Okay, my thoughts on the squad:
Loosehead Prop: Sio, Hepburn, Moon, Keast, Kenny, Southworth, Morris
One of the few positions where I'd say that we're pretty comfortable. Sio has been a good addition to the side and Hepburn is a more than capable back up. I'd expect Moon to retire soon; probably at the end of the season. Keast and Kenny are both okay as 3rd and 4th choice options but it would be a worry if we lost either of Sio and Hepburn and one of them had to step into the regular 23. Southworth and Kenny unlikely to amount to much IMO; neither have shown much form and neither are especially young.
Hooker: Cowan-Dickie, Yeandle, Innard, Frost, Harris, Burrows, Norey, Hocking
Hooker is another position that isn't of enormous concern. Cowan-Dickie is gone and will be missed, but Yeandle has shown that he's a solid Prem level hooker and won't look out of place as our 1st choice. Innard's darts can be shaky but he's very useful around the park; he's fine as a bench option. Frost looks really promising and I'd expect to see him leapfrog both Yeandle and Innard next season. After that, I don't expect Harris, Norey or Hocking to amount to much but Burrows is very promising. A couple of years off Prem level but I expect him to be a Welsh international in the future.
Tighthead: Williams, Schickerling, Iosefa-Scott, Street, Johnson, Richardson
Williams is strongly rumoured to be off so I'm gonna take it as a given that he's gone. Fortunately, Schickerling looks to be very promising and IMO will more than fill Williams' shoes as 1st choice. Iosefa-Scott has struggled at scrum time in the past but Baxter has slowly been reintegrating him into the side so hopefully those issues are sorted. He's a beast around the park so he should be a solid 2nd choice. Street has never really lived up to his potential but is still a fine 3rd option. Johnson and Richardson probably aren't much to talk about.
Lock: Gray, Jenkins, Dunne, Bell, Bailey, Teague
This is a serious area of concern. Obviously Gray is a solid 1st choice but I can definitely see him leaving and honestly, I'd be kinda happy if he did. He's on huge cash and IMO has never brought anywhere near his best form to the Chiefs. That, combined with him being gone for most of the year just means he isn't worth the money. After that, Jenkins is a solid 2nd choice and the sky is the limit for him. Dunne can do a job as 3rd, but after that we're in trouble. Bell has promise but is nowhere near the level yet. Bailey and Teague aren't really anything more than academy players and I don't expect either to become Prem level. We could really do with signing just a couple of really solid, Prem locks who could push for a place in the 1st XV. Hunter-Hill at Saracens and one of the Northampton locks are who I would target.
Flanker: Ewers, Vermeulen, Tshiunza, Grondona, Capstick, Kirsten, Pearson, Davis
Ewers will be a huge loss as 1st choice. There isn't really anyone else in the Prem who can do quite what he does. But regardless, flanker isn't an area of concern IMO. Vermeulen-Tshiunza is still a top drawer pairing, and Grondona and Capstick are both very solid back ups. Kirsten is off, but Pearson has never looked out of place in his (albeit limited) game time. Davis can go though, he's been a waste of a signing.
Number 8: Simmonds, Fisilau, Tuima, Leatherbarrow, Grubb
Like Ewers, Simmonds will be a big loss. Fisilau is a very promising youngster but he's not quite Prem ready yet IMO. However, Tuima is showing more promise than ever before and IMO will be a solid 2nd choice. Leatherbarrow and Grubb are both very young and TBH it's hard to tell how they'll turn out. Leatherbarrow is the more promising of the two, and honestly I could see him becoming a Prem regular or fading into obscurity. It's really hard to tell.
A summary:
Italicised means they're a proising young option but not ready for Prem yet.
Brackets means they're either super young academy or I just don't really see them ever being Prem options.
LP: Sio, Hepburn, Keast, (Kenny, Southworth, Morris)
HK: Yeandle, Innard, Frost, Burrows (Harris, Norey, Hocking)
TP: Schickerling, Iosefa-Scott, Street (Johnson, Richardson)
LK: Gray, Jenkins, Dunne, another, another, Bell (Bailey, Teague)
FL: Vermeulen, Tshiunza, Grondona, Capstick, Pearson (Davis)
N8: Fisilau, Tuima (Leatherbarrow, Grubb)
Overall, a pack of:
1. Sio 2. Yeandle 3. Schickerling
4. Jenkins 5. Gray
6. Vermeulen 7. Tshiunza 8. Fisilau
16. Innard 17. Hepburn 18. Iosefa-Scott
19. Dunne 20. Grondona
It's really not that bad. Sign a couple of decent locks (which we definitely now have the cap space for) and we're sorted. We're not gonna be topping the table, but I can still see us being serious mid-table contenders. And from there, as the cap increases, we continue to build back up. It's far from the doom and gloom that it's made out to be.
I may do backs later, I may not. But there isn't as much disruption there besides losing Simmonds so I don't think it really justifies a whole post.
