2017 squad and rumour mill thread

[toffee]

I do.but was just.pointing.out the pit falls of chasing the elusive dream as you as a ram fan knows when ur best ever side of this era was broken up

[distantdog]

I do.but was just.pointing.out the pit falls of chasing the elusive dream as you as a ram fan knows when ur best ever side of this era was broken up

 

So was BSJ!

[fredm]

With the rumours that Fax are having a bit of financial trouble and are asking players to take a pay cut, wonder if anyone has had a word with Dane Manning?  Would he be willing to ply his trade with us again, I wonder?

[RPH]

With the rumours that Fax are having a bit of financial trouble and are asking players to take a pay cut,

Time to break out those Buckets again ...

[doggystyle]

Dane would be a great signing if we could swoop early for him, maybe Will Sharp too. He could be the wing replacement we need.

[Nick07]

UPDATED:

Dave Scott - FB/Wing
Mikey Haywood - Utility Back

Shaun Ainscough - Wing/FB/Centre
Wayne Reittie - Wing

Shaun Squires - Centre
Danny Cowling - Centre
Sam Smeaton - Centre
Macauley Hallet - Centre

Dom Brambani - Half Back
Cain Southernwood - Half Back
Patch Walker - Half Back/LF

Tom Homes - Half Back/Hooker (Season long loan)

James Brown - Prop/LF
Alex Rowe - Prop
Tom Lillicrop - Prop
Adam Gledhill - Prop/Back Row
James Harrison - Prop/Back Row

Will Maher - Prop/Back Row (Season long loan)

Alistair Leak - Hooker
James Davey - Hooker 

Joe Chandler - Back Row
Alex Bretherton - Back Row
Brad Day - Back Row
Joel Farrell - Back Row/Hooker

Danny Bravo - Utility Forward
Brad Hill - Utility Forward
Trae O'Sullivan - Utility Forward

Matt Diskin - Head Coach
John Heaton - Fitness Coach
Mark Moxon - Coach
Danny Maun - Coach

Departures:

John Kear - Coach - Wakefield
Craig Lingard - Coach - Keighley

James Craven - Thornhill
Zak McComb - Siddal
Keegan Hirst - Wakefield
Sean Hesketh - Keighley
Calum Casey - Hunslet
Dave Petersen - Released 

Unknown:

Luke Blake
Chris Ulugia
Alex Brown
Sam Scott 

[buford t justice]

UPDATED:

Dave Scott - FB/Wing

Mikey Haywood - Utility Back

Shaun Ainscough - Wing/FB/Centre

Wayne Reittie - Wing

Shaun Squires - Centre

Danny Cowling - Centre

Sam Smeaton - Centre

Macauley Hallet - Centre

Dom Brambani - Half Back

Cain Southernwood - Half Back

Patch Walker - Half Back/LF

Tom Homes - Half Back/Hooker (Season long loan)

James Brown - Prop/LF

Alex Rowe - Prop

Tom Lillicrop - Prop

Adam Gledhill - Prop/Back Row

James Harrison - Prop/Back Row

Will Maher - Prop/Back Row (Season long loan)

Alistair Leak - Hooker

James Davey - Hooker 

Joe Chandler - Back Row

Alex Bretherton - Back Row

Brad Day - Back Row

Joel Farrell - Back Row/Hooker

Danny Bravo - Utility Forward

Brad Hill - Utility Forward

Trae O'Sullivan - Utility Forward

Matt Diskin - Head Coach

John Heaton - Fitness Coach

Mark Moxon - Coach

Danny Maun - Coach

Departures:

John Kear - Coach - Wakefield

Craig Lingard - Coach - Keighley

James Craven - Thornhill

Zak McComb - Siddal

Keegan Hirst - Wakefield

Sean Hesketh - Keighley

Calum Casey - Hunslet

Dave Petersen - Released 

Unknown:

Luke Blake

Chris Ulugia

Alex Brown

Sam Scott 

 

Squad is coming together nicely - would like to see another winger or 2, maybe one who can cover full back as not sure of Haywood (not seen much of him thus far)

 

Pack looks as strong as ever, will match any in the division id say, looking forward to seeing young Harrison getting more game time this year, was really impressed with how much he improved as the season went on last year.

