We have decent depth in the forwards for this season - but a transition coming up after with senior players coming to the end of careers... Some of the youngsters may well step in and up but will probably benefit from a couple of recruits to add experience and class.
We probably lack more depth in the backs - some youngsters look to have promise but would seem most are a couple of years away from making the step up. I'll be interested to see what recruitment happens over the next couple of seasons (especially in the backs) as I think this will be crucial to a smooth transition in sustaining current success for the future.
I think there is a danger of being overly critical for the sake of saying something. This Saints team as a unit has performed to a top standard. Some players will shine more than others, but they can only do so because of the collective effort.
When some fans say X player is bang average what they are really saying is that they are not equivalent to someone else in this Saints side. That does not make them average it just makes other Saints player better.
An average Prop is someone like Remi Casty and do you think you will get him to play for Saints for the kind of wages that Amor or Ashworth would be taking.
Again an average second rower is someone like Jack Hughes or James Donaldson, would you swap any of our pack for this level of player and would those players expect the same pay packet as the players you would want to leave.
If there was no salary cap then yes a club could bankrupt itself and buy top class in every position, but in a salary capped sport we need to be careful not to undermine our own players on the basis that some will be on far less money compared to those you may see in other teams that you think should be playing for Saints.
I admire Amor because he really upped his game and fought for a place in a team that he really wants to play for. I think a lot of other teams would love to sign him and that we’re a bit spoiled having such a talented pack.
LMS has not just been playing well but he’s a great motivator and niggles the opposition. If people think Amor and LMS are poor it shows what depth we have.
In Amor’s case, he’s showed a hell of a lot of character throughout his career and lesser players and lesser characters would potentially have folded at the start of last season. He’s obviously taken a few knocks over the last couple of years, he’s a very different player now to what he was when we signed but he’s kept adapting his game to suit and fit in with the players around him. He’s a double Super League winner now, fair play to him.
I think he summed up a lot of what was good about at Saints last season. The likes of Lomax, Walmsley and Thompson took a lot of the wider credit but there are a lot of solid players around them as well who do a good job and allow them to stand out.
Steve Prescott MBE (1973-2013)
V
Last year showed such high quality sustained throughout the season. It would be hard to match that. This came from an all round team performance week in week out. Wembley being the disappointing blip. Whilst there were some standout performers - the most impressive part for me was the high level across the team. Very rare did we see below par from individuals - such was the levels of consistency achieved. I'm not sure we'll see that again this year - but at full strength, we'll be a match for anyone.
Our biggest strength seems to be our balance of quality throughout the squad and playing as a collective team. If the likes of Amor, Ashworth, Paulo and LMS are classed as some of our lower performers in the team - then we're in a decent place. That's not to say we shouldn't be looking to get some new signings in to improve the overall quality - especially coming into next year when we'll have to recruit well, develop youngsters and think about how we replace any outgoing senior players