Connacht Team Talk Thread VI - Some like it TOH

The Connacht Academy intake for next season hasn't been announced yet, but would this be a fair squad breakdown by position for next season? 41 senior and 8 academy.
Also picked a possible championship 23 as potentially the strongest possible matchday squad.
In which positions might Lancaster begin to select the younger options, and phase out the older options?
Where would be the best position to look for recruitment into the academy?
I think with just 5 dedicated locks, plus Murphy as additional cover, and no locks in the academy, that should be a focus.
Also, looks a little bit light on the wing, and will be missing Hansen with Ireland duty. Ralston and Jennings can cover wing, and presumably West also could do a job there if required.

Edit: Apologies for format of the table, on PC it looked fine, on mobile it messed it up.
Just put it in as a screenshot instead as can't figure out how to insert a table, it used be easier to do that before.

I think that is why I was saying our expectations are more firmly in the ground…

When a manager feels under pressure, he takes less risks, less likely to use the young lad and stay with the tried and trusted… Pete had this problem big time…

Stu should have the space to take those risks and he is lucky, Connacht like see new talent.. They will forgive the scoreboard if they see a promising new player get his wings and performs… It seems to be in the Connacht Culture, we get excited when we see Hugh coming through… We want to see John Devine get his start and we would talk about that after the game more than the score… Connacht fans really want to see what Sean Naughton is made off and compare that to Jack Murphy.. Same for Harry West, and we rejoice in what we see from Finn Treacy…

Maybe it is the underdogs in us… Maybe because we are closer to the team than most other supporters (away supporters can't are usually surprised at seeing player in Murty's after the game and there approachability)…

So to look at the a previous post, maybe Connacht are less focused on the result of the game but how we play and is there promise coming through…

You're missing Jordan Duggan.

Post deleted, I must have been asleep…

I don’t love our options at #7 if SHL is injured. Makes the releasing of Oliver all the more frustrating.

Liam McNamee Mas from Carrick-on-Shannon has been selected for Spain u20s for the world Cup. He was with Galweigan u20s last year but was injured for most of the season. Qualifies for Spain under the parentage rule. Going into 2nd year in NUIG.

6' 7", athletic, good ball carrier and tackler. Plays 2nd row. Was on the Connacht juniors this year. Seems to have slipped the net with Connacht at underage level as he was out of rugby during 4th and 5th year in Sligo Grammar.

Think David Walsh may be joining Connacht's academy, athletic second row/6

Huge hit on 1st kick chase and massive pace for the try. Can't remember much of either for us unfortunately..... Maybe it is the heat 😄

Yes, he went to Michaels and plays AIL with Terenure.

One start at 6 in 20s 6N and on the bench for the other four games.

crazy some Connacht fans thought Cordero was “past it”

He was overwhelmingly dreadful, utterly dreadful. The guy was clearly trying but he was awful in pretty much all respects, even after being given lots of game time to improve. Didn't score tries, didn't make breaks, didn't beat players, horrendous tackler (including not even making an attempt as last man multiple times), bad in the air, bad passer, high error count.

It's hard to say it was just a connacht problem either as Finn Tracy and Shayne Bolton scored plenty of tries when given the chance.

His performances in the last two games were good and probably he the only times he contributed at a level commensurate with his experience and status.

He seems like a good guy and it's not his fault he got an ACL injury in his first training session, a disaster for a player of his age who had previously traded primarily on his quickness and elusivness.

Hopefully for him he gets a good deal somewhere, unfortunately for him the player we saw in the period where contracts were being signed was MLR level at best.

Lads,

Just discovered that when we have the new stand built our Max Capacity will exceed a Premiership team AFC Bournemouth.

We have have the same amount of player on the Lions as Wales, Munster and Ulster combined.

And we have the highest rated coach appointment in our history

We could field next year a team of professional players who have never played rugby for another club or Province. (so homegrown or Academy, see below). This might not been our first year to achieve this but we are increasing..

We are getting places… Just need it to come together on the field… We have a reason to be happy…

Team: Buckley, Tierney-Martin, Bealham, Murray, Murray, Prendergast, Boyle, McCormack, Devine, Carty, Forde, Gavin, Jennings, Treacy, West)

Still have Duggan, DE BUITLÉAR, Blade, Reilly, Mullins, Devine

Academy confirmed for next season

Year 1

Aaron O’Brien – Back Row

Diarmaid O’Connell – Back Row

Conor O’Shaughnessy – Out-Half

Bobby Power – Back Row

Daniel Ryan – Back Three

David Walsh – Lock/Back Row

Seán Walsh – Centre

Mikey Yarr - Hooker

Year 2

Billy Bohan – Loosehead Prop

Tomás Farthing – Scrum-Half

Max Flynn – Back Row

Éanna McCarthy – Back Row

Year 3

Fiachna Barrett – Tighthead Prop

Seán Naughton – Out-Half

James Nicholson – Back Three

Matthew Victory - Hooker

How promising are these Leinster lads?

Updating squad to include academy intake: