Tigers Summer Plans

Now the dust has settled on a rather enthralling and very physical game the Tigers management will be looking forward to a slight lull as the LV and 6N looms. This will be the time they will be looking to settle the contracts and finish constructing the majority of the squad for next season. So what do we need?

Now, losing to Ulster narrowly last night isn't a concern as such but it does highlight some deficiencies in our squad. Number one issue for me is the lack of powerful ball carriers, we are far to reliant on Tom Youngs, Slater, Crane/Waldrom and Manu to make the big powerful carriers. The second issue concerns the replacement props where Schuster has proved to be incompetent, Stankovitch is aging and increasingly off the pace in the loose and Balmain lacks the scrummaging skills to.contest with the big sides such as Ulster.

For me we need to:

A) ditch Schuster, when an experienced and internationally capped prop cannot take a place on the bench ahead of a 21 year old prospect he clearly isn't up to it. We cannot merely pound opposition into submission with our tight five but equally we cannot afford passengers there either. Our scouts in the Pacific Islands and in France have previously done well so I would hope they could find us a better option than Schuster. Stankovitch should probably be thanked but released as well with Bristow given his place as we need to develop a younger option there.

B) Waldrom is off and is set to be replaced by a real unit from Rotherham and Matera will play a bigger part next season as well. Which should help our power options and a fit Croft will help us add power but I have doubts of de Chaves and would rather see us back the bigger home grown options of Price and Cain as well as abrasive 6 Wells. If we cab jettison Briggs and acquire a more physical hooker with Thacker replacing Chuter in the first team squad.

C) Find a real unit for when Manu is unavailable. Smith and Allen can be relied upon to tackle anything that moves but they aren't line breakers. Goneva is good once holes appear and the other wingers are capable with Tait potentially exceptional. They all look better when Manu is there putting them on the front foot though. Whether we let Bowden go and back hefty academy product Pohe or we look at another PI option if Goneva goes I'm not sure but we should have funds to spend with Hamilton set to retire and at least one of Hempetema, Bowden or Goneva likely to go.

What do we think. Can a couple of big units plus some better squad coverage help is step up a level next season or will Flood be to key an ingredient to lose (with Burns his likely replacement)?

Agree with all that Sam. One other thing i'd say is a good option to sub for Youngs. He killed all your attacking momentum yesterday and you need a good option to bring on incase that happens again.

Not sure about the French guy you have at the moment, he didn't do much when he cameo'd

Oh and it's only conjecture at the moment but the salary cap may go up by £500k as well.

One of my annoyances was how long it took to get Mele on yesterday. He is very good at getting the ball from the base quickly. In fact I'd have liked to see him start as he's a niggly little barsteward and Youngs would have been better off the bench to add pace in that game. Between those two Harrison and former Scotland under 20 Steele we have decent options and to get a better one would be a waste of the cap in my opinion. As a small improvement would probably cost an extra 50k+ on top of Mele's wage (and I doubt he's on peanuts).

Much rather we looked at providing a better loose platform for them to work from. Every scrum half looks better when his pack are barreling forward around him. With Williams and Burns we'll have nice options at 10 depending on the situation. Just need another option outside would be good, particularly of Goneva does go. A Bobo sized centre would have be ideal though Pohe could fulfil that role substantially cheaper if he can step up, some chances during the LV Cup will give an indicator in that regard.

The increase would be helpful but seeing as we're spending the entirety of the injury compensation allowance (400k) at the minute if we want to keep the same squad we won't see much additional spending. Though we could ditch Camacho and that would be a big lump of that back.

Has Briggs had much game time Sam? I thought he was a good signing for you guys, I'm guessing he hasn't followed up from last season?

A few starts, some time off the bench. He's failed to make an impact of any sort and his lineout throwing has been poor. Now Hawkins is fit he looks to be third choice. Hawkins has another year or two in him at this level but his injury record isn't good. A big carrying hooker would make a useful alternative. Doesn't need to be a prospect really as we have young Thacker coming through but he won't be ready for a couple more years.

Struggling to asses our season at the moment, should we be happy that we are in an HC QF and just outside the Top 4 considering our injuries or should we have pushed on from our premiership win last year?

Manu,

As a dragons fan I would never sniff at a quarter final of any comp but I guess the one thing that the Tigers and other top clubs struggle with is they will always be compared with past teams and achievements.

Scrum half wasn't our issue yesterday so getting yet another scrum half seems like the wrong decision to me.

As Sam has already mentioned we're light on ball carriers. I'm not really a fan of Crane or Waldrom so would like to see another 8 come in.

I don't think we're too far off when we have all our fit players back. But i would like us to utilise our young players a bit more to speed to their progression.

I think it is a case of fine tuning rather than team overhaul. Pearce seems to be the new 8.

http://www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk/squad/114/laurence-pearce/

Seems to be about what we need. Agree with Nathan, would like to see a few more of the home grown lads put into the action particularly Cain, Price, Wells and Pohe this season and next with Thacker and Owen more so next season and going forward.