Pack for next season...

[CIMANFOREVER]

Treadwell looks and sounds the part. Over 2 metres tall, athletics background, 119kg... only problem is I've never seen him play.

According to quins website he has a grand total of 140 mins of 1st team rugby. The problem I foresee is that he isn't where we need him to be, which is ready to hit the ground running. I'm not convinced that he will be the answer to our prayers straight away but certainly has the potential given his impressive physical stats. Our pack desperately needs something you can't coach. We need a physically imposing specimen that can kill dead things and carrying through brick walls. Not much to ask for I know. Henderson is one but one is not enough. Couple of enforcers in the pack would be great. Paddy Mac would be another.

Donnan's as big.... I'm 115kg and just under 2m, so no guarantee of quality...
We have three academy locks all of Ireland under 20 standard- there is something amiss if we can't get one through- not a good hit rate...

Three? Thompson, Donnan, and who's the third?

James Simpson, no longer of this parish.. My point is we had 3 over the space of what? 2 years? Plus O'Connor

[scrum5]

Bringing Paddy Mac back is a must do ASAP....
Bringing in a scrum coach is a must....
We have 500K Euros, see above
On the subject of Diack he couldn't even get through Madigan's tackle on Friday night

[BaggyTrousers]

Unless I am way off the mark Treadwell is a project to develop, not an instant starter. Just a nipper ...........about Itoje's age so you can't expect miracles ....................

Scrumptious, yes we have €500K coming next year and the next, however if dogs are to be believed that will only help defer some of next year's anticipated loss. Yip, that's right we are apparently not expected to be profitable next year or the year after or ........................ and you know what, the kitchen sink has already been pawned.

Somebody mentioned a "war chest" recently .............I think it would be fairer to call it a "rainy day fund".

Ulster like every other Pro12 team, badly needs to have a TV deal that isn't derisory even if we have no chance of getting anywhere near English or French deals. The English are getting around £2M per club more than the Pro12 clubs. Pays for a lot of players eh?

[scrum5]

All the more reason to have better coaches....

[Dave]

Unless I am way off the mark Treadwell is a project to develop, not an instant starter. Just a nipper ...........about Itoje's age so you can't expect miracles ....................

Scrumptious, yes we have €500K coming next year and the next, however if dogs are to be believed that will only help defer some of next year's anticipated loss. Yip, that's right we are apparently not expected to be profitable next year or the year after or ........................ and you know what, the kitchen sink has already been pawned.

Somebody mentioned a "war chest" recently .............I think it would be fairer to call it a "rainy day fund".

Ulster like every other Pro12 team, badly needs to have a TV deal that isn't derisory even if we have no chance of getting anywhere near English or French deals. The English are getting around £2M per club more than the Pro12 clubs. Pays for a lot of players eh?

That's my reading of the Treadwell signing. He could however be better than some of current incumbents.

[Dave]

Diack is officially too saft.

[scrum5]

Agree, If we had all our locks fit, I would have Pete Browne on the bench ahead of Diack

[Dave]

Agree, If we had all our locks fit, I would have Pete Browne on the bench ahead of Diack

If all locks were fit then probably neither would make the bench.

[kingofthehill]

Ulster had talks with irfu on Friday regarding medical replacement for Marcell - not sure it went well.

[Snipe Watson]

Front row - we are light
Back row - we are light
Second row - we are OK as long as we don't ship any injuries, which is a long shot.
If these problems aren't addressed we will end up in the same position again. If we don't find a way to stabilise our set piece* and dominate the breakdown in big games, Charles Piutau will be a wasted signing.
* the stats say we have the best lineout in the league. The rest must be bad. We win a lot of lineouts with untidy ball.

ps I watched the Westies game on Saturday. They played like their lives depended on it. When did we last do that?

[rorybestsbigbaldnoggin]

Ulster had talks with irfu on Friday regarding medical replacement for Marcell - not sure it went well.

They only had talks on fúcking Friday.

Fúck this shít.

