PAUL Crarey is already planning for life without some members of his Barrow Raiders squad next season – but is confident the team will be able to fill the void left by those departures.

Although there are still potentially two games to go for the Raiders before the curtain comes down on the 2016 campaign, starting with Sunday's play-off semi-final against Doncaster, head coach Crarey is already making headway with plans for next year.

There is at least one place in the pack to fill, with long-serving second-rower Liam Harrison retiring – after a testimonial match against Scotland next month – while both Anthony Bate and Chris Hankinson were rumoured to be on the radar of Kingstone Press Championship outfit Swinton Lions earlier this week.

Crarey is not yet ready to divulge which players will be departing Craven Park at the end of the season, but is already pressing ahead with recruitment plans to ensure those spaces in his squad are not left empty.

“We know that two of the players are leaving and some are leaving to go back home, whether that's Australia or wherever,” said Crarey. “We're going to lose a few, but we're making strides to fill those positions.

“We're talking to players probably of a higher calibre we want to come in, and people might be surprised when we do make the announcements of the signings we have made.

"There are players leaving and we've offered them deals, but they want guaranteed Championship rugby and there is nothing wrong with that.

“What I've said to our players is 'let's have respect for your team-mates and finish the season, and have a good go at trying to finish what we started two years ago'.

"We're in the mix now, we're a side that are capable of being in the top three and, if you keep knocking on the door, then eventually it will open.”

The uncertainty over whether Barrow will stay in League One or win promotion to the Championship for next season means no budget has yet been finalised, which leaves them working along similar lines to this season at present.

But a large number of the current squad indicating they are willing to stay on whichever division the Raiders are in for 2017 has helped that planning and Crarey believes they will be well-placed whether they go up or stay where they are.

“Quite a lot of players have asked us about staying and the lads who are leaving, we've tried to fill that void first without a budget, so it doesn't affect what we have,” said Crarey.

“We've more or less filled key positions and that will be announced, and the lads who are leaving have been replaced like-for-like, so there is still a little bit of scope for other people to come in.

“If we are still in League One, there won't be a lot of scope for people to come in because we like to operate within a controlled budget – it's the only way the club will survive and we're happy to do that.

“If we're in the Championship, whether the money we will get from the RFL will be enough to stay up, I don't know.

"But we're signing young players on two-years deals and, if we didn't stay up, we wouldn't capitulate and know these players are good enough to get us up again, and won't leave us.”