Out with the Old, In with the New

Andy's mate.
By Ben Cropper
July 19 2011

The new Leeds Carnegie squad were unveiled in full force for the first time last week to photographers at Headingley. Most of those in attendance were shocked at the youthful look to the 35 men who have been trusted with the task of getting Yorkshire’s premier rugby union side back to where it feels it belongs, among the elite of English rugby.

Gone were the established internationals such as Steve Thompson and Hendrie Fourie, and in their place were numerous academy graduates, alongside the return of Joe Ford, widely talked about as one of the hottest young half-backs in the country, after enduring a disappointing stint at Northampton Saints.

Other new recruits included an exciting product of the Edinburgh academy, Stevie McColl, a proven try scorer at Championship level. Stevie joins after a successful four year spell at Doncaster Knights, and is a great back-up to Ford from the kicking tee.

Another new face is six foot four forward Dan Hemingway, who heads north from Leicester. He travels up the M1 with vast amounts of Championship experience under his belt, having spent much of the last two seasons on loan at Nottingham. Dan’s versatility is something that Leeds will no doubt use to their advantage throughout what is set to be an arduous slog of a season. He has spent most of his time playing at six or in the second row, and is thought by many to be an ideal replacement for the departed Rhys Oakley.

The next man through the door was another back-row forward Ryan Burrows, a player who’d been on Leeds’ radar for quite some time during his spell at local rivals Rotherham Titans. Ryan had trained with the Leeds outfit last pre-season, so many of the club’s staff are already fully aware of his potential.

Scottish prop David Young checked in at Headingley after returning south of the border from Edinburgh. He comes highly recommended by former Gloucester team mate Andy Titterell, who is said to have persuaded him to ply his trade at LS6.

New head coach Diccon Edwards firmly believes that we should put our trust in young players in order to bring back the Yorkshire ethos of the club. With money at a premium following relegation and the playing budget being slashed in order to balance the books, it is all too easy to work out that resources for this campaign will be stretched to the limit. In order to ensure that we have sufficient bodies in the squad to achieve the primary objective of promotion, a revolutionary partnership for player development has been agreed with Sale Sharks. This was a condition of the agreement which saw Hendrie Fourie released from the remaining year of his contract to remain in the Aviva Premiership with our transpennine rivals. Iain Thornley is the first person to benefit from the new arrangement, joining on a year-long loan to bolster our backs roster. Nineteen year old former Rugby League player Thornley joins after having established himself as a regular in the Sale Jets Aviva A League outfit. Centre Thornley has represented the Sharks first team on nine occasions, but following the demise of regular fixtures for the Jets, he has taken the opportunity of regular first team rugby with Leeds. More Sale youngsters look set to make the switch when senior members of their squad return from the World Cup.

Naturally the club will miss the prestigious talents of last year. However, under the guidance of newly-appointed captain and former British Lion Andy Titterell, it can be said that Leeds is the right place for these youngsters - a platform for them to develop and fulfil their potential, whilst steering Leeds back into the big time in the process.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Posted by: TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 19/07/2011 05:34

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