Sheldon wrote:
i can't decided which way to go tbh. We could lose Manu, tickle, dowes, radford and cusack and bring in lms, westerman, shenton, owen and murphy.
Agars got some big decisions.
If I had to
guess what Hull will try to do this'd be it:
Cusack retires. He needs to be replaced and you don't want to compound the 'problem' by releasing Dowes and Radford, so they stay. You need a British replacement, somebody like LMS would be ideal, but you'll face stiff competition. Watts has been mentioned, but we'll be very keen to keep him - would you welcome Wheeldon back? Still young, club-trained, steady though not spectacular. If Moa steps up, you could maybe invest some time in developing a young prop - but he'd have to be good enough already that you weren't afraid to put him in if injuries struck.
Westerman only makes any sense if you lose a back-row forward. Luaki could be used as your 'new' prop, but I'm not sure he'd be all that effective compared to as an impact second row. Otherwise, at very least you'd need to release Washbrook, and convince an existing squad member to accept a potentially lesser role.
You are well stocked for centres, so chasing Shenton wouldn't be the best use of resources, IMO. You need a winger/full back more, especially if Calderwood goes. The quality you can afford and get will depend on whether he stays or not. If he goes, then Owen would be great, if not then you probably won't do much better than the kids you've got coming through.
Three of the players mentioned are Cas's bright young things, so unless they are having big problems, you'd think that releasing one would leave them with enough treasure to retain the others.
So actually not much change - a new prop and a wing/full back. Maybe a couple more, if players choose not to renew. I think the end of 2011, when I assume Long and Fitzgibbon will retire will be the time for the next proper overhaul.
Actually, much easier to do this for Hull's squad than Rovers, where I'd end up trying to keep too many out of sentiment, while convincing myself that other teams' best youngsters will want to come to play back up, for a pittance at HKR.
