Pack for next season...

[Russ]

Treadwell for Captain
Or Alan OConnor if fit

[BaggyTrousers]

Will it be good enough? Discuss...

It will be if no one gets injured, particularly if Herbst and McCall hit their full potential. They turn the scrum from surviving to thriving.

When the injuries and Ireland call-ups come, we will run out of depth, and it won't be.

If that's going to change, then a whole rake of academy forwards need big breakout seasons. I'm not going to demand the coaches pick the young guys every chance they get, simply because my guess is most of them don't deserve it and won't gain enough from it, but a few risks might need taken with those who do have the glimmer of something as we search for life beyond Black, Lutton, Diack and Wilson. And I'd park that extra half a million in the best scrum coach and the best forwards coach I could (although I'm guessing the IRFU would say no).

Have to admit, I'm always musing ahead to signings for season after. Tempting Paddy Mac back would be nice. Maybe persuade Annett back too? I think Brendon O'Connor at Leicester is Irish-qualified - dunno when his contract is up, but could make a good replacement for Chad. Even a couple of quality IQ forwards from outside the province could make a huge difference.

Loving you patter NS

I do think the biggest issue is the propping dept. Thing is they are all survivors in the main, they haven't often been bullied but they rarely do any damage even to poor teams. On Friday night against the best Ireland currently offer they were bested but only just.

I am not an admirer of Lutton but he can survive against a decent prop mostly, that is where his usefulness begins & ends. Herbst is clearly the better prospect and will give you a few big hits but again he was not finding favour with ref's early in the season and I feel would benefit greatly from a quality scrum coach.

I like Big Licence and hope that he is given opportunity to show he is capable as a TH, he is currently doing a Reidy of last season, barely getting a look in.

Black again is capable in the main and will give you all he has got, rather in the traditions of the great Nigel Brady, a 100% man but no more than decent. Paddymac might be an answer but I always questioned if he could scrummage, albeit he a was just a big kid, & as I see nothing of the PRL on principle despite having BT Sport foisted upon me, so still don't know. That apart I'd welcome him back. Then of course we have Rodders...............

The second row is probably OK but the question remains will we run out of numbers again. Franco is a worker and incredibly durable, he rarely misses a game and I don't think he lacks grunt. The big imponderable is Dan Tuohy, at his best he is the best we have but he has at times looked as if he lacks motivation & injuries have wrecked his last 2 seasons. Two metre Peter has after a fashion done a job but let's be very honest, he is break glass merchant and about a 5th or 6th choice option at a self-respecting club. Then we have Treadwell. Much has been spoken about potential but we really have no idea what stage the lad is at, he could be a big McCombe or he may well thrive, jury out for now.

That leaves Hendy, a 6 in my book but may well find himself press-ganged into 2nd row, if we have a playable back row without him. I'd hate it. That "playable back row" would have to include Chad, Reidy & Marcell though quite how balanced that would be would be questionable. I do hope we may see if Dow is up to decent Pro12 level relatively early in the season & with Marcell missing for a decent chunk of the season he'll probably get the chance.

Roger & Robbie eh? Well they will obviously get time & will occasionally look good .............but as Fez said.......

Finally the two captains, Rory & Rob, many think we have strength here but Rob remains unproven in my eyes, much as I like him & his pace and commitment, but he really hasn't had many big matches to show what he has at the top end of the game. I think he's good but I don't know for sure. Rory will for at least one more year be the heart & soul of things. For his sake I hope it goes well.

You know what, I suspect there will be a lot of muddling through...........again.

[BaggyTrousers]

I wonder how long it will take before Willie Anderson and Clarke have a major bust up and Clarke comes out second best and departs.

Large Willie ...........the saviour of Alster. That could work.

[BaggyTrousers]

Is Willie involved these days?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Signed up to the academy for next season, to replace the departed Alex Codling, you know, the big hungry lad who has gone off to coach Ealing Trailfinders.

I know a poem about Ealing - there was a young girl from Ealing, who had a peculiar feeling .........can't remember the rest of it.

[BaggyTrousers]

Is Willie involved these days?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Signed up to the academy for next season, to replace the departed Alex Codling, you know, the big hungry lad who has gone off to coach Ealing Trailfinders.

