AP Players to watch 2013/14

It's been a slow few days, so I thought I would start a 'new' topic.  The season starts a week on Friday, which players are you are looking forward to seeing play?  Which players have a chance to play themselves into international contention?

Try to choose:

• One new signing.
  

• One youngster who has come through the academy
  

• One club man you think has/ will improve.
  

(They don't all have to be from the club you support)

Ed Jackson (New signing) for Wasps. Billy Vunipola leaves a big gap (in every sense) to fill, but I think Jackson and Ashley Johnson are very good options. I regularly watched Jackson play for Bath United a few years ago and was surprised when they let him go. However, when he left Bath he quietly developed his game in the Championship for Doncaster and caught London Welsh’s eye. From there he put in eye catching performances for the Exile which attracted Dai Young’s attention. If he can force his way into the Wasps’ first team he could be in line for a Saxons call up. He 6ft 3in, 17st plus, a very good ball carrier and still only 24/25, could provide some much needed competition in the future.

For Quins:
New signing - Nick Kennedy. Probably too old for England contention, but I'm looking forward to what he can bring to the Quins lineout

Academy lad - I could name most of the squad here, but to pick on a name that most people won't know: Will Collier. TH prop, academy graduate, big shoes to fill now that James Johnston has left, strong competition from PDJ, has gone well in pre-season.

Club man - Cheating a little, but on pre-season form Luke Wallace has looked like this could be the year he gets properly onto the international radar. Don't expect CR to give up the 7 shirt easily, though. Honourable mentions for Tom Casson, Tom Guest and Ben Botica, all of whom are likely to play bigger roles this year.

For Tigers:

New Signing - OK not one, but at half back David Mele and Owen Williams will be back up to Youngs/Flood. However with the need to rotate players and England calls I expect bot to be very influential.

Youngster - Fraser Balmain. Made a few starts last year, but I really think he will kick on this season. Only question is he a Loose or a Tight.

Club Man - While Matt Smith is the archetypal club man, having grown up watching his dad skipper the club, I will go with Anthony Allen. Yes he started at Gloucester, but this will be his 5th season with us and each year he improves.



Other Teams:

Signing - While George North may be the highest profile signing of the summer, I reckon his new team mate Kahn Fotuali'i will be immense for Saints.

Youngster - despite winning JWC, I felt last seasons England squad were a bit average. Jack Clifford was head and shoulders above his contempories and really should have won the player of the year award. I really hope he gets a chance with Quins this season - BillyV has show what tyro no8s can achieve.

Clubman - ok no longer in international consideration, but Mark Cueto is the archetypal club man. Only ever played for Sale and current record try scorer in the premiership (though should be overtaken by Varndell this season). Saying that Tom Varndell could well play himself back into international consideration.

Signing - we've made plenty, but Garvey will probably make the biggest impact, toughening up the pack. Much of our season will hinge on the half backs gelling, we've signed 4 new players here, there's no obvious hierarchy or combo so it might change a bit.

Youngster - I think everyone knows all about Eastmond by now, so I'll plump for Ollie Devoto. A very tall fly half, who has slotted in for us at 12 and 15, played well for the U20s.

Clubman - I expect now Webber has had a full pre season and a good summer tour that he will make a big impact. With Mears gone, the shirt is his to claim and as a natural leader, I think he will be key this seaosn.

Poorfour, Interesting you mentioned Collier...what about Sinkler?

GeordieFalcon wrote:Poorfour, Interesting you mentioned Collier...what about Sinkler?

Sinckler is dual registered with Ealing, as are several other Quins youngsters.

For Glaws:

New Signing: Whilst Hudson should hopefully fill the void left by Alex Brown, the only choice for this has to be Matt Kvesic. He's going to have a tough task ousting Qera and Hazell, but I firmly believe his style of play will perfectly fit the overall team and both his own development and the success of the team will imporve as a result.

Youngster: Steph Reynolds has obviously been getting the plaudits for the 7s, but he'll find it difficult to get game time ahead of the plethora of quality wings we have.  This is the year I am expecting Ryan Mills to come to the fore.  He is being seen now as a 12, his preffered position and with 36 more than likely to be away with England at various stages, he should hopefully get some decent game time.

