Exeter chiefs 2017/18 season thread. Chance to top the premiership.

[Scotty]

As a chiefs fan it has been a joy to watch them succeed to become premiership champions and back to back finals.

But inconsistance season and a slow start means they havnt topped the table yet despite being in 2 finals.

What do they need to do?
Who should be in and who should be out.

Ones to watch. Starting this early as i want to see what people say before and after pre season games and throughout the season.

Slade is the big on for me. Where does he play. 10 12 even shouts for 15. Personally i think he is a 12 but starts at 10 so steeno can have an impact or starts at 12 and can be on pitch 10 cover and come off for devoto or move to 10 depending on the game but i think he deserves a starting spot. I know many disagree

Back row combos?
Nic white or maunder and townsend....or chudley
Nowell woodburn wings.
Lock combo without parling?

Anything...this is a chiefs fan thread. Have your say

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Not a Chiefs fan, but I like their style of play and what they stand for. They've bred success by stability and continuity and judicious use of the cheque book. They've kept and improved their identity while other clubs have lost their soul.

Slade is the eternal conundrum. Bit of a shame as he has all the talent. I just want to see him consistently in one shirt.

My real interest is LC-D. Logic says that after the summer George will succeed Hartley imminently, but Eddie has used him so sparingly I wonder if he's a huge fan. If Hartley is out of the picture, then I reckon the shirt's up for grabs. If the Lions are rested in the AIs then a good start to the season for LC-D could see him right back in the mix. FWIW I reckon he's got a higher ceiling than George, but he'll need to remove any doubts over his set piece.

 

[Scotty]

Not a Chiefs fan, but I like their style of play and what they stand for. They've bred success by stability and continuity and judicious use of the cheque book. They've kept and improved their identity while other clubs have lost their soul.

Slade is the eternal conundrum. Bit of a shame as he has all the talent. I just want to see him consistently in one shirt.

My real interest is LC-D. Logic says that after the summer George will succeed Hartley imminently, but Eddie has used him so sparingly I wonder if he's a huge fan. If Hartley is out of the picture, then I reckon the shirt's up for grabs. If the Lions are rested in the AIs then a good start to the season for LC-D could see him right back in the mix. FWIW I reckon he's got a higher ceiling than George, but he'll need to remove any doubts over his set piece.

Slade is an out and out 12 who is a pretty decent 10. Just as farrell is an out and out 10 and a decent 12. Slade has all the talant to be a world class 12 but i see why baxter uses him as a 10. It means he can have a bench with centre and wing cover. And not have to spend loads on a reserve 10 when he has one but it makes it hard for slade to nail down the 12 shirt, especially with devoto playing well.

LCD if he gets more cosistent at set piece he will be ahead of of TT and harley IMO.

 

[Raggs]

TT is broken. LCD must be inline to bench for the ais.

 

[Scotty]

I knew he was broken i didnt know it was longer term. How is LCD come to think of it he never played summer tour is he back fit?

 

[BPM]

Like Old Hooker, I'm not a Chiefs fan, but I like their ethos and I was delighted to see them win the Premiership.

The players I'm most looking forward to seeing are Sam Simmonds, Kvesic and Hepburn. Simmonds has looked brilliant whenever I have seen him play - I'm just not convinced he's an 8. I think Baxter can get Kvesic back to being the player a lot of people wanted in the 7 shirt for England and if Hepburn can recapture his pre-injury form, he'll be one to watch for sure.

On the one hand, there isn't an obvious need to change a winning team, but on the other, I'm not sure the recent signings have strengthened the squad all that much? Kvesic and White will definitely add some additional quality, but I wonder whether there is still business to be done?

Parling could be a big loss and I'm surprised there hasn't been another signing to replace him. Rob Simmons was mooted, but nothing seems to have materialised there. Dennis is good, but the others aren't at the level I'd expect for a side competing for the ***le. Johnny Hill and Josh Caulfield have potential and Lees and Atkins can be good on their day, but there isn't an obvious pairing screaming to out to be picked.

