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<blockquote data-quote="big ginger 8" data-source="post: 1054518" data-attributes="member: 53057"><p>Thought I'd do an overview of the squad as the season approaches. This is not made easy by Leinster not updating their squad on the website yet.</p><p></p><p>Loosehead: Porter, Healy, Byrne, Dooley, Milne, <em>Hanan,</em> <em>Boyle, Lasisi - </em>Pretty confident Porter is converting to loosehead based on a few things I've heard. Will leave us in rude health compared to any club side, with the first four on the depth chart being internationals. Healy isn't what he used to be but would still start on a lot of teams. Hope Milne can push on, Byrne and Dooley are good players but we could do with someone standout pushing through. Boyle and Lasisi might have that potential but probably won't see that much of them this year.</p><p></p><p>Hooker: Kelleher, Sheehan, Tracy, Cronin, <em>McKee, Barron</em> - Kelleher the obvious standout hopefully he can stay injury free and establish himself as one of the best hookers in Europe. I'm expecting a lot from Sheehan he has an exceptional athletic profile and Kelleher and him could be an incredible 1-2 punch for a number of years. We know what Tracy is and he'll be very useful over the season. This is Cronin's last season so hopefully he goes out well. Not expecting McKee to be a standout, Barron is first year academy and missed the u20 6N but have heard good things.</p><p></p><p>Tighthead: Furlong, Alaaalatoa, Clarkson, Abdaladze - WIth Furlong unlikely to be back for a while this group could be a bit thin at times. Have heard Vakh still isn't fully fit as well. Alaalatoa will have to slot in immediately and perform. AIL prop Mick McCormack is training with the team at the moment and I'd say he'll be around for the year. Very athletic and a strong scrummager but hard to tell how he'll go at this level. Clarkson should get plenty of experience very early on and with the SA teams face some stronger scrums than he would have previously.</p><p></p><p>Secondrow: J Ryan, Baird, Toner, Moloney, Dunne, <em>Deeny, C Ryan, McCarthy </em>- A lot of good but probably missing a big TH lock. Hoping Dunne can show something there. Definitely has the size for it. Toner's last year as well so expect him to be used sparingly. Would like to see Baird showing improvement in his fundamentals like clearouts and being used primarily as a lock. A lot of talent in the academy but they need to stay fit and get opportunities.</p><p></p><p>Flankers: Ruddock, Connors, Van Der Flier, Leavy, Murphy, Penny, <em>Moloney, Soroka, O'Brien, Hernan </em>- The talent is pretty obvious throughout, just have to hope most of them can stay fit this time. Really hoping we can see Leavy properly this year.</p><p></p><p>Number Eight: Doris, Conan, Deegan - ridiculous quality, again the question is staying fit.</p><p></p><p>Scrum half: McGrath, Gibson-Park, McCarthy, <em>Foley, Murphy </em>- definitely our weakest position group and no one coming through in the squad who looks like they'll change that. The main guys are all fine and can definitely perform but also very capable of ******** the bed in the big games.</p><p></p><p>Out half: Sexton, H Byrne, R Byrne: Really need Harry to stand up this season and get some big starts. Hawkshaw and Frawley will probably also get gametime here and probably Corkery even though he didn't get the academy.</p><p></p><p>Centres: Henshaw, Ringrose, O'Loughlin, Frawley, C O'Brien, T O'Brien, Hawkshaw, <em>Turner </em>- Pretty deep compared to most teams and defintiely star quality there. Henshaw will have to be managed after how much he played last season. Frawley and TOB are two I'm really hoping can stay fit as they both provide something different.</p><p></p><p>Backthree: Byrne, Kearney, Lowe, Larmour, Keenan, <em>Comerford, Osborne, Smith, O'Reilly, Cosgrave, Russell </em>- Tentatively excited about the return of Adam Byrne but very hard to know what state he'll be in. It's a strange group overall as apart from Keenan and Kearney the senior players are all capable of the magnificent and the dreadful. Hoping Larmour can put the consitency together with an injury free year and really showcase how talented he is. I'm expecting a good bit from Osborne. Has all the tools and looks very calm. Also a rarity in recent years for Leinster produced backs in actually having some size to him.</p><p></p><p>If everyone is fit and firing at the same time (which won't happen obviously) I think I see this as our strongest 23 by season's end.