Next season..................

[Noddy555]

This will change any way, if Burns regains form he has based his success on an astute kicking from Hand game and with fit & fast wingers like Goneva,Benjamin,Morris,Scully and Thompstone as long as he can provide the ammunition, I see nothing but a better season. Can somebody though teach Manu how and whn to offload as an alternative to continuously trying to break through 3 or 4 bodies. Such situations are only good when the ball is offloaded to a free player. The incident that most comes to mind is the early occasion in the Clermont quarter final. If I was Niki Goneva I would have been fuming. The Manu product is good but not infallible.

[The Boy Dave]

Front row is my concern. We could do with another prop and a better 2nd string hooker. Depth behind is exceptional with maybe a worry at deputy 8. It would be nice to see a few academy players emerge and challenge the 23 - virtually none have this season

Agree with this!
I do not imagine we will see academy players next season though and Cockers has found some real good ones recently such as Gibson. Thacker has been a quite brilliant player through the age grades but he is not very big. The props are already under great pressure and I am not sure it can work. He is the type of player I personally would like to see come through but it would take a big change in playing style and gameplan IMO. We would be required to place less importance on size and the set piece and be more open and attacking. It is not the way we have become used to or the way that has got us into the play offs so regularly but it canno't be denied that others are now matching our strength up front so maybe it's time to change. I am concerned about Burns with the service from 9, Burns likes the ball quick and early and I only see Harrison as a good fit with him. I am also concerned about his game fitting our style as he often relies on a ball carrying 12 and deep lying 13 to get him out of trouble, he does not get the ball away from contact like Flood has done so often, it will be interesting.

[Bowden Tiger]

What's the view on next season?
Personally, if we have some luck, or less bad luck, with injuries I think we will go well. Essential for me is to get a good start, as if you look at the whole of this season, I think we did really well to reach the playoffs, following a difficult first half.

[baz1664]

I think next season is a massive one in cockers tenure, this year the injury list has been endless and some of the negative and predictable rugby can be understood and justified to grind out the wins, next season tho the injury list surely cannot be as bad, a whole raft of players are leaving and cockers needs to replace them and strengthen in certain area, props, centres etc.. From the rumours it does look like cockers has invested wisely and made some superb signings, Loamanu, Ghiraldini, Burns etc, I have high hopes that if these players integrate and mould into the Tigers mentality then we will be fighting for silverware on all fronts next year, if they don't then i could see trouble ahead and Cockers under a lot of pressure, I still think a replacement for O'Connor needs to be looked at, his experience and knowledge has been missed and he has gone to Leinster and carried on his good work.

[sapajo]

I think next season is a massive one in cockers tenure, this year the injury list has been endless and some of the negative and predictable rugby can be understood and justified to grind out the wins, next season tho the injury list surely cannot be as bad, a whole raft of players are leaving and cockers needs to replace them and strengthen in certain area, props, centres etc.. From the rumours it does look like cockers has invested wisely and made some superb signings, Loamanu, Ghiraldini, Burns etc, I have high hopes that if these players integrate and mould into the Tigers mentality then we will be fighting for silverware on all fronts next year, if they don't then i could see trouble ahead and Cockers under a lot of pressure, I still think a replacement for O'Connor needs to be looked at, his experience and knowledge has been missed and he has gone to Leinster and carried on his good work.

Definately think we could do with an injection of coaching new blood to include defence from outside of Tigers. Any suggestions ?

[JerryGas]

This might be more suitable for the Transfer rumours thread but I understand that a defence coach is on the way - no name but has international experience.
Sorry its a bit vague.
Feeling better today, yesterday was a struggle, Wood scored right in front of me!

[baz1664]

Daryl Gibson or Aaron Mauger would be ideal picks for me, both outstanding players, intelligent and know the tigers way.

[Bowden Tiger]

At times this season, our defemce has been outstanding, especially when AA plays.

What went wrong Friday was that once they went down to 14 Saints changed their way of playing, moving the ball away from the forwards more quickly. This exposed our 2 people already on yellows, as they could not make a mistake or would have been off.

[Rykard]

my hope for next season is..

all players fit for preseason, not too many going to New Zealand, those that go coming back fit and then a good preseason so we can hopefully realise the potential we have.

[The Boy Dave]

I am not that confident that the inuries will slow down next season. The premiership is more competitive than ever, every game is a real fight. It is a problem that most have suffered. Mallinder said he was particularly proud of his squad being the smallest in the league and getting to three finals was testament to the strength of their rotation. The players that come in need to step up immediately.

[mol2]

Defence - we conceded the most points and the most tries of the top 6 sides.

The odd game were were excellent but most of the time we looked content to outscore the opposition. However if you are not even in the top two scoring sides you will come unstuck.

[mike]

Defence has been average at best over the Season - mostly due to individual mistakes , as on Friday . If you pick players like Tait and Morris there will be always missed tackles .Also , whilst Crane and Allen have many qualities , they are so limited attacking wise in their respective positions for a side that aspires ( or used to ) winning the Heineken Cup . Mulipola has been an absolute Star this season - our best ball carrier by a mile - but he's a prop for goodness sake - when he has to do the running back that a no 8 should be doing you know that there is a problem .Burns will improve the attack if given a chance - but he is a maverick like Lamb - and quite frankly he needs a more dynamic 12 outside him than Allen . I think next season will be little different from this unless there are drastic changes in the Coaching team - sadly , with the average crowd figures increasing our Board will probably assume that all is well .

[Isambard]

Need more leadership so we don't lose the close games. and props.

[jgriffin]

Until the appointment of Slater as captain, I felt we lacked leadership on the park. IMO his personal growth into the role will be crucial next season.

As for MOC, I don't think we need more than a defence coach of considerable standing who would also be a foil for Cockers and Burke. You have to remember we have a relatively small coaching team, but a larger investment in rehab.

[tigerburnie]

I thought the backs, both defence and attack was the primary role for one G.Murphy esq. If this is correct, after his first season in the job, with a bit of 7's thrown in as well, I'd say with the players available and the disruptions we had, he had a pretty good first year in the job.