He's off to Catalans, henderson leaving. Fages isn't a hooker.

Cameron Smith. Can you imagine that.

He has signed for catalan.

can't see us getting a good signing at this stage. It would require Hetherington to get his checkbook out . If we don't sign any one then I think we will be hoping Burrow can improve his distribution from DH and that R Ward does as well as his namesake in the SR

Probably depends on whether Leeds see Robbie Ward as a future starter. If so then they'll rightly go for a stop-gap (I'd put Lunt in that class as well as Ballin). If they go for Houghton or similar it tells you all you need to know about how much they rate Ward.

BTW Ballin's OK but not all that. The main benefit he'd bring is coming from a club with a win at all costs mentality. He's way down the list of NRL hookers. If I could pick one it would be Josh Hodgson - he's been an absolute revelation for the Raiders and he's not an Aussie. I wouldn't be at all surprised if McNamara picks him as first choice for England at the end of the year.

Can't see McBanana picking anyone over the incumbent Roby. Same for Biscuit legs O'loughlin.

I think a good stop gap player for a few years is best. If we are going to get in a long term player they need to be class ,not last minute dross

Matt Ballin is saying he wants to fight for his future at Manly so don't think he is really interested in moving tbh

pPersonall I like Lunt but think it will be Ward

I'd rather have Houghton than Lunt.

Id take any of them

Can someone tell me what the 'HOOKER' does? apart from fill the middle of the front row.

Apart from being the person who has their hands on the ball more than any other player in the team?

I would think the hooker and full back positions are the two most crucial roles in the modern game.

Yes, I understand that.
But why is he called an 'HOOKER'???

Why not bring in Micky Mac from Wigoon? A bit of bite wouldn't come a miss (only joking)

Oh, I see.
my guess, wild as it seems, is that the player who traditionally wears the number 9 shirt, the one most frequently gets into the dummy half position, and also packs down between the 2 props in the scrum giving him the best position to hook the ball in the scrum. But I'm guessing you already know this.

Here's a prediction: with Aiton at hooker we'll win trophy(ies) this year; should Burrow fill the role next year then sadly we won't.

Heath l'estrange is available next year and his wife has been offered a nice cosy teaching job in the UK too.

Wasn't he at Bradford ? Or am I thinking of someone else ?

This could single handedly wreck next seasons chances if a suitable replacement is not found. I was feeling fairly confident about our squad after recent additions. Fingers crossed we knew this was coming and have made provisions.

He was. Believe he captained them for a season too.

I don't recall him being that impressive but then Bulls by that point weren't much anyway.

I remember the opposite to be honest.....one thing for sure.....he's a darn sight better proposition than Burrow playing hooker in 2016.

He did. He was co-captain with Matt Diskin for the 2012 and 2013 seasons IIRC.

I don't disagree there. Just hoped that if GH knew that long ago we needed a hooker, that we could/ should have better prospects.

If he was hoping Aiton would capitulate and 're sign a contract and is now left looking at older / average stop gap then it's a bit poor.
If it's a L'estrange/ lunt or Burrow then it's better than nothing.

I trust GH will have a plan .