Clubman: Nick Wood had a quiet season last year by his standards, but with the new scrummaging laws I am expecting him to show his worth once more.


Elsewhere I'd go with:
New Signing: There are all the obvious big name signings, but I feel Jonathan Mills will give Sale the grit and work ethic their pack needs.
Youngster: This year must see Cowan-Dickie get some game time with Chiefs.  Will he be a prop or a hooker and will he fulfill his potential or be shown up?
Clubman: Not really fair to call him a club man, but Dean Mumm was an inspired acquisition by Chiefs and with a full pre-season under his belt and with the captaincy in tow, I feel this could be a very big year from him.

Bathite wrote:Signing - we've made plenty, but Garvey will probably make the biggest impact, toughening up the pack. Much of our season will hinge on the half backs gelling, we've signed 4 new players here, there's no obvious hierarchy or combo so it might change a bit.

Youngster - I think everyone knows all about Eastmond by now, so I'll plump for Ollie Devoto. A very tall fly half, who has slotted in for us at 12 and 15, played well for the U20s.

Clubman - I expect now Webber has had a full pre season and a good summer tour that he will make a big impact. With Mears gone, the shirt is his to claim and as a natural leader, I think he will be key this seaosn.

Agree with Garvey, the next two categories are a problem as Bath are the worst team in the preimership for bringing through academy talent, therefore no academy players will generally get game time and therefore we dont have many bath one clubmen. That said my shout for academy guys would be nathan catt who has masses and masses of potential, hes not really that young anymore and has had limited game time, but if given a chance this season i believe he could be as good as corbs. For the clubman i suppose Tom Heathcote, with gavin henson and george ford breathing down his neck the pressure is on but he will be getting regular international experience so has the chance to fully kick on and make the shirt his own.

One player who you lot over the bridge should look out for this coming season is Owen Williams who signed for Leicester from the Scarlets. This kid is absolutely electric, he has a sidestep to die for and is like grease lightning, his kicking at goal is pretty accurate as well, Toby Flood will have to watch his back with this boy or he could find himself surplus to requirements.

I'm not a huge Flood fan, but the guys a proven international and Club captain. I expect that Williams will be battling it out with Lamb for the back up 10 shirt

Bathite wrote:I'm not a huge Flood fan, but the guys a proven international and Club captain. I expect that Williams will be battling it out with Lamb for the back up 10 shirt

Owen Williams is twice the player Lamb is, even at his tender age, trust me whan I say this, Leicester have a gem of a player on their hands there, and he is not the type of person to be happy with playing second or third fiddle, this is why he probably left the Scarlets in the first place, because Rhys Preisltland was always starting.

For Sarries:

New Signing: James Johnston - the scrum is an area where Saracens haven't really been that successful at. Certainly when compared to the lineout and the breakdown for example. Johnston has the potential to turn the Saracens scrum into a weapon. Of course much will hinge on how well he takes to the new rulings in the scrum.

Youngster: Jamie George- has not been getting the game time he would have wanted in the last two seasons but with John Smit leaving and Brits looking to be banned for the first 3 games - a real opportunity has emerged. Also he will be supported by a very strong lineout.

Clubman - George Kruis - made a lot of progress last season which put him on the fringes of England selection. I think he will carry on to improve. He has more potential in the lineout than a lot of his rivals and when you add his athleticism and power he could be a great 2nd row for England if he continues the way he has.


Other clubs:

New Signing: Matt Mullan - has a real opportunity to shine in one of the weaker front rows in the AP. Probably going to struggle for England contention but could be influential for Wasps.

Youngster: Anthony Watson (okay I know he's not a Bath academy boy but he is a youngster). Only 19. Has a real opportunity to shine for Bath at either wing or full back.

Club man: Jamie Elliott - went pretty much under the radar last season despite scoring 9 tries in the regular season. Still very young - plenty of potential there.

beshocked wrote:For Sarries:

New Signing: James Johnston - the scrum is an area where Saracens haven't really been that successful at. Certainly when compared to the lineout and the breakdown for example. Johnston has the potential to turn the Saracens scrum into a weapon. Of course much will hinge on how well he takes to the new rulings in the scrum.

Youngster: Jamie George- has not been getting the game time he would have wanted in the last two seasons but with John Smit leaving and Brits looking to be banned for the first 3 games - a real opportunity has emerged. Also he will be supported by a very strong lineout.

