed last season (injury considered) Rather have T.B

Caro and Brown will be chomping at the bit and have speed to burn, think Caro will become a star if C.S can tutor him correctly.

James Green for Taylor- Obviously Taylor is a massive loss, but I think Green will step up and equal Taylors development. Taylor for me

D.Peterson for Murrell- Murrell deffo not a S.L player no more, Peterson the better player.

Wheeldon and Watts have been no great loss.

McDonnell- I honestly thought he was average (whether he signs for F.C or not) had 2-3 good games but was deffo not work 70k p/a never mind the £130 he was asking for.

Sherriff- Decent full back, never would of become a star (too small) but hopefully will prove me wrong by getting in Brisbanes 1st team!!

Con Mika needs to get fit to do 80 mins, look awesome when he was on the pitch, but not on the pitch long enough for a 2nd rower.

Then you have Welham and Cox coming back 100%, hopefully like 2 new signings.

Obviously a hint of trollage, but there were 14 players over 30 on show in the Grand Final. Hodgson, Briers, Sinfield, Peacock, Morley, Westwood, Waterhouse, Monaghan x2, Higham, Kirke, JJB, Leuluai, Burrow.

Pursuing the youth route as one dimension of recruitment should be applauded, but the reality is that a significant proportion of senior, experienced players is a key feature of this season's most successful sides. Perhaps your last two signings, of a quality that Eddie Hemmings stated will please Rovers fans, will fill this slight gap.

@suttonrobin . That is the most one sided blinkered view ive every read . Hats off

One sided? I only have 1 side- Hull KR. As for blinkered, I am under no illusion that this season is going to be nothing but a struggle, but there is nothing wrong with having a bit of passion and hope.
However there is no pressure as we have not pushed the boat out on signings this season, just replacing players who have left.

you havent been on the hull board lately then

Key for rovers is keeping dobson fit. if you do then you'll probably be 7th or 8th as I think bradford will go backwards and wakefield fluked their way into the 8 last year. None of the others will trouble the 8. Top 6 is pretty much set in stone (Although there could always be a surpirise in store)

Hull fans.

Opinions as welcome as they are, rather smashing.

But =#FF0000Edit-No chance and you know it-I know you can see the sticky so how about you read and understand it this time?-AS right off with your at's (@) and hash tags (#).

Stick to being rubbish on twitter.

Good use of awful grammar for affect.

I unfortunately have West Hull blood, bring it?

Not on twitter , neverbeen and never will be on twitter

I see what you mean about the poor use of grammar.

I have split the squad into two groups:
Experienced/Established SL players: 18 players
Hall; D Hodgson, Welham, Gleeson, Caro; Burns, Dobson; Paea, J Hodgson, Tuimavave; Mika, Paterson; Lovegrove. Withers, O’hara, Horne, Cox, Netherton

Fringe players (with SL experience): 10 players
Latus, Salter, Green, Beaumont, Griffin, Petersen (OOC), Carlile, Johnson, Brown, Heil

NB: Netherton is rumoured to be going to Australia and Petersen is OOC but could be Cutters-bound.

Is Rovers squad stronger than last year? Of the players who have left, based on last season Taylor will be missed the most. The others have been replaced by better value players, with the overseas signings bringing strong and aggressive defence, which is a must.
The established group of SL players has experience and mobility, and the fringe includes ten players with SL experience (mainly blooded last season) which gives the squad depth. However, I feel the squad needs more cover and competition at full back, prop, loose and half back (Beharell/Bell?).
Is the squad stronger, well yes on the basis of having a fully fit squad of first choice players - gone are the sick notes and the stale. The squad also has a good sprinkle of cover, and has genuine pace on the fringes. However, I will counter this on two fronts; Burns will miss the first 5-6 matches, and Tui and Paterson have been playing 2nd grade rugby so will take time to adjust to SL (we had the same problem with Paea & Mika), and, if Rovers don’t bring in extra cover (either from outside or within) it will leave the squad very thin once wear and tear kicks in.

What improvements are needed? Without a doubt the defence needs to be more aggressive and effective. I’ve already alluded to the defensive capabilities of the new overseas signings, hopefully they will lead by example, but one particular area that needs addressing is the missed tackle count. CS really needs to sort the main culprits out.
The other improvement is marshalling the PTB area. Withers, Josh H, Horne and O’hara need to be smarter around this area. Burns likes to operate in this area so he should make an impact (hopefully legal).

