2023 Squad

[bigbaldnmad]

In recent times we have got so much right in comms coming out of the club, both via twitter and email.

Unfortunately this seems to have been lacking on this occasion, and it could be that the expected target hasn't materialised, this is possibly why some feel it a little underwhelming.

I suspect that a half back pairing of Dean and Ford doesn't seem as strong as Jacks and Smith.

[haskey]

Agreed BBM

[POR]

1 hour ago, Eternal Rover said:

 not clear what he adds for us other than some cover.

Cover is why you get three halfbacks

1 hour ago, Eternal Rover said:

Given the initial build up, it smacks of us being in for someone else who we've not managed to land.

Yes we've looked at other halves  PNG lad comes to mind but would have thought with his history of loans 3 in two seasons would have thought the wolves have offered him out again, so Sean decided to take a punt on him for less money than others

 

23 minutes ago, bigbaldnmad said:

In recent times we have got so much right in comms coming out of the club, both via twitter and email.

Unfortunately this seems to have been lacking on this occasion, and it could be that the expected target hasn't materialised, this is possibly why some feel it a little underwhelming.

 

Do you honestly think the club are that stupid to put something out on twitter if their expected target wasn't signed sealed and delivered

1 hour ago, Simon Hall said:

Remember that game behind closed doors at the LNER, where a drop goal attempt was charged down and you won the game? It was him who attempted the drop goal. 
 

We know S that's why we signed him  it was to thank him for the try

[bigbaldnmad]

20 minutes ago, POR said:

Do you honestly think the club are that stupid to put something out on twitter if their expected target wasn't signed sealed and delivered

No I don't, but I also didn't think that the club were that stupid to ask people to register for an e-newsletter (via twitter) with the promise of an exclusive signing announcement and then send nothing.

What I was trying to do is defend the club as there must be some reason for not doing as they said. 

Edited November 24, 2022 by bigbaldnmad
Added twitter as source for newsletter registration

[lingaro]

I Would have thought he is as good a running threat as Smith was, not great at distribution and won't be as solid in defence. We'll see, might be good at all three and a master stroke. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by lingaro

[POR]

9 hours ago, bigbaldnmad said:

No I don't, but I also didn't think that the club were that stupid to ask people to register for an e-newsletter (via twitter) with the promise of an exclusive signing announcement and then send nothing.

What I was trying to do is defend the club as there must be some reason for not doing as they said. 

I can understand why people are frustrated about the email B but looking at the time line I think the signing of Riley has nowt to do with the email

Meet and greet first on the 19th and email on the 20th every meet and greet post was Long will share his ambitions for the 2023 season with a number of new squad members also set to be in attendance! until 23rd when suddenly it changed to Live new signing announcement whilst email was still exclusive signing announcement via email. which makes me think we signed Riley on the 23rd days after first email announcement 

Looks like the club chose to get his signing out there for the fans before someone else let the cat out of the bag wouldn't surprise me if the email signing is another one that has gone under the radar and the club will be able to post it at a later date without fear of it getting out

[The Blues Ox]

I can't imagine Fev have brought him in as a first choice half. I'm a little bit surprised by this but he reminds me of a Connor Robinson type player, the talent is obviously there and has been from a young age, at least enough where a SL club want to hang on to him just incase he has a breakout but its more than likely he will bounce around Championship clubs for a couple of seasons before becoming a decent league 1 half back. Personally I just don't think he is up to the physicality of playing Championship rugby week in week out. As a local lad I really hope he proves me wrong just as long as its not against us.

[The Phantom Horseman]

30 minutes ago, POR said:

 

Meet and greet first on the 19th and email on the 20th every meet and greet post was Long will share his ambitions for the 2023 season with a number of new squad members also set to be in attendance! until 23rd when suddenly it changed to Live new signing announcement whilst email was still exclusive signing announcement via email. which makes me think we signed Riley on the 23rd days after first email announcement 

 

Yes, the club first stated via social media that a live signing would be unveiled at the fans' forum on the same day Warrington officially announced Josh Drinkwater so it seems plausible that the Dean loan could only be given the green light, or at least announced, once Warrington's incoming half back was official.

