We'll definitely be there or there abouts. If Bowen settles in quickly and stays fit he'll be a quality acquisition and help to fill the gap Sam has left, whilst also helping the young lads like Tierney and Hampshire to develop.
We need to establish who our regular goalkicker will be, and hopefully they can provide the 75%+ success rate that Pat has over the last few years. I think it will be Matty Smith.
Our main plus point for next year is our strength in depth and competition for places. In the outside backs someone needs to put their name on the 5 shirt and also challenge Thornley for the 4 shirt. With Sarginson, Gelling, Burgess, Manfredi, and possibly Lloyd, there's plenty of combinations to look at.
Smith and Green have some good quality youngsters behind them in Sam Powell, Hampshire and Williams so not worried about the halves.
In the forwards you'd think Lockers, Hansen, Farrell, McIlorum, Flower and Taylor would be in the first choice 17. That leaves Pettybourne, Hopkins, Clubb, Dudson, Crosby, Hughes, Andy Powell, Bateman, Burke, Greenwood, Lloyd and Logan Tomkins competing for 4 places.
All in all we've got a well balanced squad. You could argue our left side is our main weakness as it is an unknown quantity at this stage, but I am certainly more excited about our first season without Sam Tomkins than I thought I would have been once the inevitable day came!