The balance of the back row will be interesting to observe. Waldrom was already showing signs of being less effective last season, so I'm curious to see how much he features and whether Baxter goes with a more mobile option like Simmonds or a big beast like Ewers (when fit) at 8 when the Tank doesn't play. Kvesic and Salvi are a very good pair of options at 7 and Armand and Ewers are both very good at 6 and they also have Freeman, the new guy from Jersey Reds.

The battle for the 9 jersey will also be an interesting one. White is a very good player but I'd prefer Maunder and Townsend were sharing the shirt. Chudley is a good player to have in reserve but I'd have him at 4th choice now.

Slade is the eternal enigma. I think he's a centre and looks tailor made for the role of a playmaking, Giteau-esque 12, but I don't see him playing there much with Devoto, Hill and Whitten in the mix. I don't hate Slade at 10, but I don't think he's good enough to compete at the top table, whereas I think he could well be at 12. I also quite like the idea of him playing at 15 but therein lies the problem ... unless he nails down a position soon, we could still be debating where he's best equipped to play another 2 years down the track ...

 

[BPM]

I knew he was broken i didnt know it was longer term. How is LCD come to think of it he never played summer tour is he back fit?

Taylor did his ACL - out for another 5-8mths

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

On Slade I think for this season he's a bench player. IMO the only positions that he should be considered to fill in the long run are 10 and 12. He can fill 13 and 15 but doing that over the last few years has really stunted his development. He hasn't gotten enough game time at 10 to be starting there over Steenson and in my eyes Devoto is simply the better player, so I wouldn't be starting Slade at 12 either. He should go on the bench and gradually build up game time at 10 in the last 20-30 minutes of games until he's ready to start there. Once he's comfortable starting at 10 (which is the position in which we're really lacking players, we only have 2 specialists) we can consider using him more as 12 and 15 cover again, but maintain 10 as his primary position. It's much easier for a 10 to fill 12/15 than for a 12/15 to fill 10.

As far as the team layout goes these are my thoughts:

• Front Row: This is an area in the team in which I am very comfortable with. At loosehead Hepburn is a very good player and Moon is also more than capable of filling in for him. At tighthead if anything my concern if anything is that we have too many good options. Williams is clearly are starter which means that one of Francis and Holmes are on the bench or not playing at all. Although I don't know how much various players are paid I'd have thought that the two of them are being paid a pretty large amount of cash to be playing 30 minutes a week between them. My only concern in the front row for lack of quality is hooker. LCD has been in exceptional form, he definitely deserves the England 16 shirt once George is a starter. But after LCD our stocks really decrease in value. Every week when Yeandle comes on our physicality and momentum drops so drastically, we really miss LCD's carrying when he goes off. I'd really like to see us find a suitable hooker to play 16 who can maintain LCD's tempo once he goes off.
• Second Row: This is the area of greatest concern in the team for me. Dennis is quality but there really is no-one to pair him. Lees has good days but his fitness is poor and a pairing of Lees-Dennis leaves lots to be desired in the lineout. Caufield has a lot of potentially but he has very little (if any?) Premiership experience. Hopefully Hill or Atkins can step up to the mark and perform to a high standard, otherwise I would seriously consider moving Don into second row, especially with our riches in the back row.
• Back Row: It's going to be very interesting to see what happens here. Ewers, Armand, Kvesic, Salvi, Horstmann Simmonds and Waldrom are all very good players, all of whom deserve to start and are good enough to. My personal preference would be 6. Ewers 7. Kvesic 8. Simmonds with Armand at second row but there are many different combos that I would be more than happy with. I really hope that Baxter can get the best out of Kvesic, he's a quality player when in form.
• Scrum Half: I'm at a crossroads here. On the one hand, White is a quality player and should probably be staring. On the other, Maunder and Townsend are both very good players and are home grown. Starting an Aussie import over quality home grown talent just seems against the Chiefs ethos. I'd hate to see the development of either of them stunted. Think Chudley would be very lucky to get any real game time this season for the 1st team.
• Fly Half: I've already given my thoughts on Slade. Steenson's getting on but I can't see him being displaced just yet and Simmonds is a fine 3rd choice.
• Centre: Devoto is bolted on at 12. He hardly ever makes mistakes, he's an enormous ball carrier, has a great offload and a decent kicking game. 13 is a threeway shoot out that I really struggle with deciding. It'll depend somehwta on the game plan, if we want a ball carrier there then Hill and Whitten are the best options, if we want someone with more pace then Campagnaro is the man. I'd opt for Hill over Whitten. Hill vs Campagnaro seems like it should be a clear cut win for Michelle but Baxter seems to have a problem with him. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
• Back Three: We're set on wings. Nowell is solid and only seems to be getting better. Short and Woodburn are both very good options. Personally I prefer Short but either is fine. I'm slightly concerned about FB. Dollman is very solid but will very rarely do anything special, his counter-attacking game is fairly non-existent. Turner can have moments of brilliance but he's inconsistent and weak under the high ball.

