Aviva Premiership Squad Sizes

Does this tell us anything we did not already know?

Probably not, but having done the research I am not letting it be in waste

Club	Starts	Bench Only	Total
Bath	36	10	46
Exeter	36	4	40
Gloucester	34	6	40
Harlequins	31	7	38
Leicester	37	7	44
London Irish	29	15	44
London Wasps	31	10	41
London Welsh	39	6	45
Northampton	30	5	35
Sale	36	3	39
Saracens	38	7	45
Worcester	29	9	38
Total	406	89	495

Starts = Number of players who have started at least 1 match in the AP
Bench Only = Number of players who have warmed the bench, but have not started a game this season.



Interesting, and perhaps symptomatic of their struggles on and off the pitch, London Welsh have had the biggest number of different players starting matches.
Also interesting is just how many players have warmed the London Irish bench without starting any premiership matches this season.
No surprise to see that (excluding LW) Saracens and Leicester have started the most players - especially considering they have been biggest hit by International call-ups.
Jim Mallinder keeps telling us he has a small squad - this would seem to back that up. This of course again raises the spectre of surreptitious cap breaking.

Mallinder tells us he has a small squad and then goes and spends £250k on buying out Norths contract which could have been spent strengthening the squad...

I suppose with those stats you could argue that it shows who has the most squad rotation, or alternatively who has had the worst injury problems.
The figures are also a little misleading in terms of squad size because for example Bath's figures will include Barkley and Mears who have now left, as well as the 4 players which have joined midseason.

Agreed it can be very misleading.

What surprised me was the number of players who have been on the bench but not started a game.

Would that be linked to set strategies - the use of 'impact' players - or regular start/sub prop combinations?

I am assuming the bench players may have come on to the pitch at some point, just not starting

LondonTiger wrote:Agreed it can be very misleading.

What surprised me was the number of players who have been on the bench but not started a game.

But that could be during internationals when 3rd (or 4th) choice players come in to cover the bench for a few games. Unlikely to start at all but getting a bit of game time.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Mallinder tells us he has a small squad and then goes and spends £250k on buying out Norths contract which could have been spent strengthening the squad...

Saints were already maxed out on the salary cap (non marquee) so whatever it cost to buy out North's contract couldn't have been used to strengthen the squad anyway. It could have been put towards the marquee signing but I think that is limited to the 300k which they spent on North's wages anyway.

I think Saints haven't found the right squad balance yet. In 2010 when they made it to the HK final the squad was too small and they won nothing, with players such as Tiny, Hartley & Mujarti's form seriously suffering due sheer minutes played. JM reacted to that by signing more quantity over quality for the next 2 years to strengthen the squad but then doesn't seem to have the confidence to play them anyway. He also doesn't seem to trust the younger players to step up much either unless injuries force his hand unlike other teams.

had a higher number of starters than I expected for some reason.

Interesting read mind, thanks LT

No surprise to see we have a relatively small squad

B91212 wrote:

Bathman_in_London wrote:Mallinder tells us he has a small squad and then goes and spends £250k on buying out Norths contract which could have been spent strengthening the squad...

Saints were already maxed out on the salary cap (non marquee) so whatever it cost to buy out North's contract couldn't have been used to strengthen the squad anyway. It could have been put towards the marquee signing but I think that is limited to the 300k which they spent on North's wages anyway.

I think Saints haven't found the right squad balance yet. In 2010 when they made it to the HK final the squad was too small and they won nothing, with players such as Tiny, Hartley & Mujarti's form seriously suffering due sheer minutes played. JM reacted to that by signing more quantity over quality for the next 2 years to strengthen the squad but then doesn't seem to have the confidence to play them anyway. He also doesn't seem to trust the younger players to step up much either unless injuries force his hand unlike other teams.

had a higher number of starters than I expected for some reason.
Interesting read mind, thanks LT

Exeter had a number of multiple injuries throughout the season that bit deep into the squad (e.g. 4 starting hookers, 7 blindsides). There's been a bit of rotation in the locks and centres, but most changes have been due to injury or form with only 5 internationals* missing during AI's or 6N's.

*Votu was with Fiji during AI's but only joined Chiefs after Xmas due to prolonged visa problems, had 2 LV games and 1 AP game and is promptly off to pastures nouveaux.

Looking at that you can see why Quins are struggling at the tail end of the season compared to the teams with much bigger squads who are really hitting their straps now.

We've had to play our front five all season almost without a break so it's little wonder they're looking fatigued now.

Hmmm.
Raw statistics are relatively meaningless when taken at face value as the govt found when trying to close the paediatric heart unit in Leeds.

Surely injuries, suspensions and international call-ups would have to be adjusted for when considering Jeff squads.

[ed] Plus net player transfer effect