[POR]

Just a thought I'm not a betting man but what are the odds of us having two different Riley's/Ryley's playing in our halves in consecutive seasons Hope this Riley turns out as good as our last Ryley

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

I can't imagine Fev have brought him in as a first choice half. I'm a little bit surprised by this

I think some of the recent signings at Championship level have highlighted the dearth of half backs. I mean, Newcastle finished one spot above relegation last year and were pretty poor yet four guys who played for them last season have been signed as half backs by clubs expected to be top 4 challengers - Lacans and Dean at Fev, Woods at Batley and Shorrocks at Newcastle.

The more I think about it the more this move makes sense for us, we are probably quite near to our maximum budget now having retained so many high-profile players from last year, Dean was only 19 when he went to York, and a half back with a reputation for being an off-the-cuff player was never likely to thrive under Ford, it might be that Long will help him a lot.

There wasn't really a lot between the half backs in the top 5 or 6 teams last year - even at Leigh until Lam arrived, I don't think Mellor/Reynolds was much better than Jacks/Smith or Keyes/Jouffret - and I think it might be the same this year. Toulouse's only half backs on their books right now are Shorrocks and Brock Pelligra who has been playing for their reserve team, I don't think there's much quality available to Championship teams.

Edited November 25, 2022 by The Phantom Horseman

[Tubby]

25 minutes ago, POR said:

Just a thought I'm not a betting man but what are the odds of us having two different Riley's/Ryley's playing in our halves in consecutive seasons Hope this Riley turns out as good as our last Ryley

Just for a split second, when I saw Riley, I read Ryley... I was then disappointed.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

19 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I think some of the recent signings at Championship level have highlighted the dearth of half backs. I mean, Newcastle finished one spot above relegation last year and were pretty poor yet four guys who played for them last season have been signed by clubs expected to be top 4 challengers - Lacans and Dean at Fev, Woods at Batley and Shorrocks at Newcastle.

The more I think about it the more this move makes sense for us, we are probably quite near to our maximum budget now having retained so many high-profile players from last year, Dean was only 19 when he went to York and a half back with a reputation for being an off-the-cuff player was never likely to thrive under Ford, it might be that Long will help him a lot.

There wasn't really a lot between the half backs in the top[ 5 or 6 teams last year - even at Leigh until Lam arrived, I don't think Mellor/Reynolds was much better than Jacks/Smith or Keyes/Jouffret - and I think it might be the same this year. Toulouse's only half backs on their books right now are Shorrocks and Brock Pelligra who has been playing for their reserve team, I don't think there's much quality available to Championship teams.

TBH I'm not sure I'd take much notice on the views about half backs of someone who celebrated the signing of Cory Aston....

Edited November 25, 2022 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[The Phantom Horseman]

6 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

TBH I'm not sure I'd take much notice on the views about half backs of someone who celebrated the signing of Cory Aston.... 

After Fax's season ended with former player Liam Harris running 40m to punt the ball into the south stand and celebrate in front of the home fans, I reckon the thought of a Siddal lad like Dean guiding Fev to beat his team might be too much for Oxy to bear...

[Monkeymagic22]

2 hours ago, Tubby said:

Just for a split second, when I saw Riley, I read Ryley... I was then disappointed.

I didn’t think that Riley Jacks was anything special. Hopefully Long can get Dean playing and given a full preseason and being a year older, it looks like a smart signing, which shouldn’t cost too much.

[jamescolin]

With the addition of: Hankinson, Taylor, Cozza, Lacans and Riley, how do you see the line up for the team? Or are we looking for more newcomers before we decide. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

15 minutes ago, jamescolin said:

With the addition of: Hankinson, Taylor, Cozza, Lacans and Riley, how do you see the line up for the team? Or are we looking for more newcomers before we decide. 

