Transfers rumours

[TPenn]

Ospreys @ospreys <iframe class="twt-follow-button" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.html?align=right&button=grey&screen_name=ospreys&show_count=false&show_screen_name=false&lang=en"></iframe>
Look out on Thursday morning for news of an addition to the squad for 2012/13....

11 Jul 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

​

<script id="LR1" type="text/javascript" async="" src="http://platform.twitter.com/js/vendor/twt/dist/twt.min.js"></script><script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Anyone got any ideas?

New mascot?

 

[j'nuh]

Has to be a back 3 player?

Looking at the Ospreys changes to the squad for next season on wikipedia is staggering. 20 players leaving and no signings yet!

 

[TPenn]

Has to be a back 3 player?

Looking at the Ospreys changes to the squad for next season on wikipedia is staggering. 20 players leaving and no signings yet!

I'd be very surprised if it wasn't a player who can cover 15/14/13.

We've lost a lot of squad depth, but relatively few of the team that played in the Pro12 final have left.

 

[psychic duck]

I reckon it will be some ITM Cup player along the lines of Nutbrown, just a back three player not a scrum half.

Looking at the Ospreys changes to the squad for next season on wikipedia is staggering. 20 players leaving and no signings yet!

True, but half of those players like Dowding, Torrance were hardly part of the squad.

 

[Draggs]

Hah, Nutbrown was awful.
Torrance thinks he is Scottish now, bless 'im.

 

[j'nuh]

True, but half of those players like Dowding, Torrance were hardly part of the squad.

It's still an impressive amount of players to suddenly take off the books. Made more impressive by that the squad still looks fairly strong and deep. Judging by wikipedia, Ospreys need 5 players: a hooker, a tighthead, an outside center and two outside backs. Some of these could be promoted from within, but with Paul James, Huw Bennett, Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams off the books, I wonder whether we can expect any big signings, or will they cut the wage bill to stay within the new salary cap? Anyone exciting from the academy expected to step up?

 

[Draggs]

It's still an impressive amount of players to suddenly take off the books. Made more impressive by that the squad still looks fairly strong and deep. Judging by wikipedia, Ospreys need 5 players: a hooker, a tighthead, an outside center and two outside backs. Some of these could be promoted from within, but with Paul James, Huw Bennett, Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams off the books, I wonder whether we can expect any big signings, or will they cut the wage bill to stay within the new salary cap? Anyone exciting from the academy expected to step up?

Yes, indeed it is a fair few to lose, especially considering James, Williams, Bowe are all first choice starters. Others such as Prydie, Phillips, Owen would have been called in to replace the aforementioned players, so we must go further down the list to develop a squad for the Ospreys. Many were tipping Eli Walker to step up, but the issues (involvement in attack, positioning in defence) he had a year ago are still as prevalent as ever.

Losing Bennett and Mefin Davies is a blow, as they only have two recognised hookers: Richard Hibbard and Scott Baldwin. Given that Hibbard is likely to be involved with Wales, the Ospreys seriously need to find a hooker from within. Barry Davies, Nikki Walker, O'Toole, Sonny Parker are all loses with regards to depth, but none were even close to the best XV, or even 22. Ben John has been off with an injury this season (groin?) and likely to be involved in midfield. Joe Rees is developing well to cover for Adam, and Aaron Jarvis is decent enough for Pro12 matches. Loosehead is looking a little more scarce, with only Ryan Bevington and Duncan Jones in the squad currently.

I'll see what I can do with creating a best 22...

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 350, align: left"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]First Team[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]Richard Fussell[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]Eli Walker*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]Andrew Bishop[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]Ashley Beck[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]Hanno Dirksen[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]Dan Biggar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]Rhys Webb[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]Ryan Bevington[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]Richard Hibbard[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]Adam Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]Alun Wyn Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]Ian Evans[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]Ryan Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]Justin Tipuric[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]Joe Bearman[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]Scott Baldwin[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]Duncan Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]Joe Rees[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]Ian Gough[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]George Stowers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Kahn Fotuali'i[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Matthew Morgan[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]Tom Isaacs[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]


*Luke Morgan at the start of the season, perhaps.

 

[welshglory]

I hope not... If the reason why they wouldn't select Phillips was because he had poor defence and poor contact skills then Morgan is arguably far worse in those departments, as well as being slower.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Jonathan Spratt is the addition.