Clubman - George Kruis - made a lot of progress last season which put him on the fringes of England selection.  I think he will carry on to improve. He has more potential in the lineout than a lot of his rivals and when you add his athleticism and power he could be a great 2nd row for England if he continues the way he has.


Other clubs:

New Signing: Matt Mullan - has a real opportunity to shine in one of the weaker front rows in the AP. Probably going to struggle for England contention but could be influential for Wasps.

Youngster: Anthony Watson (okay I know he's not a Bath academy boy but he is a youngster). Only 19. Has a real opportunity to shine for Bath at either wing or full back.

Club man: Jamie Elliott - went pretty much under the radar last season despite scoring 9 tries in the regular season.  Still very young - plenty of potential there.

My view of Johnston is that he has been all about the hit, and could well struggle with the new interpretations.

For London Irish it's a tough one to pick a 'new signing' as we've not brought any stars in, so I am going to cheat a bit and go for Setaimata Sa.  Although technically signed last summer has only played 10 minutes as a replacement for us, so I reckon I can get away with calling him new. For two years now we've had a massive Seilala Mapusua shaped hole in our midfield, and I reckon he could be the guy to fill it.

Youngster: Tom Fowlie.  This kid looks as if he could be special. A current England U18 international he's moved up from the AASE scheme to the senior academy this year.  Has pace, power and good hands and I expect him to get some gametime, certainly in the LV and Amlin Cup this season, either on the wing or at outside centre.

Clubman:  Declan Danaher.  This is likely to be his final year from what I understand, and I reckon he will want to go out with a bang if it is.

HongKongCherry wrote:For Glaws:

New Signing: Whilst Hudson should hopefully fill the void left by Alex Brown, the only choice for this has to be Matt Kvesic. He's going to have a tough task ousting Qera and Hazell, but I firmly believe his style of play will perfectly fit the overall team and both his own development and the success of the team will imporve as a result.

Youngster: Steph Reynolds has obviously been getting the plaudits for the 7s, but he'll find it difficult to get game time ahead of the plethora of quality wings we have.  This is the year I am expecting Ryan Mills to come to the fore.  He is being seen now as a 12, his preffered position and with 36 more than likely to be away with England at various stages, he should hopefully get some decent game time.

Clubman: Nick Wood had a quiet season last year by his standards, but with the new scrummaging laws I am expecting him to show his worth once more.


Elsewhere I'd go with:
New Signing: There are all the obvious big name signings, but I feel Jonathan Mills will give Sale the grit and work ethic their pack needs.
Youngster: This year must see Cowan-Dickie get some game time with Chiefs.  Will he be a prop or a hooker and will he fulfill his potential or be shown up?
Clubman: Not really fair to call him a club man, but Dean Mumm was an inspired acquisition by Chiefs and with a full pre-season under his belt and with the captaincy in tow, I feel this could be a very big year from him.

HKC, Unfortunately LC-D twisted his knee quite badly in the demolition of Brizzle on Saturday, so may be out for a few weeks/couple of months depending on the diagnosis. He has cemented his move to hooker tho, and won't be appearing as a prop again any time soon

Hope you're right about Mummy too

Lordy, time out for LCD

I'll have a crack at Falcons....

New signing - Has to be Blair. We've not had a good 9 in a long time now and I think our back play has hindered a little bit for it. Blair is a top class operator and will add to our experienced axis of Lawson & Hogg. Lawson will help sort out our shocking lineout and I'm hoping Godman will be the steady 10 we need to stay up.

Youngster - Kirbridge. This young lad has masses of gas and has impressed at all levels. With our wings not top class I'm hoping he might come through in his first pro year.

Club man - Probably Hogg who was outstanding last year and looks to really have recaptured some of his previous Int form. He has a bit of everything and really drives us on.

Lord Dowais, Williams would have fancied his chances more at Tigers with Flood away for a third of the season with England and the only other competition being Lamb (interesting to notice Lamb moved to 15 to accommodate the pair of them vs Jersey). The Scarlets have Priestland ahead of him already and then signed Shingler whose versatility would have nicked the bench spot.

He's getting good reviews in preseason so far.