My Shopping List:

• A quality 5
• A quality 15
• A 10 to sure up our stocks there
• A hooker capable of maintaining LCD's intensity from the bench.

My Team:

1. Hepburn
2. LCD
3. Williams
4. Dennis
5. Armand
6. Ewers
7. Kvesic
8. Simmonds
9. Maunder
10. Steenson
11. Short
12. Devoto
13. Hill
14. Nowell
15. Dollman

16. Yeandle
17. Moon
18. Holmes
19. Lees
20. Waldrom
21. Townsend
22. Slade
23. Campagnaro

 

[BPM]

On Slade I think for this season he's a bench player. IMO the only positions that he should be considered to fill in the long run are 10 and 12. He can fill 13 and 15 but doing that over the last few years has really stunted his development. He hasn't gotten enough game time at 10 to be starting there over Steenson and in my eyes Devoto is simply the better player, so I wouldn't be starting Slade at 12 either. He should go on the bench and gradually build up game time at 10 in the last 20-30 minutes of games until he's ready to start there. Once he's comfortable starting at 10 (which is the position in which we're really lacking players, we only have 2 specialists) we can consider using him more as 12 and 15 cover again, but maintain 10 as his primary position. It's much easier for a 10 to fill 12/15 than for a 12/15 to fill 10.

As far as the team layout goes these are my thoughts:

