Blake Austin !
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A good post! It vital in my view to keep freshening up a team though a combination of new face/s and progression from the apprentices at the club .
It really depends on who is leaving that will determine who we bring in . However , Roby is well on route to a steady decline in terms of his body holding up . It appears Smith , Bentley is possible replacement for him. Even Fages manybe? Zeb is getting on a bit so another player who may need replacing soon. For me , we are lacking a loose forward who can manage and lead so I would like to see us recruit a on field game manager leading from the pack.
On the whole we have a good squad albeit,I think Percival is highly overrated and Grace being to light in attack and prone to making simple errors. I would be happy either of these to be exchanged for better replacement .
Hi Div I'm sure we can go again next year with this squad but what if we fail to win the grand final this year will we still be thinking the same ? My Wigan supporting fans tell me the reason we are 16 points clear in the league is that no other team can be bothered putting the effort in for the whole season and it's what happens in the play offs that determine how successful your season as been. Personally I don't buy i to that argument and has a season ticket holder would be dissapointed if the team I support week in week out only put the effort in at the back end of the season.
I certainly can’t see a lot of movement in. If I could only pick one it’d be a roughhouse second rower
Sorry if this has been mentioned before but wasn’t Dash RIPROCK a character from the old Beverley Hillbillies TV series? If that’s correct then being from Wigan would sit well with that kind of Hillbilly character.
I think the problem we have is we are upto the salary cap and we only have Swift leaving out of the current squad (Douglas and Morgan will be leaving but aren't on the cap) therefore there isn't much room for manoeuvre when signing players. If a current first teamer leaves then maybe that will allow us to improve the squad.
The only type of player we could sign is backup player or a a project type signing and that is also dependent on who we have re signed on new deals. I'd rather use that money on re signing Thompson for example than signing a back up winger or prop.
We just have to hope the new coach brings freshness to the current squad because I do agree with others that whilst were way ahead in the league, that gap will soon close especially given who Wire and Wigan have signed. They will also get stronger for the bigger games which gives them an advantage.
I'd say next season we look to be ok, but the season after we have a lot of aging players that might need replacing around the same time, Roby, LMS, Amor, Taia, Peyroux, Paulo, Coote, Naiqama even Lomax will be into his 30's. Bentley and Batchelor were intended to be project players for the back row, but not sure about replacing the others. I'm not suggesting that once players hit the magical age of 30 they stop playing, but they have less years ahead than they do behind behind them from a playing perspective.
With the return of the reserves, does this give us scope to keep some of the older players, perhaps on lower than current deals and use then as back up for the first team whilst also being a senior figure in the reserve set up?
Didn't we make the mistake of signing nobody around 2007 and suffered not long after having a group of players leaving, then struggled to replace Long, Sculthorpe et al not long after that. Whilst we had Roby replacing Cummingham, what we didn't have is someone replacing Roby in the squad...if that makes sense.
The key question is whether Saints are using the 2nd player marquee rule isn't it? Whilst a poster on here has suggested Saints are (he intimated it was used for Coote), the club haven't officially confirmed this from what I've seen.
Even if the club won the treble this year, I don't think standing still and resting on your laurels is the way to go. A team can always improve and that is what recruitment should be about, identifying an area in the 17 that could be strengthened and doing it. And that means being ruthless. So as others have said, Saints could look to move on players who haven't met expectations or become surplus to requirements (like they did with Tommy Lee and Adam Walker etc.).
From this years team, I would question Joseph Paulo's place. An oversees player who will be on a good contract. I'm not sure what he ahs brought to the side. I think Morgan Knowles and James Bentley should be contesting for the 13 shirt.
I would be looking at the halves. Lomax's place in the side is nailed on and so I think there are better partners out there for him than Theo Fages- a half with a good kicking game (including goal kicking) and can also threaten the line. Richardson can offer this, but the club clearly aren't convinced. Of course the standout player that was available within SL, was Jackson Hastings. And I think he is worthy of the marquee contract that Wigan have given him. Brock Lamb? I've commented on him in another thread. Scored a great try and produced some good pass assists the other night. Haven't seen much of his kicking game. Fages would be my utility on the interchange. He could spell Roby at 9 well, because of his good defense and his willingness to run the ball. That doesn't necessarily mean Roby needs to leave the field as he could go to 13, to give Knowles/Bentley a rest.
I think that would make the 17 more dynamic and creativity especially, a lack of which has cost Saints in the last two semi finals when they've needed to make something happen.
If Thompson is tempted by the NRL, then there's some good forwards who could become available from within SL depending on who get's relegated-Fifita, Ikahihfo, Ukuma Ta'ai even, spring to mind.
Regards,
STEVO
I imagine there’ll be no incomings and at most one or two back up players, like Costello or Richardson, will leave. I’m a bit concerned with the shape of the squad going into next season because, as people have mentioned, I think you need at least a couple of signings a season to keeps things fresh, especially when teams around us are signing quality players. This squad definitely needs a quality scrum half, at least one prop and at least one second row but I don’t think there’s any chance of any of that happening until the year after because of the cap.
The new coach will be busy mid next season, getting the squad ready for 2021, because there’s likely to be a fair few leaving at the end of next season. Taia and Amor will surely leave, I think Thompson will go to the NRL, LMS will be approaching 35 and off contract. That’s at least 4 regular players who I think will move on, then there’s Peyroux who will be at the end of his deal and it wouldn’t shock me if next season was Roby’s last. Paulo is one we need rid of but I can’t imagine him being in a hurry to leave.
It is always a balancing act in that you have to reward and keep hold of local talent coming through the ranks but ensure you have quality in key positions. As a new coach is coming in surely they should be consulting with him now re recruitment. I would think 2020 would be a key year. Positions to recruit would be second row and scrum half.
Are we short of second rowers? Bentley is developing well. Keep hearing talk that Ashworth would make a good back rower. Not sure how Bachelor is coming along.
Tongue in cheek. Why not do the same as the others. See how the season goes, if not doing well, sign someone for the end of season. Get a place on the cap by saying someone has a season ending injury and then off load them to the Championship a la Kevin Brown.
If we do look to get a proper scrum half I wonder if we would consider Josh Drinkwater, he was flavour of the month when he was at Catalans but no one talks about him now. He's pretty robust and I think he would be relatively cheap too
I know that he's been released from Hull KR but I don't know if he has another team as yet. Sometimes these unheralded Aussies can do a decent job of organising a team and turning a scratchy performance into a win
Other than that we clearly need a hard running second rower, an uncompromising presence that's prepared to mix it a bit. Not sure who that would be, but it would be someone like Gareth Hock but not actually him
I don't see how Drinkwater would be an upgrade on Fages and the club have a highly promising kid waiting in Dodd so it would be no thanks to a scrum half unless they are a significant upgrade for the position.
If anything I'd like to see Saints sign an aggressive, tackle breaking second row or an experienced prop. Preferably one would have plenty of big match winning experience.
I'd be definitely looking to offload Paulo onto a smaller team and see if we could at least pick up someone who'd offer more in attack. Ashurst at Wakefield has done well at second row, and given Pauli-Pauli has left them and frees up an overseas slot I'd try to snare him back as it would increase squad depth and even free up a small amount on the SC as I imagine Paulo earns a fair bit.
Drinkwater has signed for Catalan.