And MG is not made out of concrete

Perhaps we should sign Ben Grimm?

Would you give up an quota spot we could use on a half or a centre to get one? English options in the NRL are Thompson ( a big risk injury wise and seemingly heading elsewhere), Sutton (by no means a big bopper) and Burgess who has occasionally flirted with the notion, but is probably more likely to head to Wire given the choice.

Ryan Sutton is 6’ 2” and 16st 7lbs. He’s not small.

Yep, but I imagine he's no heavier than Oledzki, Holroyd, Sangare and Lisone, so probably not the kind of line bending prop people hanker for. He'd also be a fair bit more expensive than any of the above. Not saying he's not a good player, and wouldn't make a difference, but if he were to come I doubt there would be a big rush on season tickets.

I believe that once you’re a certain size (or bigger) then the bending the line bit is more about what’s between your ears than anything else. 5’ 10” is tall enough and 16st 7lbs is heavy enough, if you run like you’re going to go through a brick wall.

Tend to agree it's as much to do with attitude once you above 16 stone. Moses Leota around that weight and hits the line like a rocket in attack and defence. Sangare is 18 stone plus but I know which one of the two I would rather tackle. In our competition Matty Lees is only around 16 stone but runs and tackles every pound of it.
The handful of 18 stone plus props in the world who can play big minutes with the same intensity in attack and defence command the highest salaries for a reason.

Take Muizz as an example, at 5,8 and all the will in the world, heart and desire would never make up for him not being able to get above 100k by the limits of his height, to get to the top of the game as its now played.

The priority for quota spots is undoubtedly a quality half, though any hopes I had are fading and Myler, Frawley, Miller or is looking increasingly possible. I think we need to be looking at paying a fee for one of the key positions we need in order to work around the spots we have available.

As has been said already, the approach looks like developing a team built on qualities that would seem in the main to achieve a top 6 spot more regularly but without the class to really compete right at the top.

Agreed on the prop front.

I might be reading too much into it, but I wonder if some of the signings are treading a fine line of not blocking top academy products from coming through. Frawley is a steady journeyman, who Sinfield or another top talent should surpass in the next couple of years. I think Miller is around 30, so again leaves space for Edgell or Lumb to come through in a couple of years.

Perhaps they are waiting for the right kind of signing at 7 to develop that next batch, rather than take a spot in the long term.

I could see the sense in that, particularly with spine positions. If you look at both ours and Saints period of dominance, one of the common denominators was the fact that we had home grown players in those spine positions, it would generally mean costs on those expensive positions are less and quota spaces can be used on more ‘luxuries’ if you will.

It would be a big risk to take though.

It would be a huge risk not just in terms of whether the Academy kids make it, but as it would also consign us to not challenging while we wait and see. Frawley to help see Sinfield through I can understand, but the other half must be someone who makes a difference. Frawley's not quick at all, if we're to have a hope we need some speed there.

Good points above; at the end of the day we just need the best players possible, but yes we also need players who are reliable and committed (as we have experienced again this year).

I'm not giving up hope yet on who we're going to sign, there is plenty of time for things to change, especially when NRL clubs reshuffle so aggressively. We are in very dangerous territory if we don't nail a good 7 and a good centre at the minimum for 2024 though. If I was RS I'd have an enormously squeaky bum for next season without more genuine quality in that roster.

He had a big lad and coming to the right age ,
He won’t be on big money and he might not play many games but at least he is the correct size to run and break the line .
As long as we spend some money on better players I don’t see what can go wrong with this signing !!

It’s quite possible he runs with Myler at 7 for one year with a view to Sinfield being the pick in 2025. I hope he gets an SH for 2 years and lets Sinfield fill in for 2 years.
I hope Smith gets a quality centre and SH to give him a decent shot next year

I think we will be looking at longer than 2025 before sinfield is ready for the starting shirt. Myler with Frawley won't see us fare much better than this year.

Ronald Volkman for 2 years, then Sinfield. Between Frawley and Myler they should be able to help Sinfield come through.

The prop really does need to be Burgess or Sutton I think. Centre and half have to be the OQ spots

So was Chris Feather...

Good point , but give the lad a chance .

Absolutely. I just hope we're not done in that department as he's very much an unknown at SL level and coming back from a long lay off. Goudemand being another workhorse for shorter minutes doesn't replace the type of disruptive impact Walters made with his carries and offloads. RS would have to be very confident in Holroyd, Sangare and oledszki each stepping up a gear and even then get the mandatory couple of injuries and it's looking very light. Ie if say Mik and Sangare had a spell out we're looking at something like Holroyd Goudemand with lisone and Donaldson/Hudson on the bench.

Actually, looking at those 7 RS would probably say we're well stocked (the quality on the face of it though looks like mid table if we're fortunate with injuries) as at least Donaldson and Hudson should not be relied on there.

Has the club lost its hunger ? Answer is yes , and looking at some of the responses so have some of the fans . I know we are not going to get a Webb or a Senior or a Peacock but the signings so far are at best very ordinary

Its all a bit meh at the moment. You can see why this year's squad really isn't good enough when you compare to Wigan and Sts in particular, and Wigan look set to be stronger next season. Our signings so far look unlikely to close the gap. Our depth looks like being better than it has for some time, but the first 17 just looks a fair way off, although we have at least 3 signings to come according to Smith. To really challenge I'd say all 3 need to be marked improvements, especially halfback.

I think our back line would look very decent if we land Mom. Very concerned about the 7 because this is a huge difference: going with Myler/Sinfield next season does not fill me with any confidence.

The pack lacks a genuine animal who can cause the opposition a headache. Our second row is too overstocked and too small. We also have question marks at hooker for that vital distribution and game management from DH.

However I still feel we will make progress next year; we have to remember how busted abs disrupted we’ve been for much of this year, and the worst results generally went with the most injuries/disruption as you would expect.

That scenario would be an absolute disaster, Sinfield isn’t ready for regular first team duty. Myler is too old and lacks pace, I hope Smith has a couple of tried and tested players in his sights. Otherwise at the moment it looks like bargain basement signings. Mid table mediocrity beckons.

So Hudson is John Holmes’ grandson. He actually sounds a decent prospect to be fair. Would still like Eseh as well.

Looking at his brief history it looks like he was late to the game, played on the wing but is a big unit now and seems to enjoy the physicality, likes an off load and not lacking some acceleration. Hope it works out with him.