New Thread - What Do We Need?

[BG]

Watson, Joseph, Obano. All three played against Sale.

They have been missing for the vast majority of the campaign though.

Thanks Raggs.. I was going to reply that point to John. I was referring to injuries over this season and possibly last (which is where some of ours originated from)

In the case of Watson and Joseph, didn't their injuries occur last season.. I'm pretty sure Louw hasn't played much in the last 12 months either.

How about Faletau? Didn't he break his arm a few times. How much has he featured for Bath this season?

I'm not sure if this is coincidence or not but Exeter and Sarries don't seem to pick up too many long term injuries. Or maybe they do and I'm not just aware of who they are.

[Rory87]

For me I'd like three things to happen... (some assumptions have been made below so please don't shoot me down for it)

Recruitment in the coaching and S&C departments:
I have every faith this will happen and that the club are working hard behind the scenes to improve these areas. Dai himself came out a few months back and confirmed to the media he was doing a totaly review and we will be recruiting in these areas. I don't expect his to be confirmed until the off season as there seems to be very little movement mid season with coaches (with the exception of the high profile Edwards saga). Plus rushed in mid season coaches don't seem to be the answer (eg Blake & Ford @ Tigers). So would rather do it properly in the summer and perhaps pick up an international coach post RWC (even if it does mean he misses pre-season (one missed pre-season isn't the worst thing if it secures us a strong coaching set-up for seasons to come).

Second Row:
This for me, is our weakest area of the squad. As many others have mentioned, without Launchbury we are noticeably weaker and then if we are without Gaskell too, we're hugely lacking in the pack. I have no idea what player salaries are so I'm not going to even try and estimate what individuals are on. However, my 'best guess' would be looking at the departures and the recruits so far... I would think there is room in the cap. I know, a huge assumption, but I if you compare man to man it just seems to me the departures would command higher salaries (perhaps with the exception of Fekitoa). So for me, I think Dai still have some wiggle room to bring in a potential starter rather than just a squad player.

Back 3 Player / RWC Player:
As others have also said, the other weak point of our squad is the back 3. So I'm hoping for some recruitment here. The rumours on the SA guy from Stormers (name evades me... is it Lleyds?) have all gone very quiet so perhaps it's not materialised. So perhaps with my salary cap assumptions above, we have a portion in the cap reserved to secure some RWC players following internation squad announcements. I think we have some strong squad players and the academy promotions with only add to this. However, I think we could still do with some magic dust sprinkled in this area. Not necessarily a Savea but a top prem standard player or solid international... bringing competition for selection back up to high levels.

Probably not much different to what others have said (in fewer words!) but tha'ts the reasoning behind me thoughts. We aren't going to jump to a Sarries/Exeter level next season, but I'd like us to increase the competition in the squad for starting berths which isn;t going to come with more 'squad player' recruits. If we can get into the Top 4 consistently for the duration of next season, my take is that it takes an element of pressure off us for results (that we've had the second half of this season) and allow greater opportunity to rotate in younger lads for experience.