41 replies to this topic

[Furryenzo]

Its now December and were still 5/6 players short of a playing squad, I think it was around this time last month, I think it was mark, brought up that we were in a similar position last year. Its now a month on and all that seems to have happened is we have lost a player....

Im very surprised at our lack of urgency in getting a full squad together. Steve Mac has said he wants to sign the right players, not just any players. I certainly hope they're worth the wait!!! We've got a game at the end of the month and at this rate will struggle to put 17 players out!!!

[duffymoon]

Maybe we will find something out at the shirt launch

[greengrass]

I am worried about the depth of our squad, players are leaving no one is coming in. Season starts soon and we are already couple of weeks into pre season, you should have your squad assembled before pre season.

Still nothing on the ground front.

[GLENNGARY]

ritchie hawkyard fullback , a ballard wing, d birkett centre, j barlow centre, k penny wing, ainscough stand off, l'anson scrum half, holland prop, hulme hooker, mills prop, hawkyard secondrow, clarke secondrow,smith loose forward, subs rileywho i presume will be one of warringtons five watkins, reay and i have still only touched one out of five d/r players i think that is quite an handy looking team. yes we could do wiyh another one or two forwards but i certainly don't see it as a weak team and remember Warringtons youngsters are the best in super league and we will be getting some of them.

[bigtony]

Not sure mills & holland are starting props much better coming off bench its the depth of the squad what would worry me, did SM not say he wanted a full squad plus dr players.17 players is not a full squad swinton are at least 7 players short of a full squad and at least 4 of them being props and 2 of the 4 being proven hard nuts, im starting to get worried

[Furryenzo]

ritchie hawkyard fullback , a ballard wing, d birkett centre, j barlow centre, k penny wing, ainscough stand off, l'anson scrum half, holland prop, hulme hooker, mills prop, hawkyard secondrow, clarke secondrow,smith loose forward, subs rileywho i presume will be one of warringtons five watkins, reay and i have still only touched one out of five d/r players i think that is quite an handy looking team. yes we could do wiyh another one or two forwards but i certainly don't see it as a weak team and remember Warringtons youngsters are the best in super league and we will be getting some of them.

And what happens when we get injuries?

[PhillH]

ritchie hawkyard fullback , a ballard wing, d birkett centre, j barlow centre, k penny wing, ainscough stand off, l'anson scrum half, holland prop, hulme hooker, mills prop, hawkyard secondrow, clarke secondrow,smith loose forward, subs rileywho i presume will be one of warringtons five watkins, reay and i have still only touched one out of five d/r players i think that is quite an handy looking team. yes we could do wiyh another one or two forwards but i certainly don't see it as a weak team and remember Warringtons youngsters are the best in super league and we will be getting some of them.

Notwithstanding Warrington players you cannot be too far wrong with that line-up as there's no scope to do much else. Factors that concern me are: Two centres totally unproven at this level that are going to be thrown in the deep end to see if they "sink or swim", an honest but very lightweight backrow, very little competition for places and cover for injuries. Other than that, its looking pretty good!

Unless Warrington send some seriously good players that gel straight in, avoidance of relegation has to be the goal this time around!

[GLENNGARY]

Injuries are always a problem at championship level for teams who have no reserve backup. This even applies when you carry a squad of twenty five. Only seventeen can play so the other eight get no game time.So when they are needed they are rusty and not up to speed and also when they get no games i'ts quite easy for them to spit the dummy out and walk away from the club, which as happened before. Has it stands at the moment we can call on up to ten of Warringtons youngsters although we ca only play five at any one time,but this does give us a lot of leeway. Iam quite sure that the d/r that we can call upon would be every bit as good as squad players who can't quite make the team. Another point that you raised was our centres. Josh Barlow played a few weeks ago for Scotland so he can't be that bad, and Darren Hawkyard was one of the best second rowers in the division. Throw another point into the equation and that is the team is training harder and under better conditions than we have ever had, which can only make them sharper fitter and stronger than they were last year which surely is another big plus,yes we do need a few more players but I will say again i certainly don't think we are a sinking ship by a long chalk and the players we have good enough to be competitive

[RIGGY]

The 2013 squad will be introduced to the fans at the Shirt Launch night tomorrow Monday 10/12/12 at Clifton Cricket Club 7-30pm start.

Please come along and support the event.

Riggy

[LOYALION]

I acknowledge all the concern regarding the lack of depth of this years squad and understand the fears of having so few players signed at this point. However. Im sure Steve Mc is aware of all this and would love to have a large squad of proven match winners to chose from. This clearly has not been possible due to financial constraints and possibly these players did not want to come to us.
The way I see it is, I would much rather spend less and survive in the lower reaches of the Championship with a stronger possibility of a new home than spend big to reach for the stars and go bust! The RFL will not step in to save us!Other clubs should look around and take note of the misfortune of others.
Lets see what comes of tonight.......you never know, Santa might bring an early present!
Unfortunately we have a propensity to choose dates for these that I cannot possibly attend so keep us less fortunates updated on here please!

[mark richardson]

Yes Ill second LoyalLions comments.
I think there will be some signings announced tonight. The club has previous for this kind of thing
Also Ill be at work till 7 tomorrow so an update on proceedings tonight would be welcome. Thanks.

[bigtony]

Can anyone tell us if they announced any new signings last nite ?

Edited by bigtony, 11 December 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[duffymoon]

Some signings in January,Steve McCormack seemed very enthusiastic about the squad.

[fester]

Use shud be we travel to use first match of season blue n white barmy army town town

[Blue Monkey]

Use shud be we travel to use first match of season blue n white barmy army town town

Is this an example of pidgin or some kind of patois?

[PaulT]

Use shud be we travel to use first match of season blue n white barmy army town town

Where's 'Use'?

Please use proper grammar on this forum or Blue Monkey will be after your blood!

Edited by PaulT, 11 December 2012 - 11:49 PM.

[GLENNGARY]

We have four trialists training with us , two young props one a schoolboy international ,a hooker and not sure of the other one according to SM all will be given game time in the first match. Steve also said that though the squad looks a little light at the moment wait until the start of the season when the squad is complete with the quality of the d/rs that we will be getting,we should find the squad exciting and very competitive. The shirts are great and we also have a national company as sponsers, and that is HOLLANDS pies. All in all lots of positivity. On Agecroft PK said planning permissionwas going in in the first two weeks in january but the downer to this was when jk was asked could the fiasco with Salford impact on us he said yes. So all of you cross your fingers and every thing elso you can cross that everything turns out alright, tonights knockback for the reds is ominous to say the least, trust Salford reds to be the ones to knacker it up for us if it does go ###### up . Anyway heres hoping!

[bigtony]

So thats 4 trialist 2 of which are young props 1 of which is a school boy international, going into a very tough league with some very big packs i ave a feeling that swintons pack is going to come second best in a lot of their games this season.You need at least 2 props to mix it up and do the hard yards, i just hope fans dont think mills and holland are these type of players because last season proved they are not, in my humble opinion that is

[PhillH]

So yet another public forum where the message is that something tangible regarding Agecroft will be happening in roughly a month.

"Mañana, mañana" - and after 6 years of it, its wearing very thin.

[marshy1]

Tony you have overlooked the dual reg players which Glenngarry mentioned. Steve Mc seemed very upbeat and content on Monday evening.