No one has said that.

Personally I see him getting the nod at centre. If Radford wants him to play there, and his squad number suggests he does, then I'd expect him to do enough in preseason to get picked ahead of Michaels and Yeaman.

This is a fans 17.

Totally agree but logical thought process has to take into account probable 17.
My concern is Pryce. personally I think his legs have gone. His main attribute was his step and go, through the gap he created in the 3/4's. He no longer appears to have it. Distribution has never been an attribute. 6 will probably go to Abdull. I think the backs will be Shaul, Binman, Fonua, Tuimavave and Micheals.

If we don't sign a back up hooker then I can see Washbrook starting at 13 for the first 25 mins (before unleashing manu) and then coming back on for the last 20 mins at no.9 to try and stop Houghton burning out too soon. I'll take a punt on:
Shaul
Fonua
Tuimavave
Logan
Talaton
Pryce
Snyed
Taylor
Houghton
Watts
Pritchard
Mini
Washbrook

Ellis
Green
Mand
Abdull

Talanoa not the unknown prodigy that is Talaton!

I wouldn't be unhappy with this team, do we really want Washbrook as an interchange hooker, just protect Danny more by not having him have to make ridiculous amounts of tackles every game, we have a pack that should be in a position to take some of the workload he's been asked to do the last two seasons to a level that doesn't need an interchange.
sorry but Talanoa loses out to Micheals on the wing for me and I'd still prefer Ellis in the 2nd row, Mini at loose. Balance prop interchange of green/watts & Taylor/Bowden, with an extraordinary backrow of Pritchard/Eliis/Mini that should have the potential to do massive amounts of damage and with Manu & Thompson to really pull teams apart toward the end of the halves.
Think Fonua is going to be the next fans favourite if he plays like he can...



IF we can get the attacking structure right in the final 20 and keep our discipline we have a team that can and actually should really go places, top 4 is very achievable and anything less should be seen as failure, if not with this squad then it'll never happen (under Radford)

Shaul
Fonua
Tuimavave
Logan
Michaels
Abdull
Sneyd
Green
Houghton
Watts
Ellis
Pritchard
Mini

Taylor
Bowden
Manu
Thompson

For me playing mini through the middle instead of the edges where he was our player of the yr would be criminal. Same with pritchard. Manu has the game most suited to the middle but id not want to see that till later in the game. Personally I'd go with green early on.
Ellis has been great at times he's played prop and with the players around him I think it's a good move. Could lay a foundation and slow the opposition before bringing on for eg Taylor.
I'd have to go with Talanoa over michaels personally.
Tala makes great metres. Statistically with Briscoe is the best in the league at fast play of the ball (which is the very stating point often of our big metre sets due to it and hence being 2nd in metres made in end of yr stats) plus give Tala a 1 on 1 ten out he'll score. Michaels is in touch.
Also you can't protect Houghton. The forwards as a whole did plenty of graft last yr. Houghton can only be protected by being spelled. He has no choice over his workload. Opposition run at him as a tactic. 1 to take away his effectiveness going forward 2 because if you're a forward running it in and have a choice of watts Ellis or Houghton to directly run at you're gonna pick Houghton.
That said all these team combinations people are picking work. Don't think we've had this kind of choice or flexibility in a long time. Teams in recent times have picked themselves

Good post. I chose my backs in an earlier post but shied away from the forwards because of the plethora of talent we'll have, don't know where to start. Here goes, Ellis at prop, starting with Watts, spelled by Taylor and either of Green or my choice, Bowden. Mini and Pritchard plus Manu at 13. think Washy will spell Houghton and Thompson to back up at prop or second row, the mind boggles. Green really needs to step up and I think Bowden grew as the season went on last year but so did Hadley and there's no room on the bench for him

Good. Its top four again in 2016 then.

There you go again bulling us up, getting really exciting when Dobbins think we're as good as 2006, you Bantersaurus Rex you.

Shaul
Fonou
Carlos T
Logan
Tuli
Pryce
Sneyd
Watts
Houghton
Ellis
Mini
Pritchard
Abdul

Taylor
Bowden
Manu
Washy


Is what I reckon will start.

I just don't see Abdull starting at 13. The way we play with Sneyd and Pryce didn't work with Westerman, why would it work with Abdull? Much more likely that Manu will play at LF.

Because Abdul can pass a ball, break tackle , and can make things happen. And wont have to hard behind the bs excuses of not been able to play as a 3rd pivot blah blah tee. Depends what Radford wants from his 13 , a playmaker or another prop, which I don't mind as long as he can bust a tackle and as a decent off load

And without the ball?

Abdull's missed tackles came to 39, which was 12% of the tackles he attempted, he missed.

Some other possibilities for loose man came in at:
Whiting: 7%
Ellis: 6%
Thompson: 9%
Hadley: 4%
Green: 6%
Westerman was at just 6%.

Whilst the jobs of a 13 & 6 with the ball in the oppositions 3rd can be very similar, which Abdull more than has the skillset for, the job of a 13 without the ball (a huge defensive effort down the middle) and with the ball in own half (making yards) is massively different to the job of a 6.

