By The Analyst
August 20 2002

There was blood in the water every time the Sharks backs got the ball last year and often a feeding-frenzy to follow. Fed by the best halfback pairing in the ZP wee Basil Redpath immaculate at 9 ushering young Charlie Hodgson at 10 into the big time. They were penetrative in the centres, had both pace and size on the wings and of course Billy Whizz at outside centre, wing or fullback.

Second in the ZP, a win in the Parker Pen and the semi of the much-maligned championship added up to a season the Heywood Road faithful could only have dreamed of at the outset.

Yet Sale have been dangerous when running the ball for a long time while remaining out of the limelight,so what changed ? Well, they got some forwards, maybe not a dominant pack, but a pack who were not to be mere chopping blocks.

First Stuart Pinkerton proved hugely influential in stiffening the tackling and most of all in slowing down opponents' ball, ably assisted by Alex Sanderson.
Ian Fullarton , a baby faced young Scot with a successful tour of New Zealand under his belt was recruited , possibly on the advice of Redpath or Rowan Shepherd, and proved maybe the dominant lineout forward in the entire ZP.

Not only was he safe on his own ball (even though the opposition knew where the ball would be going, as Sale threw a huge percentage to him ), but he stole ball from other teams on a wholesale basis, from throws to 2, 4 or 6..

A complete drubbing of the lauded Scott Murray against Sarries was not enough to win him consideration for the Scottish squad, and he remains underrated north of the border, though not in Cheshire. His absence injured left them looking a far weaker outfit at the end of the season, though it allowed young Chris Jones to shine.

The front row also had added bite this year.

TRANSFERS
Out go, Martin Shaw (a surprise) ,Mark Giaccheri , and Messrs Bramhall , Black, Bone , Davidson, Whittle , Devlin , Dickens , Sewell, Jackman and Long , while Shepherd retires and joins the coaching staff.

In come, Bond- Graham Bond, Barrie Stewart (now on a permanent contract rather than on a match contract), Nick Walshe , Johnny Rodham and Jim Thorpe, a prop from Rotherham..

Stewart, ex of Edinburgh helped solidify the tight head last year, is extremely big, but has never been a great trainer. Having nearly lost his career through a neck injury he is said to be a reformed character.

As we go to press we can see the main thrust, rather the same as with Saints, has been a large clear-out of some players who were not really good propositions at ZP level. An entire new front row, an Australian test centre/wing, and a utility half who can back up either Redpath or Hodgson will be useful, but they only bring the present squad up to 24 players.

There will probably be promotions from their extremely successful academy, but the academy are producing better backs than forwards . More signings awaited here...

MANAGEMENT
Basically the management is "old Sale" on the playing side .Brian Kennedy, the owner , does not appear to have ego problems, and knows a good thing when he sees it. Messrs Mallinder, Diamond etc learnt during Mitchell's spell with the club and are well up to the job. The only concern will be whether the intransigence of the local authority is going to force a move to comply with ERP guidelines, although this seems to have been returned to the back burner. Kennedy has a tendency to move swiftly on occasion,so watch this space.

PROSPECTS Although "Billy Whizz" is the most charismatic player, he is not the most important to the club. They still have a potent set of backs without him. If any of Redpath, Hodgson, Pinkerton or Fullarton get injured however, they can struggle. Unless there are new signings yet to be announced (given the size of the announced squad so far, there almost have to be), they really need to be lucky with injuries.The Heineken, where they debut this year, is notorious for producing injuries.

I'm finding them very difficult to rate. Their "run-on " team is the real deal .No problem with that at all. At this stage, even last years squad would be inadequate however, and i would be looking at a cup run only, taking the view that they were luckier with injuries to key players than they could expect to be again.

As it is, they have cleared the decks and are still about 10 players short. If these are an upgrade on last year, that would change things, but i think they will be about 5 up from the academy , with the other 5 holding the balance of the season's hopes.

Really difficult, I'd say 5th to 9th, well clear of relegation, and maybe a cup run thrown in.

A few more good signings could radically alter that.