Adam Walne would have to wrestle that bench spot off his younger Brother 1st, who impressed last season ,
No spots for Caton Brown or Niall Evalds? two of the quickest guys in the squad with a pre-season under their belt ?
Also wouldn't write-off Puletua far more effective under Harris tail end of last season .

All good news considering the potential of the guys not mentioned who can come in .

The biggest plus for me is the quality of the back-up players. Or the whole squad in general. It's been a long time since a Salford team didn't pick itself. There's a lot of competition in the squad, with a lot of hungry young players contending in the backs and forwards. I think our pack is really strong, although I understand why outsiders may pinpoint it as our weakness. They are less familiar with certain names. I have less worries on that score, with the exception of the hooking role.

When we start to pick-up injuries the overall effect should be lessened than previous seasons. Something that's vital to maintain pressure in the league. There wont be many other squads happy with the overall depth, as Salford will be.

I think the pack will the corner stone of a good season.

We potentially have a very good (compatible) halves combination but Dobson and Chase will do nothing without a big rumbling pack to work behind and without doubt in my mind we have.

I'll discount Morley as he will be played sparingly.

Starting out with Taylor and Tasi as the starting props is a must for me, Griffin to be first interchange. then Paterson, Walne (either one for me can play in the front or back row) and Fages to be used as interchange hooker or a direct replacement if either Dobson or Chase gets injured.

The back row is second to none for me, HH, Hock and Hauraki are all hard grafting enforcers and in Hock we have a back rower with the skill too skittle defenses and release his centre. We have the luxury now though have having some very talented youngsters who can slot in both the front and back row should they be needed.

The bigger problem for me is the backs, I read somewhere yesterday BJB will be back for the first game, I personally hope he isn't played and eased back in, why would you do it any other way when you have MCB and Evalds as very able back up.. Griffin did enough for me to earn a starting spot and Locke, Sa'u and Johnson (my dislike of him aside he is a good winger) are going to pick themselves.

I'd personally like to see MCB given a good run as I see him as out main strike weapon, he is the quickest back we have and from the looks of things they have bilked him up considerably in the off season. Given a good run I'd not look past him to be the top try scorer and wouldn't bet against him getting 20+ for the season.

Sorry I meant to put Jordan Walne in there he's the better of the two.

I'd be starting D. Griffin and starting Lama Tasi from the bench, he will make a bigger impact coming on after 15-20 minutes.

I'd like to see us playing with 2 props, hooker and back rower from the bench. Meaning J. Walne will be missing out if all players are fit. But as we know in rugby this will not always be the case!

I'm very excited about the new season and i feel a top6 position is where we'll finish!

Barring injuries I can see Hock being interchanged with Paterson so we always have the luxury of a major offload threat. Much has been said about our 3 'H's but don't discount the ability of Paterson who I believe has the size, skill set and understanding with Dobson to make a real impact off the bench.

Imagine playing with both Paterson & Hock they could destroy a few teams. I reckon Paterson & Hauraki will interchange myself and be competing for a starting spot. Hock & Hansen are nailed on starters!

Jordan Walne needn’t worry too much about missing out, there’s no chance HH will stay fit throughout the year (type of player he is) so JW will get plenty of chances in the 17.

Even if HH, Hock and Hauraki even if they stay fit would start every game, we now have the squad that allows us to rotate players.

Just thinking I'm not entirely certain that Hauraki will be an automatic starter, with the understanding Paterson has with Dobson it could be that he gets a starting place. Dobson/Paterson and Chase/Hock is quite frightening, throw in Sa'u, MCG and Griffin outside them and I wonder if other teams need bother turning up as the result is a forgone conclusion

I’m still not convinced by Josh Griffin as a Super League centre. Yes he finished the season well, but the standard of opposition in these games was poor. I still think Mason Caton-Brown is a much better option, yes he has defensive frailties but I would expect after 12 months of Harris’ coaching this will be up to scratch. He’s also got a great mentor in Martin Gleeson at the club who I imagine will be working with him.

It will be interesting to see who Harris goes with, considering Ben Jones-Bishop will not be fit for the friendlies or even the opening couple of games.

I think Griffin looks steady and is a good player to have around. However, if they can improve Caton-Brown's defence it's a no brainer. There is no substitute for blistering pace.

Maybe when Harris gave out the squad numbers he had the intention of giving Caton-Brown a message to prompt a determined reaction.

Griffin offers bulk and pace as well as his kicking skills.

I think he will be in and around the 17 all season and if push comes to shove he's in the Walton mold who could play in the centres & back row.

I think Josh Griffin is a very under rated big powerful centre who will surprise a few. I see MCB as a winger although he has baulked up a lot. He's very raw MCB which makes him very dangerous, but i see Josh just getting the nod

Also BJB is fit for the start of the season this was confirmed in the league express him and Dobson are available ahead of schedule and will play against Hunslet in our final friendly!

I think Josh Griffin puts himself into contention with his kicking ability - how long is it since we've had a choice of kickers????

No.
I'm relaxed whether he or MCB plays,depending how they both go and whether we're looking for power or pace,but let's not reposition Griffin into the pack.
We have plenty of lads who've spent their careers waiting for the opportunity to play first grade in their chosen positions.

Josh Griffin has proved himself the Harris , hence the Number 3 Squad position.
He's big for a centre , quick enough for a centre , can put his winger away , and Kick .
If he carries on the form he showed last season it's his shirt to lose to Caton Brown - Walton.

We must have a decent squad if we are debating about who will be in the 17. I'm preparing myself for a few surprises this year, I've got that same gut feeling I got a few years back before we ended Wigan"s long cup run.

You misunderstand, i mean mid game, should one of the back row get injured and we bring on someone like MCB then Walton/Griffin are more than physically capable of playing in the back row.

Unless the coach sees something in a player that he can utilise then hopefully long gone are the days of playing people out of position.

7 Kickers by my reckoning -
K Locke
J Griffin
R Chase
M Dobson
N Evalds
C Paterson
T Fages

A very strong 17 very excited about the new season

Josh Griffin made 8 appearances for us last year.

They were against:

Castleford - Challenge Cup Finalists, finished above us.
Huddersfield - Finished above us.
Hull FC
Hull KR - Finished above us.
Leeds - Challenge Cup Winners, finished above us.
Wigan - Grand Finalists, finished above us.
London
Widnes - Finished above us.

In that period he scored 8 trys (finishing 4th for the season overall) and 27 goals (finishing 1st overall).

But you're still not convinced by him?

Pointless stats because how many of those games did he play in the centres? I have no problem with him as a winger, infact I think he's a very good one. Plenty of pace and as strong as a prop forward - my issue is, I am unconvinced that he should be one of our two starting centres.

Ah, fair enough



I totally misinterpreted your post.

Apologies.

I think we need two "starting" 17s: if you consider the first week of games we have to contend on Saturday with the wrecking balls of Hill and Simms and the silky skills of Clark, followed in 4 days by the almost equally forceful Masoe and Amor with the equally smooth skills of Roby. We will need to rest someone.
The start concerns me (I can only draw breath that the next game is not against Wigan). At least we can then compare our pack against two of the three best packs in SL: I'll consider then who can sustain a push into the top 8.

These two games stop me from bigging up our chances: they are as serious a litmus test as any team has to face.