A youngster to watch out for would be Balmain or Purdy, they are the obvious ones at Tigers but I think if el Mahdi can get a go he'll shine.

New signings wise Bristow looked pretty good against Mas in the scrum against Montpellier, could be a very clever bit of business once the Tigers machine has finished tweaking his skill set.

Hound of Harrow wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Poorfour, Interesting you mentioned Collier...what about Sinkler?

Sinckler is dual registered with Ealing, as are several other Quins youngsters.

Long term, Sinckler has huge potential, but he is a couple of years younger than Collier and Quins' coaches clearly still see him as one for the future. Collier has emerged quietly - with only a few solid appearances last year - but seems to have done better than PDJ in the pre-season matches. Not a cert by any means, but a potential dark horse.

Owen Williams at Leceister is certainly someone to look out for. He's someone a lot of fans are very, very upset about leaving Wales, me for one. He has all the ability to be a running 10 but his kicking game and decision making are excellant for his age. He has the potential to be electric and I'd imagine it won't take him long to jump ahead of Lamb in the queue and with Flood away regularly I think you'll be seeing him quite a bit!

I'm interested to see what happens at Sarries between Gill and Mako for the 1 shirt. Beshocked, any ideas of what you'd expect to happen there? (and any other sarries fans of course!)

Exeter will have a beast of a 2nd row unit next year, that'll be worth watching alone.

Dont Exeter have a young lad at second row whos 6'11 and 21 st or something silly... 

Well to be fair if your a Welsh fan...at least you know Williams is at a top club and will most definately improve and progress...

Carrick-Smith I think that is GF.

I caught him a few times last season in the LV and he looked something special, very much in the Bekker type mould. If he can add a bit of power to his frame he'll be a very good player.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Dont Exeter have a young lad at second row whos 6'11 and 21 st or something silly... 

Well to be fair if your a Welsh fan...at least you know Williams is at a top club and will most definately improve and progress...

Yeah, to be fair I cant think of many better places to go!

And yeah, Exeter have a huge young lad coming through (the name escapes me), Dean Mumm of course and they're latest signing Romana Graham (formerly of the Chiefs).

Comfort wrote:Owen Williams at Leceister is certainly someone to look out for. He's someone a lot of fans are very, very upset about leaving Wales, me for one. He has all the ability to be a running 10 but his kicking game and decision making are excellant for his age. He has the potential to be electric and I'd imagine it won't take him long to jump ahead of Lamb in the queue and with Flood away regularly I think you'll be seeing him quite a bit!

I'm interested to see what happens at Sarries between Gill and Mako for the 1 shirt. Beshocked, any ideas of what you'd expect to happen there? (and any other sarries fans of course!)

Exeter will have a beast of a 2nd row unit next year, that'll be worth watching alone.

Comfort Mako won the battle last season. I think he will be 1st choice again.

Gill could well start the first game of the season though due to Mako being given a rest.

If Gill can put in some good form he could make it interesting but Mako last season established himself as the first choice loosehead at Sarries.

His all round game is seen as far greater than Gill. Also Mako's scrummaging is improving all the time.

Gill started 4 of Saracens HC matches. I think he'll be given matches again.

Last season if Gill didn't start then Mako did. If Gill started, Mako was on the bench.

By the way how did Gill do in Japan?

I suppose it's also dependent how each player reacts to the new scrum laws. This could potentially favour Gill.

Yep, Will Carrick-Smith as the Sgt indicated - and he does indeed need to add a little power to that frame and he'll be a considerable player. He spent the summer down in Australia playing for one of their sides

For Saints-

New Signing
Corbisiero & North may have been grabbing the headlines for the Lions but I agree with LT that Fotuali'i could end up being the most influential. If he can get the backs going then with Foden returning to form at the back end of last season along with North & Elliott then I'm optimistic for the new season. Here's hoping all the new signings (including Alex King) bed in quickly.

Youngster
If he can stay fit then really looking forward to Heywood getting a run of games at the start of the season. Bags of potential and had started to cut out some of penalties last season. Honourable mention to Elliott (hopefully continue on his upward curve from last season) and hopefully Nutley will see some more game time, although he is behind Wood, Clark, Dowson and probably Manoa & Lawes for a flanker berth in JM's eyes. Is rated by the Saints managment though, was captain of the Wanderers last season although still pretty young. Another one I hope to see get a chance is young English centre Tom Stephenson. Looks a great prospect but will start the season behind Burrell, Waldouck, Pisi (G) & Wilson (and maybe even North).

