Who do we think have recruited well for next season?

[mightyship]

I know it’s still a soon to say but who are you fancying to push for the top slots next season based on recruitment so far?

I’m liking the look of Fax next year with what looks like a good mix of youth and experience being added to the their existing squad (don’t tell oxyboy ) - particularly noted the signings of Joufrett and Walmsley.

leigh obviously will be up there with Degsys money - the stand out signing being Tomkins for them.

not so sure about others - have York, Bradford or Batley really added / improved their squads?

 

[Cardypaul]

Hard to say there will be plenty of business to be done yet. Hasn’t Tomkins given back word and retired to join the fire service 

[The Blues Ox]

11 minutes ago, mightyship said:

I know it’s still a soon to say but who are you fancying to push for the top slots next season based on recruitment so far?

I’m liking the look of Fax next year with what looks like a good mix of youth and experience being added to the their existing squad (don’t tell oxyboy ) - particularly noted the signings of Joufrett and Walmsley.

leigh obviously will be up there with Degsys money - the stand out signing being Tomkins for them.

not so sure about others - have York, Bradford or Batley really added / improved their squads?

 

Im already excited  The signings we have made we have the opportunity to do a York and have a disaster of a season now theres a bit of pressure on. I don't think we will be good enough to finish top ahead of Fev but I am hopeful that in a one off game we won't be at the point of having to cause a huge upset to win. Who knows though it will be nice to start a season with some hope of a shot at SL again though.

[Adam B]

21 minutes ago, mightyship said:

I’m liking the look of Fax next year with what looks like a good mix of youth and experience being added to the their existing squad (don’t tell oxyboy ) - particularly noted the signings of Joufrett and Walmsley.

Have to agree with this, I think Fax will have a good season and to be honest I think that was likely even if they hadn't really changed the squad too much, as they definitely had the feel of a club 'on the up' last year.

Thought the same re Batley too. Both sides heading in the right direction and with more developing/growing still to do, Id be surprised if they're anything but a tough challenge for us next year.

[Monkeymagic22]

We've most likely got more signings to accounce, plus the majority of the team from last season. The only team to worry me would be Leigh.

[Fevrover]

13 hours ago, mightyship said:

I know it’s still a soon to say but who are you fancying to push for the top slots next season based on recruitment so far?

I’m liking the look of Fax next year with what looks like a good mix of youth and experience being added to the their existing squad (don’t tell oxyboy ) - particularly noted the signings of Joufrett and Walmsley.

leigh obviously will be up there with Degsys money - the stand out signing being Tomkins for them.

not so sure about others - have York, Bradford or Batley really added / improved their squads?

 

Oxy DOSEN'T miss a thing lol!

[The Phantom Horseman]

Fax have clearly splashed some cash this off-season and on paper should be much improved, especially in their backs. They do look to have a lot of similar-type players in the pack so a lot will depend on whether they can win the battle up front but you'd think they have to be thinking top 2, Grix will be looking over his shoulder if they aren't challlenging for those positions.

Still too early to say about Leigh. At the moment they don't have enough players to look dominant - though they already should have enough quality to ensure they make the play-offs - but there's still time for them to add plenty of big-name signings.

Newcastle should be much stronger on paper and look top 5 contenders, they might need another year though and not sure if they have quite the quality at half back of the other top teams.

York are another team where there is pressure on the coach now even though he's just signed a long-term deal (I don't mean for his job), last year in the league was a disaster for them given the high-profile signings they made, they were especially unlucky with injuries though. They really ought to be much better this year.

Bradford have a huge squad but whether it's notably stronger than last year we shall have to see. For me Halifax look to have made better signings.

Widnes I'm still not sure about because they don't seem to have addresssed their weakness last year in the middle. I think they will have done very well if they get near the top 5.

Batley have been less flashy in terms of their signings but that's often the case with them, they seem to be well coached and I'll be surprised if they aren't thereabouts again.

Dewsbury should be better this year looking at some of their signings, should definitely be away from the relegation zone anyway.

Just don't know enough about the Cumbrian clubs to make predictions, and I think London and Sheffield will struggle.

 

 

 

[sentoffagain2]

   It looks a strong Championship this season and Fax have improved their squad so they should be in the top 3.Don't know a lot about the Cumbrian clubs but was impressed with the way Workington beat Doncaster in the play off final.Bradford may struggle to get into top 4.Agree that Newcastle may need another season although their forwards were the biggest pack i saw last year.London might be struggling to avoid relegation.But do we know the format for 23 season if SL splits into 2x10 league places may not determine which 8 teams make up the numbers.