[ruckover]

Loosehead prop: Callum Black, Kyle McCall, Andrew Warwick
This is the area I think we have the most promise in going forward because we have two excellent young prospects in McCall and Warwick with Black an excellent option as a squad member in case of injury. The time has come for us to hedge our bets on KM and AW and leave CB as their back-up - Snipe mentioned some rotation between KM and AW which I would very much welcome because in my opinion KM's overall game has declined since he stopped getting regular game time. Those two have the opportunity to become a fantastic loosehead pairing, CB has proven he has reached his peak and is decent at best. It may cost us a little in the short-term but long-term going with KM and AW now may be extremely beneficial. If Paddy McAllister could be coaxed home it would make our depth at loosehead incredible.

Hooker: John Andrew, Rory Best, Rob Herring
Short-term no cause for concern, Rory and Rob are a more than capable duo so not much more to say there to be honest. I think Andrew showed a little bit of promise in his couple of starts, if not anything spectacular, and should be in a dogfight with Adam McBurney for RH's back-up when RB retires in a couple of seasons. I would imagine if AMcB lives up to his reported potential then JA may be destined to be a third choice for his entire career.

Tight-head prop: Rodney Ah You, Wiehahn Herbst, Ricky Lutton
Ooh boy, a few question marks here. Herbst has suffered a bit from second season syndrome and looks a bit of a liability at scrum time even if his work around the park is impressive enough. Whether he can get his scrummaging back to form or not will determine if he should be stuck with going forward. Lutton tends to be able to hold his own in the scrum but lacks presence around the park - he's probably on par with Callum Black as a very good Pro12 option but no more than that. Ah You has two massive question marks on his head - his fitness and his scrummaging. If both can be sorted he will be a phenomenal asset, especially as a ball carrying threat, but if neither can be sorted then he is a waste of a signing. An area of concern the longer the question marks persist. Go on the assumption RAY will be WH's back-up but pre-season will determine if that comes to pass.

Locks: Pete Browne, Alan O'Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Dan Tuohy, Franco van der Merwe
Another area with a few question marks but not as many as at tighthead. Alan O'Connor is an excellent prospect if we continue to give him regular game time while Franco is Mr. Reliable as his partner there. If Dan Tuohy can return to form then he'll challenge AOC for the starting spot but there's a big if over that because before his injury he looked like he really couldn't be bothered. Pete Browne is another who has established himself as Pro12 standard and I am no longer afraid seeing him in a line-up (although preferably not for high-profile games). I don't know where all this love for Kieran Treadwell is coming from, like Dave all I see is a lock who has featured sparingly in Challenge Cup games for Harlequins and the only time I've seen him live he looked rather laboured around the pitch - I am very much hoping he's going to prove me wrong. But going forward AOC and FvdM should be our starters with DT trying to force his way into the team. If we are building for the future KT should be ahead of PB in the pecking order too.

Back row: Marcell Coetzee, Robbie Diack, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Sean Reidy, Clive Ross, Roger Wilson
I think we've made definite steps to show we're going to a breakdown-based team as opposed to a big ball carrying team. In that vein Henry and Coetzee (when he returns) will form an excellent jackalling team from 7 and 8 respectively with Reidy establishing himself as a strong back-up to both of them so far this season. Henderson will, without a doubt, be our starting blindside flanker. Our top four back row options are excellent but beyond that we are really struggling for depth as Wilson can only provide a (limited) amount of punch for 20 minutes at most while Robbie Diack has the strength of a puppy and Clive Ross is simply a limited player. We have to be introducing some young talent in the back row this season in the forms of Lorcan Dow and Nick Timoney, preferably on a regular basis too. Area of concern though, real area of concern.

[ruckover]

Ulster had talks with irfu on Friday regarding medical replacement for Marcell - not sure it went well.

They only had talks on fúcking Friday.

Fúck this shít.

They've had talks before, starting pretty much as soon as Coetzee was injured. These were just follow up talks.

[scrum5]

Kiss said at the AGM that the IRFU weren't playing ball on a medical joker

[Dave]

Hope this is because they know something we don't.