LEICESTER TIGERS 2023/24 - KANGAROO MCKELLER: Do you come from a land down under? (Squad thread pt 2)

[RagingBull]

Given how many injuries we have picked up at lock and how attritional a position it is anyway, I am reluctant to go down the Chessum at 6 option, even though he's perfectly capable of playing there, as is Hanro at 8. We have 4 senior locks in Chessum, Martin, Henderson & Wells, plus the youngsters in Chessum and Manz in reserve - playing 3 senior locks at the same time, with the 4th on the bench, makes me feel a bit uneasy.

If we were to move Hanro to 8, I'd rather we had Carnduff at 6 and bring him through. Tbh I still feel Rogerson's best position is 6 anyway, so I'd rather we played him there and have a rotation policy amongst the 4 senior locks, than have Chessum at 6.

I struggle to see how Chessum playing at 6 would affect the depth of lock position?

If a lock goes down injured he slides to lock and Carnduff to 6

We have 4 senior locks. Having all 4 playing in an 80 minute game increases the chances of them getting injured, which seems silly given that we have Carnduff who is a specialist 6 ready to go. To me it is a better idea to rotate our locks and get the best out of them from there.

This is all a moot point anyway. Hatherall was name checked as an 8 in the Access All Areas event with McKellar and Wilkes. Unless we have a severe injury crisis over the summer, i can only see that Hatherall and Beets will be competing for the 8 shirt.

TBF I’m talking about the season after next and trying to look at getting Kpoku in

[TigerFeetSteve]

https://twitter.com/RugbyOnlooker/statu ... InUyA&s=19

Not sure who he is or how good his contacts are... tbh it's the first time pretty much I've seen one of his tweets as I only saw it retweeted from another Tigers fan...

Reckons Watson is in talks with Saints and at least one London club....

[GB72]

https://twitter.com/RugbyOnlooker/statu ... InUyA&s=19

Not sure who he is or how good his contacts are... tbh it's the first time pretty much I've seen one of his tweets as I only saw it retweeted from another Tigers fan...

Reckons Watson is in talks with Saints and at least one London club....

I look at this in 2 ways. If we want to keep him, it will be a real kick in the teeth if he were to leave having spent the last year on the sidelines. That said, personally I would not be too disappointed. A massive talent when fit but just not fit enough. I get massive Manu flashbacks of us constantly re-signing hoping to get back the player from many years ago.

[johnthegriff]

Watson when fit is a brilliant player, We have him a contract when he needed one to continue his career, we have him another this season and through.no fault of his own he has not played. I doubt that he will be required in the future by England so if we get him fit to p!ay he should be good value. If he has decided that we have served a purpose and wants to.p!ay elsewhere I am.disappointed in him. If we have decided that we could spend that part of the cap better and have reached a mutually beneficial arrangement with Watson then ok. Personally I would prefer a fit Watson to be turning out regularly for us.

[Rugbygramps]

https://twitter.com/RugbyOnlooker/statu ... InUyA&s=19

Not sure who he is or how good his contacts are... tbh it's the first time pretty much I've seen one of his tweets as I only saw it retweeted from another Tigers fan...

Reckons Watson is in talks with Saints and at least one London club....

Strikes me he has taken snippets of info and tried to make a story.
I’d hear that Watson had now got a property in Leicestershire, hence the Northampton rumour, though I can’t see them wanting any more back 3 players.
It’s often been mentioned that he wants to be near his family in Guildford. There are now only 2 London teams. Quins are losing Lynagh so possible replacement, Sarries are losing a few so may have cap space.
As a previous poster mentioned you never want to loose quality, but how many times has he played in the last 18 months, not much more than 5. You can’t miss what you haven’t really had

[Tiglon]

It may be just me, but, I've never been enthused by Hanro at 8. His performances haven't been bad, as such, but the pack seems under powered and he doesn't have the ball control at the base that a natural 8 has

I'm of a similar point of view. He didn't shine at 8 for us, in my opinion, and only played there when we had others unavailable.

That said, as an option while we give Beets a season to develop, or wait for the right player to become available, I'm sure he'll do a decent job.

[fortysix]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

[Rugbygramps]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

According to Wiese we’ve already got one

[sapajo]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

According to Wiese we’ve already got one

He was never going to say otherwise was he?

[Rugbygramps]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

According to Wiese we’ve already got one

He was never going to say otherwise was he?

He could have said nothing at all, or he wasn’t that aware of him

[sam16111986]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

Where we going to magically summon one of those from?

Weise backed Beets when he could have easily been non-committal. Moving Hanro to 8 and Chessum to 6 with Hendo and Martin in the row would give us four good ball carriers. Hatherall is a solid option at 8, not in Weise's class but then very few are.

[AViewFromLe2]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

The way we played against Newcastle in the Prem Cup was the truest form of what McKellar wants or how he wants us to play. On Saturday against Exeter, it was the closest we got to emulating that, and how we played in both of those games meant we weren't as reliant on the carrying of the number 8. Because we were moving the ball around better, we had more options and meant we could have lots more dynamic carrying, attacking space rather than just heavy traffic. With that in mind, a full pre-season with an attack coach should continue that and mean we are not so reliant on an 8 getting us the momentum.

I do think Beets will surprise a few and will hit the ground running when he arrives and Hatherall really impressed me in the Prem Cup when we still had an attack coach and the attack was functioning. Nail the attacking game and I think we are fine with what we have.

[fentiger]

We cant wait another year!! We need a top No 8 now.

The way we played against Newcastle in the Prem Cup was the truest form of what McKellar wants or how he wants us to play. On Saturday against Exeter, it was the closest we got to emulating that, and how we played in both of those games meant we weren't as reliant on the carrying of the number 8. Because we were moving the ball around better, we had more options and meant we could have lots more dynamic carrying, attacking space rather than just heavy traffic. With that in mind, a full pre-season with an attack coach should continue that and mean we are not so reliant on an 8 getting us the momentum.

I do think Beets will surprise a few and will hit the ground running when he arrives and Hatherall really impressed me in the Prem Cup when we still had an attack coach and the attack was functioning. Nail the attacking game and I think we are fine with what we have.

Yes, indeed, for too long Tigers have been guilty of relying on the 'DNA' style. We need to embrace change and move up through the gears, as much as most I can watch a full afternoon arm wrestle through mauling, however that added excitement of the backs running and, hopefully, some exquisite handling would make my afternoon more complete!

[Postiger2]

https://twitter.com/RugbyOnlooker/statu ... InUyA&s=19

Not sure who he is or how good his contacts are... tbh it's the first time pretty much I've seen one of his tweets as I only saw it retweeted from another Tigers fan...

Reckons Watson is in talks with Saints and at least one London club....

FYI- the same account replied to their own Tweet a couple of hours ago:

Rugby Onlooker
@RugbyOnlooker
·
2h
update - ive been duped by a ropey source. and dont trust my source for this. Likely to just be clickbait dont read too much into this

[Rugbygramps]

As far as I recall when Beets played for South Africa u20s he outplayed a number of English forwards including CCS.
This is the same CCS who regularly appears on the list of players we should be looking to sign.
The difference between the 2 is the CCS has already been exposed to senior rugby and has developed into a fine player.
Given the Bulls back row resources it’s not surprising he hasn’t played any snr rugby but all the indications are that given the opportunity he will thrive