[phildog]

And Harrison only seemed to get on in the bigger games do that says something.

[phildog]

So Ulugia gone to Fev....

[9' oller]

Knowles too from sheff. Strong squad probably favourites after hull kr

[Chairman LMAO]

Disappointing we've not been able to hang onto Ulugia.  If he had been going to SL, could have understood.  But Featherstone is a sideways move (at best) these days. Knowles is an absolute beast at this level.  Would always be the first player on my Championship shopping list.

[Blind side johnny]

Disappointing we've not been able to hang onto Ulugia.  If he had been going to SL, could have understood.  But Featherstone is a sideways move (at best) these days. Knowles is an absolute beast at this level.  Would always be the first player on my Championship shopping list.

 

Money, Chairman.

 

Plus ca change...

[Nick07]

UPDATED:

Dave Scott - FB/Wing

Mikey Haywood - Utility Back

Shaun Ainscough - Wing/FB/Centre

Wayne Reittie - Wing

Shaun Squires - Centre

Danny Cowling - Centre

Sam Smeaton - Centre

Macauley Hallet - Centre

Dom Brambani - Half Back

Cain Southernwood - Half Back

Patch Walker - Half Back/LF

Tom Homes - Half Back/Hooker (Season long loan)

James Brown - Prop/LF

Alex Rowe - Prop

Tom Lillicrop - Prop

Adam Gledhill - Prop/Back Row

James Harrison - Prop/Back Row

Will Maher - Prop/Back Row (Season long loan)

Alistair Leak - Hooker

James Davey - Hooker

Joe Chandler - Back Row

Alex Bretherton - Back Row

Brad Day - Back Row

Joel Farrell - Back Row/Hooker

Danny Bravo - Utility Forward

Brad Hill - Utility Forward

Trae O'Sullivan - Utility Forward

Matt Diskin - Head Coach

John Heaton - Fitness Coach

Mark Moxon - Coach

Danny Maun - Coach

Departures:

John Kear - Coach - Wakefield

Craig Lingard - Coach - Keighley

James Craven - Thornhill

Zak McComb - Siddal

Keegan Hirst - Wakefield

Sean Hesketh - Keighley

Calum Casey - Hunslet

Dave Petersen - Released

Chris Ulugia - Featherstone

Unknown:

Luke Blake

Alex Brown

Sam Scott

[phildog]

Very disappointed to have lost Ulugia, both club and player tbh, but as players were re-signing through the season it became clear that he wouldn't. With our rebuilding and new coach Fev will probably have a slight head on us so who knows whether or not he's jumped right or wrong?

[phildog]

Think MD should get Sam Scott up to training, see him in action in pre-season games and then make a decision. He's too good to let go. Sorry to keep repeating myself but no great shakes on Farrell and would pick Scott every time.

[colinb]

Think MD should get Sam Scott up to training, see him in action in pre-season games and then make a decision. He's too good to let go. Sorry to keep repeating myself but no great shakes on Farrell and would pick Scott every time.

Don't hold your breath Phildog.

[Mike Garforth]

The club did the right thing re: Ulugia. He was being greedy. Why should he get double the pay of anyone else on the team. Great going forward but can be lazy and often left wanting defensively.

Sam Scott is recovering from a major injury. Players don't always come back as good as they once were. If you were MD and had never seen a player play before the injury would you want to commit to a contract? As far as I am aware he has been offered a pay as you play deal until MD sees him play a few times. I think this is a fair approach.

[HaroldShand]

The club did the right thing re: Ulugia. He was being greedy. Why should he get double the pay of anyone else on the team. Great going forward but can be lazy and often left wanting defensively.