Established Player
Not sure if improved is the correct term but would describe Christian Day as under-rated. Isn't particularly eye catching but the Saints always look a better team when he's playing. Can be injury prone but is certainly first choice when fit. Before being closed down some on the official Saints forum were putting him forward as a potential captain after Hartley's stupidity and the fact that Wood is often away with England and has to be managed/rested  due to his foot condition. I hate mentioning my next choice because most on here despise him but Callum Clark is often critical to Saints playing well. An old school 6 but very under-rated by many on here.

Other Teams
New Signing - Kvesic (Gloucester)
Youngster - Matthews (2nd row at Quins)
Established - Robshaw (Quins) - think he will remind some people very quickly of just how good a player he really is.

Quins:

New signing: Kennedy. Will help our line out no end and has worked on his game in the loose and tight recently. Another leader in the Quins pack and with experience winning in Europe that we really need.

Youngster: Charlie Matthews. With Brown expected to be away with Eng a bit, at least as a squad player, Chis and OLH injured and new injury cover Sackey and Ugo getting on now, Matthews must surely have a shot at playing bench cover for the back 3 at least, especially if we campaign on 3 fronts. He has pace to burn as those who watched the sevens will know, a great step and looked solid at 15 in preseason and has played wing and 13 and could eventually press for England duties IMO

Club man: Casson. Has been unlucky with injuries but was pressing JTH as first choice 12 last season by the end and offers a fair bit more.

I thought Charlie Matthews was a lock? Do you mean Charlie Walker? He seems to have been threatening to burst onto the scene for a while now.

The young gun I'm looking forward to seeing is Anthony Watson at Bath, he could be a magical 15 for England in the future.

I meant Walker. I keep doing that

One of O'Sheas new tactics will be to play locks at 15 to win the aerial battle and full backs at lock to add pace. It is revolutionary.

For Quins:

New signing- PDJ had a pretty poor time at Saints but looked full of potential at Glos. Hopefully Kingston will get the best from him.

youngster- Ben Botica will hopefully continue his improvement and keep showing those snippets of superb play alongside faultless kicking.

Clubman- Nick Easter and Big Mo to have one last hooray as they both begin to get on? I hope so. They can both only have another season or maybe two left in them and Nick in particular is the embodiment of Quins spirit.

For other clubs I'm pretty interested to see how Chris York goes at Falcons.

Oh and two more clubmen from Quins. Care and Brown will both have big points to prove this season after how last panned out. Brown will need to fight off the likes of Foden, Goode and May etc while Care will have his sights set on Youngs.

Falcons - Alternative to Sarges up above

New Signing - Doesnt take a rocket scientist to work this one out - Mike Blair.

Youngster - We really have so many coming through at the moment we are in a great position...and i agree with Sarge - Kibirige could be a real gem...but im gonna stick with Scotty Wilson. The young Prop looks the real deal. He got plenty of games last season and we'll see how he goes against the prems big boys...and being compared to Carl Hayman is a huge compliment. If he can make that level...WOW.

Clubman - The obvious ones are Hogg etc...but im picking Oliver Tomaschyk. A club favorite already...his lumbering unfit waddle from scrum to scrum and breakdown is a joy to behold. He has however proved a formidable TH and been a huge part of our pack.... The problem was his fitness...but by all accounts he has been hammered in preseason...and in the recent friendly v Cannacht looked a huge deal fitter. That could be a real plus for us. Then his competition with young Scott could be a classic.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Falcons - Alternative to Sarges up above

New Signing - Doesnt take a rocket scientist to work this one out - Mike Blair.

Youngster - We really have so many coming through at the moment we are in a great position...and i agree with Sarge - Kibirige could be a real gem...but im gonna stick with Scotty Wilson. The young Prop looks the real deal. He got plenty of games last season and we'll see how he goes against the prems big boys...and being compared to Carl Hayman is a huge compliment. If he can make that level...WOW.

