We will have to wait and see who shapes up well in the friendly fixtures but here's my 17 at the moment.

1. Evalds
2. Vidot
3. Griffin
4. S'au
5. Carney
6. Lui
7. Dobson
8. Kopczak
9. Lee
10. Griffin
11. Murdock Masilla
12. Hauraki
13. Flanagan

14. Tomkins
15. Walne
16. Joseph
17. Haggerty

Don't see Griffin as a prop, might have been given the shirt just not big enough. Other than that pretty much where I'd go.

Still a prop light for me,

I can see the prop role changing with the reduction of interchanges. I think the position now lends itself more to players with a higher work rate and stamina rather than short impact stints of size and power. I can see some of the bigger props blowing out of their ar$es after 20-25 minutes because they aren't conditioned to play longer minutes. I think a good tactic with the rule change would be to make the oppositions props do a lot of tacking by running at them all the time.

I agree another prop would be most welcome though.

Forster and Krasniqi did little wrong last season imo...good solid hard working props who fit your brief......both around 16.5 stone ...mobile and capable of bigger spells on the pitch...think the days of the Salford version of the Paleaaesina type props are over .......a couple of big drives then blowing for air ...won't be much use anymore.

I agree I think they could potentially figure in the 17 as could another 4 or 5 in the squad.

I'd forgotten about Krasniqi, for me I'd have him in the 17 before Griffin, looks one of the modern type 13/props we see more and more of.

Can't see anybody worriying, about coming to the AJ Bell,with that lot.Just my opinion.I was reading an article the other week,it was about Brian Snape the best chairman the club as had in my life time.When he first became chairman he told the Reporter,he wanted a team of triers,then he realised that only took you so far,and that if you wanted to compete at the top table,you had to have good and great players.I certainly don't see any great players.

I think our first choice backline could trouble anyone. Forwards are hard workers which could be a good thing this season. That all depends on how the other clubs in SL adapt to the new rules. I think 'red eyes' is a little 'glass half empty' at this stage, but I understand the reasoning.

You can't go from E to A in a season or two. You can have a blank cheque book but if the foundations aren't right you'll fail to make any progress. It's all about getting right those things we don't see off the field that will make the difference to what we all want to see on the field.

If you don't have the cake recipe it's pointless buying any fancy toppings, as we have learned from experience.

Can't see O'Brien being left out the 17.

Do you see him figuring as a 9 and not a half then? Or do you think he'll be selected before Lui and Dobson? I just can't see us selecting 3 halfbacks and two hookers in the 17.

I don't think that starting 13 apart from Griffin looks that bad, as Butcher said the back line looks quite handy and if we manage to get lots of ball to the two wide players who knows.
Does anyone know when Vidots due?

Sau looks like the last chance saloon talking to from Sheens has made him pull his socks up, apears to be doing the old Salford favourite of "training the house down".
I'm expecting big things from him this year, even though I've doubted his ability as a top centre in the past.
I think we've easily got the makings of a top 8 providing we don't get too many injuries as the bench and squad depth concerns me, especially if we lose a couple of key players.

Olsi Krasniqi would be in the 17 for me, really impressed with him last season.

I think there will be some real competition for prop spots. We have several ambitious young props with potential and I'm sure they'll all be eager and working hard to nail down a place. It will be very interesting to see how this battle for selection unfolds. With Morley, Carvell and Sheen's himself a former prop to learn from, I'm sure they'll all be getting privileged tuition.

I see your point, before the Tompkins signing i'd of thought O'Brien or Lui would be the 2nd hooker as he's played this role for the cowboys however i've a sneaky feeling O'Brien could be utilized at Stand Off, Scrum half, hooker,Centre, and fullback so i think O'Brien must be picked at least as a substitute for his utility attributes. No other Salford player has this ability.

We've not signed O'Brien to be outside the 17

I suspect George Griffin will go well for us this year and surprise a few. Indeed, wouldn't it be good if other teams underestimated his impact!

I think of the 3 halves we have that Dobson is the one most at risk, O'Brien can cover a multitude of positions and Liu has the size to do likewise, Dobson is for me only a 7 and therefore more limited than the other options.

He's also made of biscuit, one good dunk and bits might fall off.

I'm a big George Griffin fan, considering he's only 23 given a couple of years of additional maturity, he could quite easily turn out to be a very good prop.

I also think Griffin will step-up this coming season. He showed glimpses towards the end of the season that he's got all the tools to be a really decent forward.

Going back to what 'RedEyes' said earlier in the thread about us not having any great players is just a ridiculous statement. We've potentially got the best two wingers in the league and as someone else mentioned our black line is huge for 2016.

I know I am not the only one who is worried about the experience levels of our pack but at least we have left room on the cap to bring the right player into the club if needs be. I would rather us be going into 2016 a little lighter in the pack with room to bring players in, than have an unbalanced dressing room and a player who is just happy to pick up a pay check.

Reported.

Ever the optimist that I am, that's not a bad looking team when you step back and look at it and think we will go well this season as long as we avoid injuries. I think the last couple of seasons with big names having been in the squad, some people will look at that line up and be really underwhelmed. Yes agree probably 1 experienced, no nonsense prop light but apart from that, it looks a well balanced team with good players scattered throughout.

We have to play to our strengths though to get the benefits. The last few years we have starved the wings of ball, particularly S'au but credit to the bloke, he has certainly put it in this off-season and if he gets those hands working to feed Carney, with Griffin providing some good balls to Vidot plus Evalds that is a very handy back line. Dobbo although injury prone would be my first choice 7 as his game brain is better than others. I think O'Brien will get more game time in halves with Lui if last years problems even remotely occur again. Krasniqi big plus from last season and well worthy of a spot in that line up, probably at the expense of a Walne and I am with others I would expect a big season from G. Griffin in the pack and expect will surprise a few.

I'm just hoping the players have really had the bit between their teeth this pre season and put in the necessary body breaking, training sessions. We just simply can't afford any slackers/passengers if we are going to progress this year. I'd like to see us start as we mean to go on, unlike previous years where our pre season friendly performances have been embarrassing because we treat them as games we don't want to play.