That pack is a major concern mate i know its only 8 interchanges now but if/when some of the bigger & better packs get fast starts against us i dont see us holding them long enough & then having enough to get back into the game.

I'd imagine it is going to take time for the team to gel, but if Leeds play to their strengths I don't see any reason why we can't end up being grouped with the top sides, albeit towards the lower end of the spectrum. Silverware seems doubtful but I'd imagine the club will be aiming to make the play-offs and have a good run in the CC in their pre-season list of targets.

The post-Lance years are a good call (2001 - 2002, maybe not 2003 when we only needed a little extra class and coaching). Perhaps 2017 without winning the GF is another realistic expectation - that year we owed a lot to other top teams losing around us in the latter half of the season to maintain league position, and Castleford's lack of big game experience in the GF (not to mention agent Hardaker).

Otherwise I agree with Gotcha's assessment that we shouldn't be easy beats any more. This doesn't rule out the possibility of the odd one-sided score against us, but I think these will be less common. The pack is undoubtedly a concern but there's room for optimism if we get some of them to play to the best of the ability they have shown in the past (e.g. Cuthbertson, Ferres, Parcell, Ward etc) or fulfil their potential (e.g. Oledski, maybe even Mullally, Singleton etc). Garbutt seems like a big loss on the face of it but if he was part of a negative culture that Sinfield and Furner wanted to change his position may well have been untenable, so we should hopefully see a better morale and attitude from the get-go.

Exeter -When has Mullally shown potential in the last 2 seasons? He's been 1 decent game in 6 for 2 years minimum.
Also i doubt Ferres will ever rewind the Clock to his England BR days.

Well mate both players are in last chance saloon in 2019 I think, along with a handful of others.

2020 almost becomes more interesting because you'd like to think by then, the rebuild will be just about completed. There's a big opportunity for players like Johnson, Holroyd, Dupree, Trout, Mustapha, McClelland to step up. The centres may need to be patient, and we have three good ones coming through.

Oledzski and Holroyd in particular both played prop for England Academy and both mixed it very well with their Aussie Schoolboy (future NRL stars) opponents, and I'm confident we have prop sorted down the line.

We'll have to see how things pan out in the early season, but for me if we're not really in with a shout of winning anything, but also not in danger of relegation, I'd rather see us give the young lads game time than has-beens and older squad fillers. I know we need to protect them too but we have a big enough squad to rotate them.

Spot on Kaerujim

Unfortunately, the type of turn around we all wanted was never going to be possible with everyone in the squad already having signed deals. Obviously the wisdom of handing out those contracts is there to be questioned!

Wouldn't surprise me to see a forward come in mid season- even if we are almost up to cap I'm sure they could do something with future wages once we have a better idea of who will be moved on come the end of the season.

It was always going to be a re-build rather than a quick fix and even if things do go west this year, at least there has been a recognition they needed change.

More excited about this year than I have been for a very long time.

Yeah agree with this. There have been so many changes in one closed season (and to be fair, they were in for Ikahihifo but it didn't come off) - it's almost a case of observing how the cards lie now before further changes in 2020. There will be some more I'm sure. So many players need to produce something this year or be let go - maybe one or two will surprise us, who knows.

Thinking about it - correct me if I'm wrong someone - if we were to let £200k of salary go between 6 or 7 squad players, we can still pay a new (prop!) whatever we want as long as we're still overall under the cap. The marquee just takes anything above £150k out of salary cap calcs for 2 players maximum?

Maybe a George Burgess or something for 2020 isn't out of the question if that's the case.

I'm not sure how the marquee works either- can you nominate it to be one person one year and someone else the next. IE, change Hurrell to be non-marquee next year, count his full wage on the cap then sign someone else on a higher wage then deduct the 150k. Or is a player a marquee for length of his original contract?

Each year. Or anytime in fact if you spared up enough cap elsewhere. But doesn't really matter as all it means is if an Overseas £150k counts on cap no matter what the salary. And if that marquee is home grown academy then it is less on the cap no matter what the salary. The point is, the two you declare, the difference of salary to the £150k you can be over the total cap.

My take on the game was that the first half was a typical first major hit out. Cas were much sharper but we seemed to be stuck in 1st gear. They also attacked the inexperienced wing of Newmans and all 4 tries came down that side. 2 from kicks over the top of him. Watkins also looked a bit unsure in defence but I'm putting that down to it being his first game back in 7 months. I have no doubt that had Briscoe played, we win that game, but it is what it is. One thing that impressed me though was the second half adjustments. Cas went straight back down that side and there were no gaps like there was the first half. That's a sign of better coaching there.

I also though the introduction of Ward and Oledzki made a massive difference. Ward was immense in his spell. Ran and tackled at 100mph and made good metres every time he got the ball.

