AP Players to watch this season

Ok copied from the Pro 12....

Whos your teams players to watch in the following categories.

1)
Established Players

2)
New Signings

3)
Youngsters / Academy players

1)
Manu - Needs a big full season
Ayerza - looked tired last season first full preseason in nearly 10 years
Youngs - Captain and has a point to prove to England
Burns - in great form before injury has a chance IMO to stake an England claim (Saxons ATM) is he continues in that form.
Williams - Once back from injury a tank of a man.
2)
Genge - Will get the game time and Coackers really likes him, Could overtake Mullan in England rankings.
Toomua - we need a creative second option and Toomua has that but also alot of physicality.
McGuigan - IMO Thacker was found out against the bigger packs mainly saracens, and with McGuigan starting over him first game of season i could see him being second choice to Youngs.
3)
Evans - Looks like he will get quite a few chances this season.
Worth - Long shot but he looked promising in pre-season.

1)
Established Players
Jack Clifford (needs to keep getting better and developing)
James Chisholm (Same as Clifford but a bit further down the ladder)
Harry Sloan (If he can get game time he was looking good last season)

2)
New Signings
R.Jackson (great to have a decent back up for NEv and probable long term successor)
Nentani Talei (might as well be a new signing as we haven't seen much of him due to injury)

3)
Youngsters / Academy players
Sam Aspin-Robinson, Jonas Mickalcus, Joe Marchant

Welly
Does manu look to finally be over all these injuries?

PDL
I didn't realise you had signed Jackson. Decent signing...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Welly
Does manu look to finally be over all these injuries?

PDL
I didn't realise you had signed Jackson. Decent signing...

Looks like it first time he has been fit and training for a full preseason in a while.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Does manu look to finally be over all these injuries?

Until he gets a run of games, hard to be sure. I strongly suspect he will need to be carefully managed this season (ie missing last weeks warm up game) to ensure there is not a major injury.

Cannot disagree with Welly's nominations.

Hi GF - Yes, Quins have been looking for a decent backup and successor to NEv for quite some time now.
Botica and Clegg were both contenders for a while and never really stepped up - both were prone to silly errors.
T.Sweil was brought back after a stint on short term injury cover, but again - great ball handler but consistency is an issue (might be resolved with decent run of games)
We need someone that is reliable, Jackson has show glimpses at Wasps when given a chance and can also cover at 15 well too. So, I am hoping that will solve at least 1 of the issues that Quins have had for a while.

Well i'll do the Falcons:

1)
Established Players:
JP Socino (12)- Had a bad season last year and a half through injuries and form. He looks back to his very best so far this preseason.

Sinotti (Wing)- Had an injury plagued last season...looks in the best shape I have ever seen him so far this season.

Will Welch (6/7) - Created mixed feelings in fans for so long, but last season was an absolute rock...totally fearless, putting his body on the line, tackling anything that moved. Looking for more of the same with his partner in crime Mark Wilson.

2)
New Signings
Evan Olmstead (Lock/6) - Cross Chabal with Tom Croft and you have the Canadian international. Gets right in the mix and is aggressive, yet scored 2 tries flying down the wing in pre season. Best player preseason.

Josh Chisanga (Back Row) - Think a young raw bigger Kenyan version of Nili Latu!

Opeti Fonua (Back Row) - We have been crying out for some genuine heavy duty carriers. Finally With Josh, and Opeti we have that. He'll mostly be an impact player...but that's exactly what we need!

3)
Youngsters / Academy players
Zac Kibirige - Has had his injuries and troubles the last 2 years, but this preseason the lad has looked in absolutely awesome shape scoring tries every game. Fortunately his injury hasn't resulted in lost pace!

Calum Chick - U20 World Cup Winning captain, played in all the preseason games scoring tries.

Craig Willis - FH elect, has all the tools just needs to touch up his kicking consistency.

Tigers shopping list done for the next few seasons GF

Kilbridge is def one I'm excited about and Willis played well last season.

I'm not entirely sure Glaws have any players worth watching... nevertheless mine would be:

Established:
Kvesic - he's been outstanding in the last 2 years and I fully expect him to continue to improve. Hopefully he'll make it impossible for Eddie Jones to ignore

New Signings
Whilst I feel Matt Scott will have the biggest impact and will force 36 to improve, I'm most looking forward to watching the wrecking ball Motu Matu'u. He may not be able to throw the ball in, but he'll re-arrange the body parts of the opposition!

Youngsters
As evidenced by our starting line up, this year Billy Burns will be given proper game time at 10. With Laidlaw to take the pressure off goal kicking, this could be a seminal year for him. It's probably a year too soon for Mat Prothoroe and Harry Randall, but I can both becoming excellent players.

Kibirige looked really promising for a while, didn't realise he'd had the trouble til the result last month so would be good to see him get on track again. As someone without a prem team I'm looking forward to seeing how Taylor gets on at Waps, hoping Mallinder builds on his mighty impressive start and hoping Genge pushes ahead of Ayerza.

Oh and the new burger at Saracens.

7.5 - It started with Kibirige breaking his leg really badly in two places, and having to recover, then the obvious other situation. He's glided along the ground in the preseasons.

Welly wrote: Tigers shopping list done for the next few seasons GF

Kilbridge is def one I'm excited about and Willis played well last season.

I was waiting for that one.