• Front Row: This is an area in the team in which I am very comfortable with. At loosehead Hepburn is a very good player and Moon is also more than capable of filling in for him. At tighthead if anything my concern if anything is that we have too many good options. Williams is clearly are starter which means that one of Francis and Holmes are on the bench or not playing at all. Although I don't know how much various players are paid I'd have thought that the two of them are being paid a pretty large amount of cash to be playing 30 minutes a week between them. My only concern in the front row for lack of quality is hooker. LCD has been in exceptional form, he definitely deserves the England 16 shirt once George is a starter. But after LCD our stocks really decrease in value. Every week when Yeandle comes on our physicality and momentum drops so drastically, we really miss LCD's carrying when he goes off. I'd really like to see us find a suitable hooker to play 16 who can maintain LCD's tempo once he goes off.
• Second Row: This is the area of greatest concern in the team for me. Dennis is quality but there really is no-one to pair him. Lees has good days but his fitness is poor and a pairing of Lees-Dennis leaves lots to be desired in the lineout. Caufield has a lot of potentially but he has very little (if any?) Premiership experience. Hopefully Hill or Atkins can step up to the mark and perform to a high standard, otherwise I would seriously consider moving Don into second row, especially with our riches in the back row.
• Back Row: It's going to be very interesting to see what happens here. Ewers, Armand, Kvesic, Salvi, Horstmann Simmonds and Waldrom are all very good players, all of whom deserve to start and are good enough to. My personal preference would be 6. Ewers 7. Kvesic 8. Simmonds with Armand at second row but there are many different combos that I would be more than happy with. I really hope that Baxter can get the best out of Kvesic, he's a quality player when in form.
• Scrum Half: I'm at a crossroads here. On the one hand, White is a quality player and should probably be staring. On the other, Maunder and Townsend are both very good players and are home grown. Starting an Aussie import over quality home grown talent just seems against the Chiefs ethos. I'd hate to see the development of either of them stunted. Think Chudley would be very lucky to get any real game time this season for the 1st team.
• Fly Half: I've already given my thoughts on Slade. Steenson's getting on but I can't see him being displaced just yet and Simmonds is a fine 3rd choice.
• Centre: Devoto is bolted on at 12. He hardly ever makes mistakes, he's an enormous ball carrier, has a great offload and a decent kicking game. 13 is a threeway shoot out that I really struggle with deciding. It'll depend somehwta on the game plan, if we want a ball carrier there then Hill and Whitten are the best options, if we want someone with more pace then Campagnaro is the man. I'd opt for Hill over Whitten. Hill vs Campagnaro seems like it should be a clear cut win for Michelle but Baxter seems to have a problem with him. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
• Back Three: We're set on wings. Nowell is solid and only seems to be getting better. Short and Woodburn are both very good options. Personally I prefer Short but either is fine. I'm slightly concerned about FB. Dollman is very solid but will very rarely do anything special, his counter-attacking game is fairly non-existent. Turner can have moments of brilliance but he's inconsistent and weak under the high ball.

My Shopping List:

• A quality 5
• A quality 15
• A 10 to sure up our stocks there
• A hooker capable of maintaining LCD's intensity from the bench.

My Team:

1. Hepburn
2. LCD
3. Williams
4. Dennis
5. Armand
6. Ewers
7. Kvesic
8. Simmonds
9. Maunder
10. Steenson
11. Short
12. Devoto
13. Hill
14. Nowell
15. Dollman

16. Yeandle
17. Moon
18. Holmes
19. Lees
20. Waldrom
21. Townsend
22. Slade
23. Campagnaro

I agree with almost all of this. The only part I'm not sure on is Armand as a lock. I think he's a very good 6 and I think you'd be better served leaving him in the back row and bringing in a new specialist lock.

Your shopping list is pretty much exactly what I would have pointed out.

It's a shame Woodward didn't sign. I think he could have been great working in tandem with Nowell and Woodburn/Short.

It kind of screws with the Exeter ethos, but I think they need another top class, test standard lock. Having won the Premiership, you'd think they'd have more pulling power than ever before. What about one of the Bok locks? I seem to remember Lood de Jager was eyeing up a move North.

Not many good 10s available. If London Irish don't stay up, someone like Brophy-Clews could be a good shout.

Hard to find a hooker that can match LCD's physicality/carrying ability TBH - really not sure who I'd go for there???

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I agree with almost all of this. The only part I'm not sure on is Armand as a lock. I think he's a very good 6 and I think you'd be better served leaving him in the back row and bringing in a new specialist lock.

Your shopping list is pretty much exactly what I would have pointed out.

It's a shame Woodward didn't sign. I think he could have been great working in tandem with Nowell and Woodburn/Short.

It kind of screws with the Exeter ethos, but I think they need another top class, test standard lock. Having won the Premiership, you'd think they'd have more pulling power than ever before. What about one of the Bok locks? I seem to remember Lood de Jager was eyeing up a move North.

Not many good 10s available. If London Irish don't stay up, someone like Brophy-Clews could be a good shout.

Hard to find a hooker that can match LCD's physicality/carrying ability TBH - really not sure who I'd go for there???

The Armand to lock would very much be experimental due to our lack of options there and our abundance of options in the back row. If the experiment doesn't pay off then so be it but I'd like to see it tried.