[RobLambert]

I think its difficult to tell yet.  I'm assuming there are some more signings to come - which could determine whether or not we're favourites  next year.  JSL seems to be still on the cards ?_  C#s forum suggested that Eden was a done deal but thats gone quiet and with Gale and Briscoe I'd be happy to keep Blackmore and / or Doyle.  After that I reckon we need a quality half back and prop.  Not asking for much ! but previous seasons would indicate that at this stage we have a couple of signings up our sleeve.

As things stand, to improve on what we had last year, I reckon we effectively need a replacement for Brown (depending on how you see Wildie slotting in) and Harrison (who didnt play that much last year).  Oh and some DR kids to fill in for the kids that we've let go.  (You know the ones that our rivals will inevitability see as being pivotal in any success we may have)

[marklaspalmas]

Halifax announcement on Twitter yesterday said was their 11th signing. That's quite a lot. We're at 5 with three of those returnees. Clubs with wholesale changes take a longer time to click.

Has anyone on the interweb put together a Championship ins&outs list? It would be good to see that kind of list and judge quality rather than noise and volume. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

14 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Halifax announcement on Twitter yesterday said was their 11th signing. That's quite a lot. We're at 5 with three of those returnees. Clubs with wholesale changes take a longer time to click.

Has anyone on the interweb put together a Championship ins&outs list? It would be good to see that kind of list and judge quality rather than noise and volume. 

This, but it's over 2 weeks old so a bit out of date now
https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/championship-ins-and-outs-for-2022-signings-and-retentions-club-by-club/

It's a good point you make about lots of changes meaning time to gel. The grass is always greener at this time of the year when you see other teams making signings.

However, if another team had announced they'd signed Hall, Gale, Holmes, Chisholm, Kopczak, Jones, Moors, Davies, Ferres and Bussey (to name a few) they'd be everyone's trendy pick to win the league. Retentions never seem as exciting as new signings though!

[The Blues Ox]

29 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Halifax announcement on Twitter yesterday said was their 11th signing. That's quite a lot. We're at 5 with three of those returnees. Clubs with wholesale changes take a longer time to click.

Has anyone on the interweb put together a Championship ins&outs list? It would be good to see that kind of list and judge quality rather than noise and volume. 

Its a worry that we have brought in so many new players but the positive side of it is that they are replacing a lot of squad players who got released who simply were not up to playing at this standard of rugby so the nucleus of the squad remains. There is always question marks though when bringing in new players for key positions which it looks like we have done for 1,6,7,9.

[sentoffagain2]

33 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Its a worry that we have brought in so many new players but the positive side of it is that they are replacing a lot of squad players who got released who simply were not up to playing at this standard of rugby so the nucleus of the squad remains. There is always question marks though when bringing in new players for key positions which it looks like we have done for 1,6,7,9.

 Fax and Newcastle have been the clubs that looked to have recruited well.And as you say it depends how quickly players can gel to become a team.Fax released Springer last season and he was good for Fev and i hoped that we could keep him.But he has a SL gig so good luck to him.

[spanishknight]

Think the York squad looks so much better for next season than this last one, the average age must be a few years less and with eleven new players I'm hoping it won't take too long to gel.

[Monkeymagic22]

I think it's like someone mentioned before, we start with a base of quality players, so we're never going to make a huge number of signings. I still think that we need another 4 or 5 quality signings though. 

[gazza77]

Coaching appointments could also be key as to how teams go. Obviously we've a new man in charge and are presumably still looking for a no 2. Leigh yet to announce, and both York and Fax have announced new assistants. The impact of all of these changes could be critucal: look at our recent past to see how different things can be based on whoever is in charge. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

9 hours ago, RobLambert said:

.

As things stand, to improve on what we had last year, I reckon we effectively need a replacement for Brown (depending on how you see Wildie slotting in)

I would be surprised if we brought in another half back. Holmes wasn't at his best in the second half of the season but he's a good half at this level when on song, and Morgan Smith, who I think has played nearly 50 SL games, will presumably be in competition with him for the other starting half back spot alongside Chisholm. I think these days Smith is seen as a half back who could fill in at 9 whereas Wildie is regarded as a 9 who could fill in at half back

 

9 hours ago, RobLambert said:

  Oh and some DR kids to fill in for the kids that we've let go.  (You know the ones that our rivals will inevitability see as being pivotal in any success we may have)

Indeed...you'd like to think that only losing 1 league game all season in 2021 would put an end to the claims that Fev owe our success to DR, but we won't hold our breath on that one.