Sam Scott is recovering from a major injury. Players don't always come back as good as they once were. If you were MD and had never seen a player play before the injury would you want to commit to a contract? As far as I am aware he has been offered a pay as you play deal until MD sees him play a few times. I think this is a fair approach.

There's a strange assumption that Ulugia is brilliant defensively, given his 'hit' on Rangi Chase in the first game of 2016. He's actually pretty woeful in that department and cost us countless tries. He also dropped the ball at least 3-4 times a game. People will think I'm being über-crtical as he's left the club - I'm not, this is the reality. Admittedly, he was a good attacking weapon when he kept hold of the ball, but is was easy to see why Bradford saw him as surplus to requirements. £36'000 a season is ridiculous for a play of his ability. Incidentally, I don't see him as 'greedy' - he's a full-time player and wanted to remain so.

[The Blues Ox]

Dane would be a great signing if we could swoop early for him, maybe Will Sharp too. He could be the wing replacement we need.

 

Both players were free to leave if they desired so were both available. So far it seems nobody has refused the new deals.

[colinb]

Perhaps even the NEW deals are still way too high for other clubs??. I mean 10% off say £32k is still a load of money.So makes sense for players to stay. I would. But will their hearts be in it??. Will watch with interest.

[phildog]

You only re-iterated my point re Scott MH, hope he's happy to turn up and prove himself.

[DOGFATHER]

There's a strange assumption that Ulugia is brilliant defensively, given his 'hit' on Rangi Chase in the first game of 2016.

I always got the impression his shoulder wasn't right after that hit on Chase. If you remember he went off injured against Halifax the previous season after a similar hit and that was the last time we saw him that season. I believe he had some kind of reconstruction or surgery to put it right in the close season, but I'm not sure it was successful from what I witnessed. Was that also the same injury that kept him out for most of the season at Bradford, hence the visa issues and us signing him on loan?

Either way, £30k+ seems crazy on a guy with his defensive problems and injury record.

Im very pleased with our centre options for next year, but it will be interesting to see if Minikin gets in at Castleford next season following his late season form for them, or whether he comes back to us on DR.

AFAIK Cas still have Shenton and Webster as the first choice centres signed on for next year. It would be a tough call to leave either of them out of the starting line up once fit. It's also unlikely Powell will pick a centre on the bench I'd have thought, so there will be a quality centre going begging every week barring injuries, even if Minikin does get picked.

[Blind side johnny]

Im very pleased with our centre options for next year, but it will be interesting to see if Minikin gets in at Castleford next season following his late season form for them, or whether he comes back to us on DR.

AFAIK Cas still have Shenton and Webster as the first choice centres signed on for next year. It would be a tough call to leave either of them out of the starting line up once fit. It's also unlikely Powell will pick a centre on the bench I'd have thought, so there will be a quality centre going begging every week barring injuries, even if Minikin does get picked.

 

It is a sad state of affairs in the Championship isn't it that we are all already pondering who we might bring in on DR. This scheme has devalued the competition no end, IMO of course.

[DOGFATHER]

It was more of a question really.

As a coach, in a results driven business such as this, should he pick what he believes to be the strongest team he can put out, which includes dual registered players? Alternatively, should he pick his own players first and only resort to DR if he has players unavailable for selection?

I was having this debate the other night regarding Minikin and I wondered what the popular concensus was. The obvious answer is to play your own players first, but given the pressure to get results, can a coach afford to take a chance in not playing the best players available every week?

Also, towards the business end of the season and given the elligibility criteria for DR players in the playoffs, is it better to ensure players you may need qualify for the playoffs early?

[The Blues Ox]

IMO Fev would not have made the top 4 if it were not for dual reg. I would go as far to say that doing that actually saved their club as they were in dire financial straights. A knock on effect of that was that both Bradford and Fax missed out on the top 4 and both those clubs are now in dire financial straights. Its a no brainer really, you have to do whatever it takes to make that top 4.