Adbull just isn't ready for playing long minutes and game after game at 13. He might be spelled there, more than likely in games we're on top, but for me he's an out and out 6, and doesn't play like a forward at all. Maybe this will change in the future, but not by 2016. People think because he's a big lad, that he should be a forward, but it doesn't work like that

At least I'm not with knockersbumpMKII in cloud cuckoo land.

Dean Hadley will start at 13

The back line is an unknown quantity at the moment, particularly Tuimavave and Fonua.

I'd go with...

8. Watts
9. Houghton
10. Taylor
11. Ellis
12. Mini
13. Manu

I would like to see a strong pack to start games, get us on the front foot.

Bench could be Washbrook, Abdul, Pritchard, Bowden/Green.

Given they probably won't provide cover at 2nd row or Prop, is a bench with Washy & Abdul too lightweight???

I wouldn't be against him playing there at all looking at his defensive record, and I think he's getting better in attack too. Not a ball handler by ay means, but how many SL sides do play a ball handler at 13 these days? We've been spoilt by Knocker and Jason Smith, and to a lesser extent Westy, and I think we as a group of fans subconsciously expect one.

Shaul
Fonua
Tuimavave
Logan
Talanoa
Pryce
Sneyd
Watts
Houghton
Ellis
Mini
Pritchard
Hadley

Manu
Taylor
Abdull
Bowden

Wouldn't be a bad team at all.

Most them players you mention would have higher missed tackle % if defending at 6. Our defence is not that much of a concern, I want to see a starting line up that's positive, and I think Radford will certainly start the season that way, with Abdul at 13. If its doesn't work, I can see 10 forwards in the starting 13. And Ive just realised where easthull fc went

abdul is nowhere near fit or physically strong enough to play 13 for long minutes. I can't see where we can use him effectively tbh as he's a waste of a bench spot and puts too much pressure on the rest of the forwards to do long stints for me. He either stats at 6 or isn't in the 17 IMO

Good point.

I think we'll see Abdull at 6 more often than not due to Pryce's fitness. I included him on my bench more out of "I'd like to see him in there somewhere" rather than the practicalities. Realistically, it'll be Washy I think to sell Houghton and the back row.

Let's not go making wild predictions of where we'll finish. It's a big ask to go from a team that finished 7th/8th to Top 4. Yes, we've improved our squad but other teams will have improved as well. Can we challenge? Possibly. But we have no right to say that "anything less should be seen as failure" given our recent standings. Personally my main concern is that the quality of our back line doesn't look as good as the quality of our forwards which I think could be our undoing next season. I hope I am very wrong about that though.

Love the various combos people are suggesting. I look at one 17 and think that's what I'd go with but then see the next suggestion and change my mind! Good to have so many options.

Is it 2016 yet? I can't wait for the season to start

.

imo we should be around 5th which would be an improvement and hopefully be challenging for 4th, win at Wembley and happy days COYH

I'd have to agree with this, if Pryce is the form half or not injured then Abdul shouldn't be in the 17 unless we are down to bare bones and vice versa.
He has to step up in his fitness for one thing and his tackling a big notch if he is to be even remotely considered at 13, as I've always said, he's not a 13 for me, nor should we be trying to turn him into something he is not.

We've been after a long term home grown half that is of notable quality for years, Horne was that player so why can't Addul be also? Christ when Pryce is done after this year then what, we look for a replacement, move Carlos there after not playing 6 for over a year and all the while Abdul rotting because others in the squad are already better/more suited in the 13 position.

I'm not making a 'wild' prediction, it's not as if we finished bottom and were hoping to jump up the table 8 places is it? The squad we have is more than capable of breaking into the top 4, it has improved immeasurably, the coach should also be improved given his huge lack of experience.

This squad is the best we have had in terms of quality in depth for some years, of course there is no 'right', no one including myself have said that, however not breaking into the top 4 is yet another failure, accepting a creditable 5th is still accepting mediocrity, make no bones about it not making the play offs next year will have a massive massive impact on the club. AP has had to cook the books to get this squad under the cap (we certainly do not have any space IMHO) and this is his last throw of the dice in terms of getting us near to where he said we [iwould[/i be the last 4 years.

I also don't think there is a massive disparity, Shaul, Timuvave, Logan, Fonoa Michaels/Tala isn't in any way shoddy, you can have the best backs AND forwards in the league but if the game plan and how the coach prepares the team isn't up to scratch then you are not going to succeed.

Radford has got to show us that he has progressed, that he understands and is capable to instil the on field discipline, the mental fortitude to not fold when the chips are down, to be able to out-think the opposition not just use battering ram tactics, to be able to motivate the players to break themselves every time they play (not just a we need to bounce back performance), to get the players to be switched on from minute one to minute 80, to trust in the youth when we have injuries and not bring in substandard players or play people out of position, THAT is where we have been lacking.

If we don't make top 4 next year I will be bitterly disappointed, it could only be offset by a Wembley appearance/win, do I expect any of that to happen, no, I predicted (in an earlier thread) we'll make 5th and possibly the semi finals of the CC.