@vikingfox71 I think if you go back to 2024 Ince was definitely the type of player to beat his initial man and make good yardage out of our own end. His 205 was just wrecked by injury so Williams was a good replacement. Bennison is SL quality so whilst it was nice to have him for sure it was a luxury
Butt isn’t the strongest but has a strong finish in the corner and sage under the high ball and bringing it back for the 1st tackle.
i stick by the facts that both had double figure scoring records in 2024 and Ince especially had high scoring records for the years prior to that. One poor season, which was poor by all players standards, doesn’t mean we suddenly need to be replacing them when we have much bigger issues in the squad
@scouseviking55 maybe signing 4 loose forwards doesn't help either but we did lol having people who can break tackles or beat players is priceless every good team has them I get your opinion but I'm afraid stats from 2 years ago are from 2 years ago and doesn't represent what those players do now ince is not the same player and butt as you stated is solid this year for us we had bennison and Taylor Wray who could both beat players and look at the yardages and difference it makes! Yes they're super league players but there must be versions in championship
For as long as I can remember on this message board, we need a couple of dozen wingers, 10 inside strike centres, 8 more back rowers, and 26 more props and need a squad of 46 to compete against teams with 21/22 players in theirs.
What I'd be happy with would be a season with minimum (hopefully none) injuries to our Half Backs, then maybe whoever is on the wings will score a lot more tries. Nobody ever comes up with where the squad of 46 are going to come from, who they are and who will finance it?
It's easier said than done, names please.
Paulie xx
We might all disagree on certain subjects but we all have one thing in common ...we want to see the on pitch improve because with success it brings it's rewards in other areas....to get that we had to improve the squad quality but more importantly improve the starting 17....the worry ATM is of the four that have come in there's only abdull that improves the starting 13 and that's on the assumption he'll be fit and firing ... chapelhow and bibby in general come off the bench and Taylor while being highly rated in some quarters is a bit of an unknown....and I think this is most likely causing anxiety that while the squad will have improved the starting 13 hasn't as much as it needs to push the club to being a top three...those final four signings are crucial because for me at least two needs to be at starting 13 level and not just squad fillers ...you can't finish 7th and keep virtually 90%+ exactly the same ... genuinely believe if we do that we still won't be top end competitive even with the 3 clubs that have left for SL...we shall see when the squad is confirmed
Last season we had a 25 man squad going into the season but 5 of them labelled as project signings never ended up playing. 4 of them left early on and Bailey stayed but didn't play.
I believe from the Vikings Voice meeting we are looking at a squad of 26. Makes sense with 22 signed and 4 offers on the table. I wonder who they are though. Going off last seasons squad, unless we have increased the playing budget then you would expect them to be squad players rather than starters.
That would be an interesting question for the club, how does the playing budget compare to last season. You would have thought it would be about the same. I think 25/26 is a sensible number; the problem is, if everyone is fit, with no academy or reserves and everyone in the same league, what do you do with the 7 or 8 players? Dual reg didn't work for us last season. Its a difficult balance to juggle.
More often than not money and its availability is at the root of all our problems. Our main chance of upping our playing quality is by increasing our WVIP's contributions.
We always look for some Robin Hood character to buy us out of our dilemma but they rarely appear!!!!
More often than not money and its availability is at the root of all our problems. Our main chance of upping our playing quality is by increasing our WVIP's contributions.
We always look for some Robin Hood character to buy us out of our dilemma but they rarely appear!!!!
The number of WVIPs members needs to improve from 117 I last heard, and we have to collectively contribute if want the best team possible on the pitch. Personally anyone can join and £5 a month minimum is just like buying a pint of beer. If can get the numbers near to 1000 members it will make a massive difference.
Matty gee has retired so he isn't one of them...or was and chose to retire lol
I think we need to advertise WVIPS more, At the moment it’s normally only at fans evenings that we see people trying to get people to join, perhaps if we tried to get members at other popular places , we might manage to get more members.
@pauliewalnuts Alfie Johnson signed for fax from wire Kieran gill went to sheff from Bradford people are there and available and fax surely can't outbid us
O yes they can and will !