 

[TPenn]

Yes, indeed it is a fair few to lose, especially considering James, Williams, Bowe are all first choice starters. Others such as Prydie, Phillips, Owen would have been called in to replace the aforementioned players, so we must go further down the list to develop a squad for the Ospreys. Many were tipping Eli Walker to step up, but the issues (involvement in attack, positioning in defence) he had a year ago are still as prevalent as ever.

Losing Bennett and Mefin Davies is a blow, as they only have two recognised hookers: Richard Hibbard and Scott Baldwin. Given that Hibbard is likely to be involved with Wales, the Ospreys seriously need to find a hooker from within. Barry Davies, Nikki Walker, O'Toole, Sonny Parker are all loses with regards to depth, but none were even close to the best XV, or even 22. Ben John has been off with an injury this season (groin?) and likely to be involved in midfield. Joe Rees is developing well to cover for Adam, and Aaron Jarvis is decent enough for Pro12 matches. Loosehead is looking a little more scarce, with only Ryan Bevington and Duncan Jones in the squad currently.

I'll see what I can do with creating a best 22...

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 350, align: left"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]First Team[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]Richard Fussell[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]Eli Walker*[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]Andrew Bishop[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]Ashley Beck[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]Hanno Dirksen[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]Dan Biggar[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]Rhys Webb[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]Ryan Bevington[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]Richard Hibbard[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]Adam Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]Alun Wyn Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]Ian Evans[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]Ryan Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]Justin Tipuric[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]Joe Bearman[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]Scott Baldwin[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]Duncan Jones[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]Joe Rees[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]Ian Gough[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]George Stowers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]Kahn Fotuali'i[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Matthew Morgan[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]Tom Isaacs[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]








































*Luke Morgan at the start of the season, perhaps.

Personally, I think with Eli injured the back three is far more likely to line up:

15 Ross Jones
14 Dirksen
11 Fussell

The rest pretty much picks itself, with only a question over Kahn v Webb and possibly Bearman v Stowers.

 

[Draggs]

Personally, I think with Eli injured the back three is far more likely to line up:

15 Ross Jones
14 Dirksen
11 Fussell

The rest pretty much picks itself, with only a question over Kahn v Webb and possibly Bearman v Stowers.

Yeah, could very well happen. I just don't rate Fussell very highly, and would rather see a young, promising player come through.

 

[TPenn]

Yeah, could very well happen. I just don't rate Fussell very highly, and would rather see a young, promising player come through.

I don't rate Fussell that highly as a full back, but I think he's far better as a winger. Playing him and Ross Jones allows Ross to get more experience where he's going to be needed, while keeping Fussell's experience in the backline.

 

[welshglory]

Yeah, could very well happen. I just don't rate Fussell very highly, and would rather see a young, promising player come through.

I'd rather win

 

[dullonien]

I really like the look of Ross Jones. He was solid in his couple of Ospreys appearances last season, and for the U20's he really showed his attacking ability, especially against the Baby Blacks in the Semi's, where he was Wales' most dangerous back, making plenty of outside breaks. He's a natural fullback, which Fussell is not, and it is sometimes very obvious. Fussell can be great on the counter, but his positioning under the high ball can sometimes be a little shocking. I feel his best position is on the wing, but it all depends if the Ospreys want to abandon the year's worth of development they have put into his transition to fullback, especially after it was showing very promising results at the end of last season. It seems like the most obvious choice for the beginning of the season whilst Walker is out, with Ross coming in at 15.

 

[welshglory]

Fussell on the wing and Ross J at fullback sounds good. I want that to be the first choice for the HC as well, if Ross can cope. Eli Walker needs to prove himself to play at that level again, he was fecking shite last year

I don't want to see Morgan on the wing in the Pro 12 matches, he can play in the LV cup.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Faan Rautenbach ---> London Welsh

Neil Briggs (Bourgoin / Free) ---> London Welsh

George Stowers (Ospreys) ---> Japan

 

[Feicarsinn]

Tom Voyce ---> London Welsh

 

[welshglory]

Looks like Neil Briggs has screwed his career. If he had stayed at Sale he would probably be an English international by now.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

No he wouldn't, he left Sale because he was 3rd choice behind Jones and Ward and wasn't getting any game time, and most that he was getting was as a backrow replacement during the WC.

I really rate Briggs, but the Sale management didn't for whatever reason so a move made sense for him.

 

[welshglory]

Two words. Mike Brewer

And also Bourgoin? Of all the French clubs to join... Bourgoin?