Clubman - The obvious ones are Hogg etc...but im picking Oliver Tomaschyk. A club favorite already...his lumbering unfit waddle from scrum to scrum and breakdown is a joy to behold. He has however proved a formidable TH and been a huge part of our pack.... The problem was his fitness...but by all accounts he has been hammered in preseason...and in the recent friendly v Cannacht looked a huge deal fitter. That could be a real plus for us. Then his competition with young Scott could be a classic.  

I'll be interested to see how he goes in the Jeff. I was underwhelmed by his performances for Wuss, but it does sound like he has improved since those days.

Yeah he's been worked on hard HK...
Last season i cant remember many times he was beaten...and he was very unfit. Our scrum for the most part looked very strong. Be interesting to see just how fit they have got him...simply getting fitter had huge positive implications on Adam Jones game.

It'll be interesting to see how it fairs in the Prem. I think we'll do ok...

HongKongCherry wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Falcons - Alternative to Sarges up above

New Signing - Doesnt take a rocket scientist to work this one out - Mike Blair.

Youngster - We really have so many coming through at the moment we are in a great position...and i agree with Sarge - Kibirige could be a real gem...but im gonna stick with Scotty Wilson. The young Prop looks the real deal. He got plenty of games last season and we'll see how he goes against the prems big boys...and being compared to Carl Hayman is a huge compliment. If he can make that level...WOW.

Clubman - The obvious ones are Hogg etc...but im picking Oliver Tomaschyk. A club favorite already...his lumbering unfit waddle from scrum to scrum and breakdown is a joy to behold. He has however proved a formidable TH and been a huge part of our pack.... The problem was his fitness...but by all accounts he has been hammered in preseason...and in the recent friendly v Cannacht looked a huge deal fitter. That could be a real plus for us. Then his competition with young Scott could be a classic.  

I'll be interested to see how he goes in the Jeff.  I was underwhelmed by his performances for Wuss, but it does sound like he has improved since those days.

To be fair he's never going to be a Castro or Tiny, but there's something about amateur looking players running out at the top level which is just so, right. Like Budgen or Easter it helps give teams a bit of character.

To be fair he's never going to be a Castro or Tiny,

Thats cos Tiny is a LH  . No he's not in their league (though id say both arent quite the players they were) but he can be a good solid premier league prop if things go right and will give us a chance to bring through young Scott, who many of us think could seriously hit the next level....

GeordieFalcon wrote:Yeah he's been worked on hard HK...
Last season i cant remember many times he was beaten...and he was very unfit. Our scrum for the most part looked very strong. Be interesting to see just how fit they have got him...simply getting fitter had huge positive implications on Adam Jones game.

It'll be interesting to see how it fairs in the Prem. I think we'll do ok...

With Richards at the helm you wouldn't expect anything less! Your front 5 does look like it will have some power, perhaps we took the wrong lock?!

Hudson will do you good i have no doubt......but he was not quite right for us anymore.

We now have Del Fava and McKensie...that's some serious power with Macleod (player of the season last season but around 35 now) a nice back up and U20 World Cup Winner Dom Barrow from Leeds also just arrived.

McKensie is another of Richards type at the moment. A guy with loads of potential who hasnt reached it and is getting a final chance to do so. Same as Saul, Cato, Powell, Clegg. It will either work out well and these player will fulfill their potential...or backfire horribly.

HKC, I'm really unsure how Hudson will do for you. He's a massive drop from Hamilton. I wasn't overly impressed with him in the championship and he finished as 3rd choice.

I was trying to be nice Sgt...but alas your right...he's not the player he was...

Hudson had a poor last season? That's a shame, when he was playing 2 seasons ago I thought he really made a difference when he came on - the team seemed to gel a bit better and had a bit more grunt! Sadly they were still relegated, and I always thought that had something to do with Hudson missing most of the season through injury.

For Quins -
•One new signing - not much to choose from here! Perhaps Kennedy will have the biggest impact of all the new players.
•One youngster who has come through the academy - After the 7's many will be backing Charlie Walker, and with injury to other back 3's he may get some senior starts, not just LV cup.
•One club man you think has/ will improve - Rob Buchannan was looking good last season in his position share with Grey. Hopefully improved on his line out (will be helped by Kennedy coming in) - work in the loose was excellent, like a little pocket battleship.