I agree Hurrell will become a massive fan favourite in no time too and for me, Lolohea will be a star in SL this year. There's no one else in the league with footwork like him. The way he stepped round players with ease like he did in January, imagine what he's going to do March onwards.

At the end of the day though, it was a trial game and there were more positives than negatives to come out at the end. Both teams will be pushing that top 5 at the end of the season and I'm excited to see the Lolohea/Walker link develop more than anything because that could become deadly

Oh, also, I'd love to see us run with a back row of Ward, Smith and Merrin with Ferres off the bench this year. For me that would be the best option/rotation going into the season. Has a good mixture of speed, skill and size with an impact off the bench.

I get the impression a lot of people are underestimating Merrin. personally, I thought he showed some good glimpses for a first hit out and I read somewhere he played with a chest infection. he will bring much-needed leadership and added steel to the pack. I do agree we need a meter crunching prop but I get the impression we are going to go with what we have and bring in a big signing in 2020. like Wire with Widdop.

Totally Agree with Harrigan regarding Ward he was immense along with the introduction of Oledzki and Cuthbo at the back end of the first half on Sunday that's when we really improved and looked a much better side.

What's everyone's thoughts on Dwyer? Am I alone in thinking we step up a gear when he comes on? I thought he outplayed Parcell in the second half of last year and on Sunday I thought we looked the better team when he was controlling the ruck too.

I didn't get to the game on Sunday but Dwyer was definately the better of the 2 @ the back end of last year

Very good, but he can't do the minutes Parcell does, doesn't have the stamina at all.

Solid. gives you a spark which is his role in the side, but not the brain. the Expectation on Parcell is rightly higher and sometimes he does get wrongfully criticised as he very rarely has a bad game.

I don't know if I like Dwyer in defence as much, there's a reason why Wire let him go. Also, with the new interchange rule (and I know we played Burrow out of position as an impact hooker for years under McD) - I would prefer to see an 80 minute hooker to be honest, which I think Corey Johnson could be.

I think there will still be a couple of changes to the run-on side and bench for round 1 compared to who played against Cas. You would imagine we'll have a fully fit squad by then so Furner will be showing us his hand. Handley might be first nod to play wing outside Hurrell by the looks; T Briscoe replaces Newman, Crosby replaces someone... hopefully Merrin stays in the back row though, partnered with Ward and Ferres or Ward and Smith.

Oledzski Parcell Singleton
Ward Merrin
Smith
Myler
Tui
Handley Hurrell Watkins Briscoe
Walker

Cuthbertson
Peteru
Ferres
Dwyer

?

I Believe looking at Oledzki on Sunday he looks fitter and stronger which I suppose is to be expected given his age. if he can stay fit I believe he will be pushing for a starting place this season.

Walker
Tom, Watkins, Hurrell, Handley
Tui, Myler,
Oledzki, Parcell, Singleton
Ward, Ferres
Merrin

Dwyer, Peteru, Cuthbo Smith/Crosby/Abbo/JJb /Sutcliffe

tough call on that 17th man for me Smith deserves a shot

Harrigan- Totally agree re-starting BR however Ferres wouldn't be in my 1st choice 17 at all.
With regards to Dwyer he is always sharp around the ruck and gives us a spark when he is on but id be starting with Parcell for now.
At some point though I expect to see Corey Johnson given a run out especially with MP OOC this year then the dynamic may change to start with i.e Dwyer starting Johnson on the bench.

Squad for me would be:

Walker
Briscoe, Watkins, Hurrell, Handley
Tui, Myler,
Crosby, Parcell, Singleton
Ward, Ablett
Merrin

Dwyer, Oledzki, Cuthbo Smith- Peteru,Ferres

If Ablett isn`t fit put Peteru in and draft JJB into the 19

Even if Ablett is fit what's he done to warrant selection over C.Smith?

i would like to see smith play over Ferres and possibly JJb who lets face it mind wants to body does not, he should have stepped down a division if he still wants to play. Dual reg at fev maybe.
Ablett is still one of our best forwards for making clean breaks and can still run a bit, see his try against warrington last year, so we need that.
do agree think Cameron Smith has to be given plenty of game time now,and just let him play his natural game

my concern with Parcell is if he wants to go back to NRl next year and already has a deal lined up he may do a Moon and switch off for the entire season, but if that is the case then Dywer can step up and yes Johnson may get game time.

Judging by Sunday, JJB, if used in the 17 will be playing prop. Listening to Furner he likes Sutcliffe at second row too so it's any of Merrin, Ward, Ferres, Sutcliffe, Smith and Ablett to fit into 4 spots. Decent depth to be fair.

Oh definitely. I never meant Dwyer to start over Parcell, I was just wondering what people's thoughts on Dwyer was. My 4 year hiatus on here has me out of the loop on people's thinking



I still think there's room for both in the team. Dwyer adds something different and gives a team an added injection of pace which late in a game could make a massive difference in a tight one