I know a poem about Ealing - there was a young girl from Ealing, who had a peculiar feeling .........can't remember the rest of it.

[BaggyTrousers]

are we under the impression, all signings have been announced? and no more forwards to pop up?

Anything you'd like to share with the class?

There has been the persistent rumour of a man coming north. If there is any truth in it I would expect that nothing would happen until the sun sets on the Mexican season.

Would that be the lad you're talking about? I know nobody who can put a name to the mythical Mexican.

[BaggyTrousers]

Treadwell for Captain
Or Alan OConnor if fit

I'd like to have you as my financial advisor.

NB This does not constitute a contract.

[CIMANFOREVER]

What do we make of Aye You? Haven't seen much of him myself - decent signing? Long way off a quality pack. At full-strength we could probably get parity with most sides at home but away from home, in particular, we need a bit more quality to be even competitive with the top sides. It's a shame because our backs are likely to be pretty handy.

Remember when we signed Nick, and people were unsure whether we could get anything out of him? That's roughly Ah You now.


To be clear, I'm not categorically saying that Ah You will guarantee us the same level of performance. However, there are striking similarities: both NZ u-20, both graduated to NH journeymen, both are prone to poor conditioning but can run over people if and when arsed. It could work out well, and Rory's endorsement stands for a lot, but there's a lot of work for Ah You to do before he steps foot on the pitch.

Nick had pedigree but pished it up the wall, was in last chance saloon and knew it. Cowboy had worked with him, so it was probably lower risk than you think. Ah Ye has never impressed me any time I've seen him prop in terms of technique, regardless of fitness. Lack of technique in a prop at that age is pretty crucial as far as I'm concerned. I'll happily be proved wrong btw.

We also need to talk about Andy Warwick- I'd like clarity on whether we're using him as break glass tighthead, or if if we're seriously at making the conversion. if so, let's get, as has been said, a world class scrum coach in, even if just for some intensive working sessions for a few weeks, and get these young lads the proper scrum coaching they don't seem to be getting at Ulster imo. It could bring them on leaps and bounds, Herbst's little problem included. AW is worth persisting with, but struggled on Friday, understandably.
McCall, btw, as I understand, is being managed due to struggling physically with the step up. If so, I think this is the responsible thing to do for once.

[Nightsoil]

Just on the propping issue and bringing back Paddy Mac - that can only be done season after next, and season after next, we'll probably have an NIQ slot free from losing Franco and a project slot for Herbst having done his time. The IRFU will probably block another top lock, tighthead's usually a sore spot for them, we already have a top NIQ back row, hooker's fine.

But loosehead has plenty of depth in the Ireland squad. I think if there's one spot they'll let us bring in a quality player, it'll be loosehead.

Of course, this is complete speculation. And we could bring in a top NIQ loosehead and Paddy, particularly if Warwick moves permanently to tighthead. But maybe there wouldn't be room for both.

[therealspratt]

I have the fear that Treadwell's credentials are almost too good, massive lad who was a former county hurdler and yet Harlequins are willing to let him go? One would worry that he has some massive flaw in his game, but then again I'm a horribly paranoid individual and he was stuck behind two excellent prospects in Twomey and Matthews. Though if he does turn out to be the dog's proverbial a pairing with AOC with Alex Thompson on the bench would be a hell of thing down the line, almost rivalling Leinster's prospects in Molony and Ryan. On Rob, I would very much like Annett back to compete with him for the shirt post Rory because I don't think it's a done deal yet, though that said those already behind Rob have been showing some promise. A fair amount of this is just fiddling about with deckchairs on the Titanic though if we don't sort out the prop and back row situations.

[Russ]

I have the fear that Treadwell's credentials are almost too good, massive lad who was a former county hurdler and yet Harlequins are willing to let him go? One would worry that he has some massive flaw in his game, but then again I'm a horribly paranoid individual and he was stuck behind two excellent prospects in Twomey and Matthews. Though if he does turn out to be the dog's proverbial a pairing with AOC with Alex Thompson on the bench would be a hell of thing down the line, almost rivalling Leinster's prospects in Molony and Ryan. On Rob, I would very much like Annett back to compete with him for the shirt post Rory because I don't think it's a done deal yet, though that said those already behind Rob have been showing some promise. A fair amount of this is just fiddling about with deckchairs on the Titanic though if we don't sort out the prop and back row situations.