For the rest of the AP -
New singing - J.Joseph at Bath - hopefully he can find some of his form again, would hate for him to be that nearly man. Would love to see the Eastmond-Joseph combination at centre.
Academy youngster - I only really know Quins academy - Jack Clifford was immense for U20s - not sure how much game time he will get in Quins senior side though as there are still plenty of options there.
Clubman - Marlan Yarde of LI - if he continues to improve then he will be overtaking Ashton for that Wing berth. Hopefully Exiles will give him enough space to score try's but they may struggle with so many players leaving this season.

propdavid_london wrote:Hudson had a poor last season?  That's a shame, when he was playing 2 seasons ago I thought he really made a difference when he came on - the team seemed to gel a bit better and had a bit more grunt!  Sadly they were still relegated, and I always thought that had something to do with Hudson missing most of the season through injury.

For Quins -
•One new signing - not much to choose from here! Perhaps Kennedy will have the biggest impact of all the new players.  
•One youngster who has come through the academy - After the 7's many will be backing Charlie Walker, and with injury to other back 3's he may get some senior starts, not just LV cup.
•One club man you think has/ will improve - Rob Buchannan was looking good last season in his position share with Grey.  Hopefully improved on his line out (will be helped by Kennedy coming in) - work in the loose was excellent, like a little pocket battleship.  


For the rest of the AP -
New singing - J.Joseph at Bath - hopefully he can find some of his form again, would hate for him to be that nearly man.  Would love to see the Eastmond-Joseph combination at centre.
Academy youngster - I only really know Quins academy - Jack Clifford was immense for U20s - not sure how much game time he will get in Quins senior side though as there are still plenty of options there.
Clubman - Marlan Yarde of LI - if he continues to improve then he will be overtaking Ashton for that Wing berth.  Hopefully Exiles will give him enough space to score try's but they may struggle with so many players leaving this season.

Morning PropDave

Agree with most of that but Yarde is a left wing & I think most people would like to see Wade on the right wing ahead of Ashton. Personally, as a biased Wasps supporter, I think Varndell could also be in with a shout on the left. We certainly need to inject some gas into our back 3 for sure.

Kyle Eastmond

Morning Trev,
Fair point - would be happy for Wade to get more opportunities. But cant agree with Varndell! I'm sure he has changed his attitude but I am still yet to see it. Right back to his appearances for the Saxons he just looks like he doesn't care!
And as Scrumpy indicates, there are other more versatile players that can cover wing (even if its not what we as fans want to see). Eastmond-Foden-Brown-Tuilagi etc.

SL will likely pick 1 or 2 specialist wings in his squads, with others to cover.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:HKC, I'm really unsure how Hudson will do for you. He's a massive drop from Hamilton. I wasn't overly impressed with him in the championship and he finished as 3rd choice.

I think he'll improve our lineout, but our scrum will be even more lightweight as a result. I think he'll do a job, but he's not the answer for us long term there. With the number of players out of contract at the end of this coming season, I am expecting our front 5 to be addressed as the priority...

Varndell has no chance to play for England. The bloke cant tackle. Great finisher but you need more than that at int. level. also he wouldnt get the run ins he does in the AP at int. level.

For Irish...

new signing - Blair Cowan - Worc fans raved about him last year and were gutted to see him go so will be interesting to see how he goes for us.
youngster - Guy Armitage - played a lot last season and was 1st choice ahead of Joseph but will be an even more vital player this season.
clubman - John Fisher - seems to of been around for ages but still quite young. was a saxon back in the day and would be good to see him get back to that. has a lot of potential.

What's going on with Joseph stnick? Is/was he injured badly or does he just need to get his head right.
Was his confidence knocked a bit from the international setup?

He was doing really well, I still remember that gliding individual try he scored against Quins at the Stoop.
He did well against the Saffers when England toured and then just seemed to retrograde from that point onwards!

Now possibly behind 36 and even Eastmond in the pecking order for England.

not sure mate but he had a stinking attitude last season at irish.

he comes accross so arrogant.

How good has Joseph actually been?

Was that highlight it...or did he play well for the season.

He's arguably behind...Eastmond, Tomkins and Tuilagi for the 13 spot....and you could make arugements for Lowe being ahead aswell....even Banahan.

A good season withan impressive looking Bath outfit and he could be right back up there again. Of course he'll have to get in that team ahead of Banahan and Eastmond...