On the shopping list I agree that bringing in a real quality lock is the priority. I said a little while ago that I think Attwood would be a perfect fit for Exeter and we could really reinvigorate him. He's very physical and that's what works well in the Exeter pack. Beyond that I'm really not sure what top class locks we'd be able to get a hold of. De Jäger is a good shout and maybe Lawes if he's interested in potentially getting something in the trophy cabinet but that seems unlikely.

Similar situation with fullbacks where I really don't know who we'd be able to get hold of. I'd have thought our cap would allow us to offer a pretty hefty sum so I'd like to see us aiming for the stars. Our back line lacks real game breakers and FB would be a good place to start. I'd have thought it would be easy enough to lure Miller away from Wasps which would also give us some 10 cover.

 

[Chief Pete]

I agree with almost all of this. The only part I'm not sure on is Armand as a lock. I think he's a very good 6 and I think you'd be better served leaving him in the back row and bringing in a new specialist lock.

Your shopping list is pretty much exactly what I would have pointed out.

It's a shame Woodward didn't sign. I think he could have been great working in tandem with Nowell and Woodburn/Short.

It kind of screws with the Exeter ethos, but I think they need another top class, test standard lock. Having won the Premiership, you'd think they'd have more pulling power than ever before. What about one of the Bok locks? I seem to remember Lood de Jager was eyeing up a move North.

Not many good 10s available. If London Irish don't stay up, someone like Brophy-Clews could be a good shout.

Hard to find a hooker that can match LCD's physicality/carrying ability TBH - really not sure who I'd go for there???

A hooker to match LCD's physicality and carrying...Stephen Moore, hard to get but not impossible, been banging the Rob Miller drum for a while now and Lood de Jager would do nicely.

 

[BPM]

Even the Aussies don't want Moore these days ... Polota-Nau would be a better shout.

I believe he fancies a move North too. He was linked with Quins for ages but it never happened.

 

[Chief Pete]

Even the Aussies don't want Moore these days ... Polota-Nau would be a better shout.

I believe he fancies a move North too. He was linked with Quins for ages but it never happened.

Staying put as far as I'm aware, Moore would be an upgrade on what we have behind LCD, and would effectively be second choice when LCD was available, were looking for an experienced hooker with more quality than our current back up who may be available, the choices are pretty thin...

 

[Chief Pete]

Agree with most of the above, not much change or surgery needed this summer, an upgrade at FB, stronger competition for LCD, a new lock and hopefully get our better player's back fit playing regular, Starting with the back's, Nic White will probably start the season with Maunder or Townsend wearing 21 but come the end I'm hoping Maunder and Townsend are our matchday squad SH's, both potentially future England player's. The elephant in the room Henry Slade, the biggest season of his life quite possibly and quite possibly his last at Chief's if it's another year of bench and random filling in as and were needed, maybe use him as bait in a potential swap? I personally think we need to start planning for life without Steenson and that include's Slade. Pretty well stocked in the centre's Devoto and Hill to start with Campagnaro at 23, winger's same as, Nowell start's when available and on form with Short edging out Woodburn for me, a couple of injuries here and we might be in trouble, both Turner and Dolman are solid if slightly uninspiring FB's, so I'd quite happily welcome an upgrade with Rob Miller being my 1st choice.

Upfront, the prop department is very healthy providing we don't suffer any long term injury's, Hepburn is England quality on form and Moon is one of the most underrated prop's around, very well stocked at TH with Williams starting for me, a potential problem if Williams and Francis both get called away for long period's, LCD is my favorite player and I honestly think he will more than challenge George for many year's, different pack when LCD play's, I've already put a potential signing forward in this position, I have my reason's and will quite happily explain myself if need to LOL, really struggling in the lock department were left with Dennis a BSF/8 who can play lock, Armand good enough to play there but only if Ewers could stay fit enough to play 6 allowing Armand to move, Lees, Hill and Atkins are all solid player's capable of filling in but not to start in the bigger game's on a regular basis, I'd like to see a back row of Ewers, Kvesic and Simmonds but sadly I don't see Ewers staying fit for long enough periods, Kvesic is an inspired signing and there's still plenty in reserve with Salvi, Horstmann and Waldrom around for this season at least.