</p><p></p><p>1. Porter</p><p>2. Kelleher</p><p>3. Furlong</p><p>4. Baird</p><p>5. Ryan</p><p>6. Doris</p><p>7. Leavy</p><p>8. Conan</p><p>9. Gibson-Park</p><p>10. Sexton</p><p>11. Lowe</p><p>12. Henshaw</p><p>13. Ringrose</p><p>14. Larmour</p><p>15. Keenan</p><p></p><p>16. Sheehan</p><p>17. Healy</p><p>18. Alaalatoa</p><p>19. Dunne</p><p>20. Connors (back five is stupidly hard to pick and it will be even harder for Ireland)</p><p>21. McGrath</p><p>22. H Byrne</p><p>23. A Byrne (It'll really be DK)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="big ginger 8, post: 1054518, member: 53057"] Thought I'd do an overview of the squad as the season approaches. This is not made easy by Leinster not updating their squad on the website yet. Loosehead: Porter, Healy, Byrne, Dooley, Milne, [I]Hanan,[/I] [I]Boyle, Lasisi - [/I]Pretty confident Porter is converting to loosehead based on a few things I've heard. Will leave us in rude health compared to any club side, with the first four on the depth chart being internationals. Healy isn't what he used to be but would still start on a lot of teams. Hope Milne can push on, Byrne and Dooley are good players but we could do with someone standout pushing through. Boyle and Lasisi might have that potential but probably won't see that much of them this year. Hooker: Kelleher, Sheehan, Tracy, Cronin, [I]McKee, Barron[/I] - Kelleher the obvious standout hopefully he can stay injury free and establish himself as one of the best hookers in Europe. I'm expecting a lot from Sheehan he has an exceptional athletic profile and Kelleher and him could be an incredible 1-2 punch for a number of years. We know what Tracy is and he'll be very useful over the season. This is Cronin's last season so hopefully he goes out well. Not expecting McKee to be a standout, Barron is first year academy and missed the u20 6N but have heard good things. Tighthead: Furlong, Alaaalatoa, Clarkson, Abdaladze - WIth Furlong unlikely to be back for a while this group could be a bit thin at times. Have heard Vakh still isn't fully fit as well. Alaalatoa will have to slot in immediately and perform. AIL prop Mick McCormack is training with the team at the moment and I'd say he'll be around for the year. Very athletic and a strong scrummager but hard to tell how he'll go at this level. Clarkson should get plenty of experience very early on and with the SA teams face some stronger scrums than he would have previously. Secondrow: J Ryan, Baird, Toner, Moloney, Dunne, [I]Deeny, C Ryan, McCarthy [/I]- A lot of good but probably missing a big TH lock. Hoping Dunne can show something there. Definitely has the size for it. Toner's last year as well so expect him to be used sparingly. Would like to see Baird showing improvement in his fundamentals like clearouts and being used primarily as a lock. A lot of talent in the academy but they need to stay fit and get opportunities. Flankers: Ruddock, Connors, Van Der Flier, Leavy, Murphy, Penny, [I]Moloney, Soroka, O'Brien, Hernan [/I]- The talent is pretty obvious throughout, just have to hope most of them can stay fit this time. Really hoping we can see Leavy properly this year. Number Eight: Doris, Conan, Deegan - ridiculous quality, again the question is staying fit. Scrum half: McGrath, Gibson-Park, McCarthy, [I]Foley, Murphy [/I]- definitely our weakest position group and no one coming through in the squad who looks like they'll change that. The main guys are all fine and can definitely perform but also very capable of ******** the bed in the big games. Out half: Sexton, H Byrne, R Byrne: Really need Harry to stand up this season and get some big starts. Hawkshaw and Frawley will probably also get gametime here and probably Corkery even though he didn't get the academy. Centres: Henshaw, Ringrose, O'Loughlin, Frawley, C O'Brien, T O'Brien, Hawkshaw, [I]Turner [/I]- Pretty deep compared to most teams and defintiely star quality there. Henshaw will have to be managed after how much he played last season. Frawley and TOB are two I'm really hoping can stay fit as they both provide something different. Backthree: Byrne, Kearney, Lowe, Larmour, Keenan, [I]Comerford, Osborne, Smith, O'Reilly, Cosgrave, Russell [/I]- Tentatively excited about the return of Adam Byrne but very hard to know what state he'll be in. It's a strange group overall as apart from Keenan and Kearney the senior players are all capable of the magnificent and the dreadful. Hoping Larmour can put the consitency together with an injury free year and really showcase how talented he is. I'm expecting a good bit from Osborne. Has all the tools and looks very calm. Also a rarity in recent years for Leinster produced backs in actually having some size to him. If everyone is fit and firing at the same time (which won't happen obviously) I think I see this as our strongest 23 by season's end. 1. Porter 2. Kelleher 3. Furlong 4. Baird 5. Ryan 6. Doris 7. Leavy 8. Conan 9. Gibson-Park 10. Sexton 11. Lowe 12. Henshaw 13. Ringrose 14. Larmour 15. Keenan 16. Sheehan 17. Healy 18. Alaalatoa 19. Dunne 20. Connors (back five is stupidly hard to pick and it will be even harder for Ireland) 21. McGrath 22. H Byrne 23. A Byrne (It'll really be DK) [/QUOTE]
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