As things stand, one stab at a line-up could be something like:
Pickersgill (until Kheirallah returns)
Briscoe
Leilua
Hankinson
Hall
Ford
Lacans/Dean
Kopczak
Wildie
Moors
Bussey
Day/Hardcastle
Taylor
subs
Jones
Springer
Cozza
Davies

But plenty of alternative options. Lockwood, Cooper, Hepi amongst them.
 

[Squidward]

I might be in the minority in thinking that the Riley Dean loan is a bad move. Nothing against him personally but any loan with a 2 week recall or the like has little or no benefit for the loanee but significant benefit for the player and the parent club. I would go so far as to say it may even have a negative effect for us.

Apart from that I'm really happy with the coaching team and squad that has been assembled.

[Monkeymagic22]

10 minutes ago, Squidward said:

I might be in the minority in thinking that the Riley Dean loan is a bad move. Nothing against him personally but any loan with a 2 week recall or the like has little or no benefit for the loanee but significant benefit for the player and the parent club. I would go so far as to say it may even have a negative effect for us.

Apart from that I'm really happy with the coaching team and squad that has been assembled.

I’d be surprised if he was recalled, as he’s way below SL standard at this stage of his career.

 

[Daft old hooker]

18 minutes ago, Monkeymagic22 said:

I’d be surprised if he was recalled, as he’s way below SL standard at this stage of his career.

 

Let’s wait and see if I’m honest I’m a bit underwhelmed but if he pulls on a Fev shirt he gets my support.

[The Blues Ox]

23 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

TBH I'm not sure I'd take much notice on the views about half backs of someone who celebrated the signing of Cory Aston....

I presume you must be talking to the Sheffield fans as I don't know a single Fax fan who celebrated the signing of Aston. Its a cool story though. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

12 hours ago, Squidward said:

I might be in the minority in thinking that the Riley Dean loan is a bad move. Nothing against him personally but any loan with a 2 week recall or the like has little or no benefit for the loanee but significant benefit for the player and the parent club. I would go so far as to say it may even have a negative effect for us.

Apart from that I'm really happy with the coaching team and squad that has been assembled.

I think it's a reasonable point to make. It would be interesting to know if we have the same option to cancel the agreement if, for example, a half back we want to sign becomes available at some stage.

It may be that we found ourselves in a position where we couldn't get a good-quality third half back as a full signing (eg we may have tried and failed to sign someone like Kyle Laybutt), and didn't want to go through pre-season and into the start of the season with just two recognised halves. If the choices open to us were, say, the likes of Jake Shorrocks, Cory Aston, or giving someone like Luke Gale or Tony Gigot a big contract, I can see why we have gone down this route.

[POR]

9 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I think it's a reasonable point to make. It would be interesting to know if we have the same option to cancel the agreement if, for example, a half back we want to sign becomes available at some stage.

I would have thought terms of the loan agreement works both ways if the wolves have a 2 week recall option, then FEV have a termination option

[marklaspalmas]

I think some fans were expecting the "Jewel in the Crown" signing, which it isn't. It's a youngster with potential who looks like he won't make it at SL and is trying to crack the Championship. A bit like Lacans? And good luck to them both. We'll be near or at the top of the league, have a deadset legend of a halfback to coach them and a lot of extremely experienced players around them. As I say, good luck to em.

Also.....

It's November.

The season gets underway in February. The business end of the table is in August, September and October. 2022 taught us that the signings you make AFTER the season has started can make all the difference. 

Up The Rovers.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Really looking forward to the 2023 season, partly because it looks like being much more open at the top of the league than previous years. The last 4 seasons have seen the team that finished top of the league lose 1, 0, 1 and 2 games respectively (the team that lost 2 was Toronto when they fielded a below-strength team against us in a dead rubber in the final week of the 2018 regular season).

Obviously it would be nice if we could have a season like that but I think it's more likely that whoever finishes top next season might lose 3 or 4  along the way. At this stage I don't see a physically dominant team like Leigh were after the first few weeks of 2022 or Toulouse in 2021 (acknowledging their truncated season) where you pretty much know they're going to win every week.

[POR]

Jacob Doyle has left the Rams apparently; he is taking time away from the game