I would go with this too, its got more of a feel of the Bulls style about it, bash them up first then mix it up a bit more. fourth place on the bench is the difficult one to decide

IMO it would be very useful to take advantage of this link we appear have with Dewsbury and send him out on loan.

After his injury, he'll be in need of some game time to get him back upto pace which as Odsal he might not get straight away.

If you remember Jamie Langley and JP (I belive) both had a smell out on loan and it seemed to really help them establish themselves.

like look of that team too. Think we've got a real opportunity to mix things up each week and tailor team to suit opposition. obviously we keep the core of team the same but we've got options to tweak both pack and the ouside backs to suit the opposition.
eg pack like above to go up against teams with a big pack or bring in likes of addy,donaldson,royston etc to give us a lighter more mobile pack against teams with smaller packs. Likewise we can go for power in outside backs with raynor,walker,ah van and platt or all out speed with likes of ainscough,platt,sykes and finnigan/halley. Or a pemutation thats somewhere in between. Theres a much better balance to squad this year which should allow us to rest players with niggles without significantly weakening the team which can only help too.

That's what I would go with also.

The strength that we have in depth this season is truly amazing.

yes, sensible way to get him back into it without being too far away. JP spent time in Australia and did a month at Featherstone

Interesting to see Connor tweet that Sykes "has been ill recently" and that since this was only his first game back some of the negative comment (he was replying to a twitterer who had tweeted such - is that the correct wording?) was a bit unfair.

Just out of interest - who will be kicking for you this year? Fantasy team issue.

andy lynch

Looks like its Ah Vans to lose atm.

I imagine Briggs & Herbert will be next in line.

Kearney

Ainscough
Ah Van
Walker
Platt

Briggs
Herbert

Lynch
Diskin
Hargreaves
Elima
Whitehead
Langley

Scruton
L'Estrange
Royston
Kopczak/Sibbit

Although I can't see Raynor being signed unless he's going to play. Also, I see Scruton as senior to Hargreaves but more suited to coming on.

I would rather have Addy or Donaldson than Royston, but he is capable of covering most of the back line and putting in a shift at loose, so that we can move Langley/Elima up front if we only play three props.

He'd only be picked ahead of Ainscough & Halley really. Platt, Raynor& Ah Van are in my 17.

Finigan played really well yesterday & his defence is better than Ainscough's imo. I'm excited to see Ainscough play too, but I want to see more of Finigan after his impressive start last year which continued into this friendly.

i think the threequarters are the toughest to choose from at moment. Id probably say that ah van and raynor are only shoe ins. then its between platt and walker for centre (both good trainers from what im gathering as well. Then dependant on ah van at centre or wing, sykes if wing, and probably ainscough if ah van at centre. Forgetting defense for the moment i would like to see ainscough,platt,ah van and rayner but that has frailties and leaves out walker,sykes,halley,crookes and finnegan.

Probably be kearney,ahvan,sykes,walker,rayner,briggs,herbert,lynch,disco,hargreaves,elima,whitehead,langley for wakey i expect.

Oh and Bullschamps .... who would you expect to be more consistent the 20year old who has had little exposure and been gradually given an oppurtunity or the 18 year old we heard an awful lot about and moved away from family and home at 16, think you need to remember that some players come through quicker. I would say donno has come along well at this stage, there are flashes of brilliance with him and elliot is amazing and imagine in 3 years time if we can put a back row out of langers,whitehead,donno, and bateman?? along with addy and olbison as reserve? we have to be patient and all time i have read your comments the one thing you show is a need for now now now with childlike impishness. Slow it down keep your passion and enjoy the show!!

Not sure about Platt on wing. Only seen him there once (which admittedly isn't really enough to judge) but he was poor, and I think his best position is now centre.

Well either way we have a very good starting 17

I would say more 'solid' than very good. Herbert and Briggs is still a big unknown and the back line is not exactly settled. If Walker is back to near his best then it has real strike power but if he isn't then do we really have a genuine weapon in the centres. Platt and Sykes are workmanlike, some would say Sykes isn't even that good. The wing options look hugely improved but to be fair that wouldn't be hard.

