Squad numbers are being added every few minutes on Twitter starting with number 26 Nzoungue (sorry for spelling) and 25 Brad Holdroyd
Good to see we’re sticking with the policy of playing players out of position at prop forward. Worked so well last season…
What is the squad numbers as not on official site.
1 to 13
Owens
Brooks
Speeding
Tyrer
Ince
Craven
Smith
Farmworth
Fozzard
Grady
Wilde
Lawton
Baker.
An above average Championship side
Not many surprises. Grady at 10 as mentioned a controversial move. Smith back at 7 possibly expected though he played his best rugby at loose forward last year. How well he transitions back will be key to our prospects. Number 2 jersey for Ollie Brookes suggests he’s had a good pre-season.
@mt Not sure ‘controversial’ is the right word MT - I suspect the numbers won’t mean an awful lot to the positions the players actually play when the season gets going properly.
Controversial in the eyes of those who don’t see him as a prop, RV. Unusual to give a starting number to a player of a position you don’t intend them to play in. So I’d expect to see him playing at prop, particularly as we are short on numbers there. Hopefully he goes well. He’ll certainly give it 100 percent.
@mt if he is a starting prop after the recruitment since last season then we are in trouble.
I think the assignment of the number is ‘surprising’ more than ‘controversial’. I think controversial is a word that should be applied to major (social or political etc) events rather than the number on a Rugby League shirt. Just my opinion though - not a biggie.
Has Grady specifically bulked up at all over the off-season?
Remember when he was a goal-kicking centre?!
1 to 13
Owens
Brooks
Speeding
Tyrer
Ince
Craven
Smith
Farmworth
Fozzard
Grady
Wilde
Lawton
Baker.
An above average Championship side
Not really with only 3 changes and only one of them better that the ones replaced. dissapointing to say the least.
@mt if he is a starting prop after the recruitment since last season then we are in trouble.
I think the assignment of the number is ‘surprising’ more than ‘controversial’. I think controversial is a word that should be applied to major (social or political etc) events rather than the number on a Rugby League shirt. Just my opinion though - not a biggie.
Absolutely
the numbers are important to players as the best get 1-13, if I was a prop I would be disappointed if a skinny second rower got a 10 or 8 shirt before me.
@mt if he is a starting prop after the recruitment since last season then we are in trouble.
I think the assignment of the number is ‘surprising’ more than ‘controversial’. I think controversial is a word that should be applied to major (social or political etc) events rather than the number on a Rugby League shirt. Just my opinion though - not a biggie.
Absolutely
the numbers are important to players as the best get 1-13, if I was a prop I would be disappointed if a skinny second rower got a 10 or 8 shirt before me.
Hardly skinny at 6ft 4in and just over 16st (probably heavier). I don't believe that you need to be 18st plus to be a decent prop. You need to have stamina to do a couple of 10/20 minute spells running in at speed; and preferably with a decent off-load and the strength and ability to knock down opposing forwards. Time will tell. He is still shown as a second row on the Widnes site.
I think everyone agrees that ideally we need a couple of more props, if only to cover for injuries, but that is dependent on any decent props being available. May have to rely on short-term loans.
In my view we have a better squad than last year.
For me Grady as a prop isn’t an issue however we are probably 1 out and out prop Short from an ideal scenario
squad is a lot more balanced than last season and we are more prepared for injuries and covid than last year but my concern is if 2 props are out injured things look a fair bit different
I am reasonably happy with 14 Lyons 15 Brown 16 Dupree 17 Bent. Unlike last year we should be able to name 3 bench forwards more often. Surprised at Fleming, Holdroyd & especially Nzoungou being so far down the order. Has Nzoungou not trained yet as I know was injured last May? Anyone know? As others have said squad is better balanced & deeper than last year but at least one bustling prop could mean the difference of hoping to finish 6th & knowing we probably would finish 4 th to 6th.
There again do squad numbers mean that much as Heremia wore the 31 jersey when here.
Finnigan will have to be an excellent coach to get something out of that squad, in my opinion. Looks a bang average championship squad, which is possibly where we are as a club.
The lack of props is astounding given the problems we had there last season. We’ve got 4 props, the oldest is 23. Fear we’ll get over run, like we have been every season we’ve been back in the Championship.
A bottom half finish for me.