Harlequins not letting him go. Wanted him to stay

He wants to play international rugby.
Was rejected by England because they've identified some players in the short term

[Nightsoil]

I have the fear that Treadwell's credentials are almost too good, massive lad who was a former county hurdler and yet Harlequins are willing to let him go?

If a player is out of contract and wants to go, whether the club is willing or not has nothing to do with it. Us and Scholes, Leinster and Kelleher, Quins and Treadwell. How have people not worked out how this one works yet?

[BaggyTrousers]

Just on the propping issue and bringing back Paddy Mac - that can only be done season after next, and season after next, we'll probably have an NIQ slot free from losing Franco and a project slot for Herbst having done his time. The IRFU will probably block another top lock, tighthead's usually a sore spot for them, we already have a top NIQ back row, hooker's fine.

But loosehead has plenty of depth in the Ireland squad. I think if there's one spot they'll let us bring in a quality player, it'll be loosehead.

Of course, this is complete speculation. And we could bring in a top NIQ loosehead and Paddy, particularly if Warwick moves permanently to tighthead. But maybe there wouldn't be room for both.

Here is a thought. If the IRFU are jumpy about TH props being brought in, does the class not feel they should then have a duty to redistribute the talent rather than having most of it festering in D4? Tricky one I know but if they can tell you you can't have one in case you block "pathways" then where is the logic in 3 of them in Mexico & only 2 getting a game for most of the season.

Suppose they will tell Ulster that we have acquired an international TH for next season ...............even if he had sipped to 3rd or 4th choice at Connacht.

As for Andrew Warwick, I see no way they will absolutely convert him to TH, we don't have enough options for LH either, though allegedly Rodders does both.

[Nightsoil]

Just on the propping issue and bringing back Paddy Mac - that can only be done season after next, and season after next, we'll probably have an NIQ slot free from losing Franco and a project slot for Herbst having done his time. The IRFU will probably block another top lock, tighthead's usually a sore spot for them, we already have a top NIQ back row, hooker's fine.

But loosehead has plenty of depth in the Ireland squad. I think if there's one spot they'll let us bring in a quality player, it'll be loosehead.

Of course, this is complete speculation. And we could bring in a top NIQ loosehead and Paddy, particularly if Warwick moves permanently to tighthead. But maybe there wouldn't be room for both.

Here is a thought. If the IRFU are jumpy about TH props being brought in, does the class not feel they should then have a duty to redistribute the talent rather than having most of it festering in D4? Tricky one I know but if they can tell you you can't have one in case you block "pathways" then where is the logic in 3 of them in Mexico & only 2 getting a game for most of the season.

Suppose they will tell Ulster that we have acquired an international TH for next season ...............even if he had sipped to 3rd or 4th choice at Connacht.

As for Andrew Warwick, I see no way they will absolutely convert him to TH, we don't have enough options for LH either, though allegedly Rodders does both.

Haven't we all heard this is one of Deadly Dave's intentions, solve log jams like this by getting players to where they were needed?

Which admittedly, he has, if you think the place a Irish tighthead needs to be is Wasps.

And that there's the problem, persuading the internationals getting forced out of their province to hang around in Ireland instead of going abroad for their pay day. Maybe if Deadly Dave could manage that, he'd be held in a bit less contempt.

A good start would be that Leinster back rower who's allegedly meant to be turning up here. That would be nice.

[CIMANFOREVER]

Just on the propping issue and bringing back Paddy Mac - that can only be done season after next, and season after next, we'll probably have an NIQ slot free from losing Franco and a project slot for Herbst having done his time. The IRFU will probably block another top lock, tighthead's usually a sore spot for them, we already have a top NIQ back row, hooker's fine.

But loosehead has plenty of depth in the Ireland squad. I think if there's one spot they'll let us bring in a quality player, it'll be loosehead.

Of course, this is complete speculation. And we could bring in a top NIQ loosehead and Paddy, particularly if Warwick moves permanently to tighthead. But maybe there wouldn't be room for both.

There is mileage in McCall and Paddy mac going forward, with maybe AW as back up. I'd then focus on Tight.