The pack looks bigger and stronger with a good group of young players in support but it'd be a fine achievement by Potter to take this squad to 6th place I feel.

Agree with everything you say, there does seem to be more options going forward but for Mick a key area would be last seasons 700 points against us. so a bigger stronger pack and just generally more solid fits the bill for "Re-bulled" Year 1. If the squad can get to break even on points difference over the season then we will be in the playoffs. Its a three year project IMO. By Year 3 there will be a good core of the current younger players both forwards and backs that will have played and trained together for years and can do all the moves in their sleep.

Sorting the forwards out is always the most important thing and Potter has done that.

Yes I would always start with defence and therefore the forwards front and back, but we only scored 500 points last year, so its not surprising most of the discussion is around the backs, half or otherwise. On which subject Clinton Toopi is off contract, yes, another ex Leeds rugby union convert reconverted

1. BK
2. Ainscough
3. Walker
4. Platt
5. Ah Van
6. Briggs
7. Herbert
8. Scruton
9. Diskin
10. Lynch
11. Whitehead
12. Langley (much more attacking threat in second row)
13. Donaldson/Royston

14. LeStrange
15. Hargreaves
16. Kopczak
17. Elima

Sort of on this subject, it was interesting to hear the thoughts from various Bulls players and staff at the Bullbuilder event this evening, in response to questions including "who will be tearing up SL this season?"

Donno said (IIRC) Heath and BK were looking really really good in pre-season. Tom Olbison IIRC gave a big rap to Herbert and Ah Van. Can't remember what Lynchy said, but he DID say don't read anything much into the friendlies - that is exactly what they were, and trial games. Ryan was telling me separately that (amongst others) Chev Walker was looking very very strong indeed in training, as was Rayner. He said those two were really going for it, with much to prove and were showing every indication of doing just that.

All backs. Which, given we know we are reasonably strong already in the pack, is precisely the sort of thing we want to be hearing, I'd suggest?

I got the impression Sibbett was likely to be around 18th man. But an effective one that you'd be quite happy to bring in when needed. But he point was made...would you rather have him or Worrincy? That was the indication of how the strength in depth has improved.

Another thing which they said - and it had not really gelled with me before - was that we can put two full first teams together from our squad now. That has apparently been a huge advantage in pre-season, since the squad has been able to play matches against itself with full team on both sides.

Quite a lot more said that gave pointers, but that's the gist of what I can recall. All sounded pretty damn positive, to be honest.

Well, I'm still not convinced Walker has what it takes to be a decent centre. I can't see his winger getting put away by him that much, and I'm not sure he has the agility to beat his opposite either.

But, I'm not going to judge properly until I've seen him in a few games against decent opposition. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong.

Well Ryan is a winger, so I'd hope he knows what he is on about. But its a fair call about seeing how players go against decent opposition. I've quite high hopes for Walker tbh, but - like you - I'm quite prepared to be proved wrong. From the discussion, they are not looking for extreme pace, or extreme agility - but they DO envisage strength and power to crash through. I still have a feeling he'd be better-utilised in the second row, but we have strength there. To me, how he performs will be one of the more interesting aspects of the early games.

Well here's mine fwiw, to start the season

1. Platt
2. Ainscough
3. Walker
4. Sykes
5. Ah Van
6. Kearney
7. Herbert
8. Scruton
9. L'estrange
10. Lynch
11. Elima
12. Whitehead
13 Langley

14. Diskin
15. Hargreaves
16. Sibbit
17. Royston

Interesting. No Briggs. Kearney at 6. Sykes in squad. No Raynor. And Platt at FullBack. Like how you've gone with the bench of Hooker, 2 pack players and a utility back.

Too soon for Briggs IMO. I think Kearney offers us more experience at stand off and Platt as a confidence player will perform much better at Full back and offer us better attacking options supporting the threequarters. Sykes back to his natural position with Chev Walker gives us a secure experienced back line. I would probably go with Raynor as opposed to Ainscough but feel he needs to be eased into the side following his stint inside. Don't forget Royston can play loose as well as in the backs!