6am alarm tweet from the club!

Yes the squad is looking a lot more balanced, credit to both RS and GH but Rohan is under a lot of pressure next year, GH has done his bit Rohan has to do his (I think he will)

We know what it is for but the details will be interesting

Got to be top 4 with this squad at least.

If its not a double signing there's going to be a lot of upset people (me included). I'm rubbish at morning but reckon this one will be worth it.

Yep. He's got some proper players now. For the sake of all our collective blood pressures, I hope he can deliver.

Its croft and Ackers, the promo video has been leaked

https://twitter.com/Josh1C/status/17143 ... W4BGA&s=19

https://twitter.com/Josh1C/status/17143 ... W4BGA&s=19

Can't remember the last time I felt impressed by the off season signings, great to see

Smith will be under pressure from the off, but the major rebuild of the squad that's been needed for years has finally happened. Last year we were hamstrung by players on contract, this year not.



To give Smith a break as well, it puts in perspective how hard it will have been to manage a squad full of players in key positions who weren't going to be part of future plans. Hopefully 2023 will be seen as 'the season we had to have' to fully break with the sub-par squads we've had for the past couple of seasons.

Fair play GH I was one to judge but you’ve smashed this off season 9/10 for me, a prop and it’s a 10. These signings are gonna be a world of difference and gettting a brand new spine in one go is great business

Ackers is quite a brave signing; we’re likely to lose one or both of Johnson and O’Connor off the back of it, albeit for an upgrade next season.



Very interested to see what those boys do now, and who is preferred as reserve to Ackers. Honestly Ackers > Harvey Smith > Corbett could make sense as a succession plan.



Ackers and Croft together makes loads of sense for Leeds actually. The understanding is already there. Frawley and Miller will chime in and we should have a cohesive new spine pretty quickly.

Yep agree bud. Smith has to deliver. What we thinking? Top 4 minimum?



It’s certainly the most excited I’ve been for a long time going into a new season. There’s a hell of a lot of work RS has to do though to get them clicking together and they have to hit it off as a team first and foremost. No guarantees at all but all can certainly look forward with some excitement and expectation

Great business all round. Really important that this year we have a solid pre season to help our new spine come together. No messing about let's get our best 17 out there playing meaningful minutes.

Not just next season, Jim. It's an upgrade for however long the contract runs if it's 2/3 years. You are rightly focused (as the club should be) on bringing the kids through, but the next season is all always the big one at a club like Leeds. Doesn’t feel like we are too far away now.

For me at least solid top 6 and in the play offs mix next year having said that, and just being more consistently difficult to beat.



We may not be at our peak for a few games but I’d expect this Leeds side to hit the ground running. We are just frustratingly short of a strike forward / prop but other than that, pretty happy with the 17 now.

RS has obviously been looking for a 9 for months and given we lost Levi, Ackers is probably the best we could have done otherwise.



I like the balance of the side much better now; back line pretty good we need the pack to win the middle now.

The plus with Ackers is he's not an overseas player. Levi might have been great, but bringing in quality that left a quota spot open is a bonus. The obvious caveat with so many signings is how quickly they gel. Last year we brought in a lot of new players, but few in key positions and a fair few were just to add depth. I somehow think this off-season will be a bit more intense than last year.



Just to summarise the movement in just over a year is a bit mind-boggling (so many I may have missed a few!):



Out - Tom Briscoe, Jack Broadbent, Brad Dwyer, Muizz Mustapha, Matt Prior, Liam Sutcliffe, Bodene Thompson, Jack Walker, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Kruise Leeming, Zane Tetevano, Liam Tindall, Sam Walters. Plus Hardaker, Hooley and Macdonald in and out.



In - Sam Lisone, James McDonnell, Derrell Olpherts, Luis Roberts, Leon Ruan, Justin Sangare, Lachlan Miller, Paul Momirovski, Matt Frawley, Brodie Croft, Mickael Goudemand



Of the outs the only concern for me is Walters, and the only in that hasn't worked so far is Olpherts. On paper at least the quality of the ins far outweighs those that have left. The only position we look weaker in is prop with Walters out.

You’d hope there’s still another prop to come in there, a heavy duty ball carrying prop. If I was writing dream scenarios I’d like a hard running / offloading back rower to do some damage wider too, but that can wait for now.

To think a few months back we were wanting to throw a deal at Austin.



RS and GH’s plan of waiting looks to have paid off.

1. L.Miller

2. D.Fusitu'a

3. H.Newman

4. P.Momirovski

5. A.Handley

6. B.Croft

7. M.Frawley

8. M.Oledzki

9. A.Ackers

10. T.Holroyd

11. J.Bentley

12. R.Martin

13. C.Smith

14. J.O'Connor

15. S.Lisone

16. R.Myler

17. J.Sangare

18. J.Mcdonnell

19. M.Goudemond

20. M.Gannon

21. C.Johnson

22. D.Olpherts

23. L.Roberts

24. J.Sinfield

25. J.Donaldson

26. L.Ruan

27. T.Warren

28. M.Simpson

29. K.Hudson

30. A.Edgell

31. R.Lumb

32. T.Nicholson- Watton

33. J.Smith



FB- L.Miller, R.Myler, A.Edgell, R.Lumb



W- D.Fusitu'a, A.Handley, D.Olpherts



C- H.Newman, P.Momirovski, L.Roberts, M.Simpson, J.Smith



HLF- B.Croft, M.Frawley, J.Sinfield



PROP- M.Oledzki, T.Holroyd, S.Lisone, J.Sangare, M.Goudemond, K.Hudson, T.Nicholson-Watton



HOK- A.Ackers, J.O'Connor, C.Johnson



BR- J.Bentley, R.Martin, J.Mcdonnell, M.Gannon, L.Ruan, T.Warren.



LF- C.Smith, J.Donaldson



So finally with Croft being officially announced after being in the pipeline for sometime now, plus the addition of Ackers the senior Hooker we have been wanting to add our 2024 squad is almost complete.



Just Kieran Hudson yet to be officially announced but that deal is also done he's been in the clubs kirkstall training ground last couple of weeks to continue his rehab on his achilles injury.



Our squad is pretty much complete with Rohan very happy with who he's been able to bring in and as you can imagine with the big signings we've just announced this morning we don't have a lot of cap space left, however the club is still in the market for a middle if one becomes available but that will probably only happen if we lose another 1 or 2 players.

3 years for both is perfect too. I'll say it quietly but I do also feel sorry for the Salford fans, selling off all their best assets when they've been asked for so much by their club.

I actually feel sorry for Salford fans too, they were asked to give the club money by getting themselves into debt, and then they sell their best two players, we think we have it bad as Leeds fans but they are being put through the ringer at the moment.

3 with Dupree as well.

I don’t think Salford have finished selling yet. They will need to add players and that might involve letting other players go.

Well it’s only a few weeks ago that the majority of oysters on here were moaning and saying GH should retire RS should be replaced we have no idea what we are doing etc. How things change!

Looking forward to next season with or without another prop or big line busting 2nd rower? I for one certainly am. Will we win anything? Possibly but even if we don’t we will be in a much better place.