 

[Scotty]

[QUOTE="TobyBeastTeague,

1. Hepburn
2. LCD
3. Williams
4. Dennis
5. Armand
6. Ewers
7. Kvesic
8. Simmonds
9. Maunder
10. Steenson
11. Short
12. Devoto
13. Hill
14. Nowell
15. Dollman

16. Yeandle
17. Moon
18. Holmes
19. Lees
20. Waldrom
21. Townsend
22. Slade
23. Campagnaro[/QUOTE]

I think me an you disagreed about slade before tbh. But pretty much the team id choose i like ewers kvesic 6/7, could have armand salvi 6/7

Armand at lock. Not 100% yet the team is better with him playing, wouldnt be against putting him captain if im honest. We need iseikwe! Young talanted and one for the future stuck behind kruise itoje and that big southafrican one forget his name (might be oz).

Like youve gone maunder amd Townsend ratjer than the experience of chudley and white.

Rate campagnaro but would have whitten on the bench as he covers anywhere but 10. ( like slade at 10 steeno on bench because it means when steeno comes on slade shifts to 12 ans the pace gets much faster but have to choose your opponants to do that against)

Exeter prem winning side that doesnt lose many to international duty. That is a testament to the coaching of that team. Expect them to be top 4 and pushong for the win. Need to top the table this season 2 finals but 2 reg season second places.

 

[Chief Pete]

Just signed SA lock Wilhelm Van Der Sluys.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Just signed SA lock Wilhelm Van Der Sluys.

I've never heard of him before but I assume seeing as he's coming from the Kings that he's not particularly impressive. Hardly an inspiring signing.

 

[Chief Pete]

I've never heard of him before but I assume seeing as he's coming from the Kings that he's not particularly impressive. Hardly an inspiring signing.

He's on loan to the Kings from Worcester!!!

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

He's on loan to the Kings from Worcester!!!

Does that really make a difference?
Upon looking further he's also been loaned to London Scottish and Rotherham ***ans. He's also only 103kg. I get that the Chiefs ethos is to not go around making huge signings but really what was the point in this? We have lock stocks, it's just that we lack any top quality ones. I'm really not sure how VDS is going to in any way solve that problem. Just seems like a very poor signing from Baxter, really not what you'd expect from a team that's apparently aiming to win the Champions Cup this season. There comes a point where you've got to somewhat abandon you ethos to an extent if you want to stay competitive. Buying in a quality second row should've been where we began showing that we're serious competitors, not just the hard-punching under dogs.

 

[Chief Pete]

Does that really make a difference?
Upon looking further he's also been loaned to London Scottish and Rotherham ***ans. He's also only 103kg. I get that the Chiefs ethos is to not go around making huge signings but really what was the point in this? We have lock stocks, it's just that we lack any top quality ones. I'm really not sure how VDS is going to in any way solve that problem. Just seems like a very poor signing from Baxter, really not what you'd expect from a team that's apparently aiming to win the Champions Cup this season. There comes a point where you've got to somewhat abandon you ethos to an extent if you want to stay competitive. Buying in a quality second row should've been where we began showing that we're serious competitors, not just the hard-punching under dogs.

I didn't highlight the fact he's on loan from Worcester as a good thing, it's more over he's deemed not good enough for Worcester, your right were no longer the plucky underdog and the Chiefs way will get you to where we are now but moving forward going into the new season as defending champion's and competing in europe as prem champ's, whole new level in terms of recruitment, don't know who Chiefs highest earner is but personally I'd of smashed that a couple of times this summer, when I heard we'd bought a SA lock I thought F@@k me we've bought Etzebeth or De Jager, so yep I'm annoyed.