Is the squad good enough to get into the play-offs? It is generally felt amongst Rovers coaching staff and players that a 10% improvement in all areas would have secured a play-off place. I sort of agree with this, especially in defence. Rovers go-forward and offence was very good for most of the season, but this tended to be let down too many times by poor decision-making and defensive lapses. If the new players can settle, the team doesn’t suffer the same injury nightmare, and that 10% is found then I think 7/8th is not unrealistic.

Split the squad into 2 groups: fit to play, not fit to play. This will change every week during the season.

Why does everyone look at this based on having a fully fit squad? Last year we had injuries? Guess what, it will be the same next year, and the same for all the other teams. Obviously, Hull's will be worse, but some things are constant in life.

I haven't split the squad in terms of fit to play, not fit to play.

I agree with you about the injuries during the season which is why depth of SL experience is very important. If you go back to the start of last season, before a ball was passed or kicked, we were without O'hara, Green, and Webster. Next season we will start off without Burns (up to now) - fit to play but banned!

i wouldnt have put caro in the experienced group of players he wasnt a regular in londons team

The thing we have lost this year more than anything else is experience.
Galea will be missed massively as I think he was last year due to his constant in and out the team. I think the decision to let go was the correct one but we needed to get in an experienced head in 2nd row. time will tell how we go without him.
Webster had a lot of experience, again like the above he never played enough for us to benefit.
Clinton was a pudding, no loss at all.
Murrell will be more of a loss than a lot think, he was a player who could seem to pick the team up when it was getting tough.
Taylor it goes without saying is a loss, yet its a position I feel we can fill.
McDonnell, I wouldn;t have minded losing if we had kept Sherriff, Hall at FB fills me with dread, hopefully we sign a real FB.
Green, never looked fit last year, will see if he gets it back but in Wigans side he's bound to look good.

Are we stronger this year, No. if we don;t have any more ins then we are at best similar. Maybe CS will get the extra 10% we need but I think it could be a long season ahead.

Last year I remember poking fun @ the media who predicted we'd struggle and had us anything from 9-12th. They stated that we'd miss the experience factor of Briscoe/Vella/Newton and tbf I think they were spot on. With Galea now added to that list our lack of experience/leaders does worry me somewhat.

I think overall we replaced man for man better last season but what we gained in quality we lost in heart/bottle/commitment etc. Over the years the likes of (above) Cockayne/Fox/Fisher even Colbon were players who wore the shirt with distinction and got what it meant to represent HKR. Whether or not this was a JM quality that rubbed off on the team, I don't know. But CS now has clean slate to work with, and as NH said - 'judge him with his own team'.

FWIW, I think he has a tough assignment. We look very light in terms of overall depth. I can't imagine our recruitment is finished, so I hope we've got one or two still to come in and the likes of Netherton/Peterson stop for another year - in terms of numbers.

I think everyone would agree the obvious area to improve is defence, both collectively and individually. But also, how to play from 60-80 mins. We lost so many tight games, where in a lot of cases we were architects of our own downfall in this period.

We've clearly downsized our squad/budget for next season and CS' remit of developing our youngsters will come to the fore. I'm not realistically expecting any better than 8th-12th. Injuries will play their part and may decide how well we go. Could be a case of short term pain for long term gain.

Looking fwd to seeing how Salter/Green/Burns go.

I think we need a fb and a prop and well challenge for the top 8 (bottom end of course) where well get these players is another matter as there isn't much out there.

we should go for shad royston always thought he was a decent full back

We really shouldn't, had a bash at T'Steam Pigs a couple of years ago and wasn't up to it.

We're lacking depth but I think the team will play with more energy and desire than last year and I think we'll sting a few teams and have some good wins but I think we'll really struggle to finish higher than 8th.

With the North Stand finally up and running for 2014 maybe we will go back to spending a full cap again.

Based on what? Sandercock really failed to instil passion in the games I saw, not to mention his really cringeworthy moaning and whining to the press every single game before he was told by Hudgell and Peter Roe to shut up. In fact, he's been very very quiet in the close season.

From speaking to 2 Rovers players (one former and one current) they really had no respect for the guy.

As for your point about the new North Stand, in what way will that help with your Salary Cap? You can't fill the ground with NO stand there so why would that attract folk through the gates? Surely playing more attractive rugby, marquee signings and a good marketing strategy would be better, no?

Unless of course it's a quid to get into the North Stand and you get a reacharound from any member of The Saturdays.

NB: Netherton is rumoured to be going to Australia

on holiday??? the ozzies wouldn't put him in the under 15s.....