The only Williams we should be after from Manly is Tony.
T-Rex would be a cracking signing.

We have Stevie Ward who can play stand off.

I would agree. JJB has been the workhorse engine of the Leeds pack for some time now capable of playing the full 80. Why change a winning formula?

Ollie Olds (7) has looked decent in the U20's and although he may not be a new Burrow or Mcguire Sean Casey has done a good job aswell.
In terms of a futire 6 i honestly think that is where Ward will stay and further down the line IF he lives up to his potential look out for Liam Sutcliffe taking the 13 shirt.

He must be sh*t hot to be playing for the U20's at that age...

I cant see any marquee aussies coming across to SL any time soon given the disparity in salary caps under the new NRL deal. No UK club will be able to get anywhere near an NRL contract offer and stay under the cap. The exchange rate is only exacerbating that problem. The future for superleague clubs has to be development from within and thats where we have excelled. It can only benefit the national side in the long run espcially if top uk player test themselves in the NRL. Id hate to see Hall and watkins leave but wouldnt begrudge either going down under as they would both be fantastic.

'Who can play' never really fills me with confidence, although Sinfield comes under that bracket I suppose. I thought Ward was more of a loose?

I do think a good, young scrum half would be key.

Over next 2 to 3 years we need to be looking at our playmakers as all 4 (Webb,Sinfield,Mcguire and Burrow) tenures in the team will have finished or will be close to finishing. The challenge will be getting this right. If the young players at the club are not upto the task, then we will need to look elsewhere. I am sure GH as something up his sleeve. Another thing is a somepoint in time GH will after find is own replacement.

Would there be any circumstances where anybody would consider signing a 31 year old from the NRL and offering him a two year contract that tests the salary cap and increases the risk of losing some outstanding young players ?

Are you thinking of Ellis, someone else or is it a general question?
In general terms if the player added quality to the squad then I think you must consider it. The Rhinos are strong in the back-row but I feel Ellis is world class and would add quality in that area. I accept this might have caused 1/2 players to leave. GH wants to build the best team in SL filled mostly with quality young players with potential but boosted by a few quality players from NRL.

I'd prefer we didn't 'test' the salary cap to be honest.

Get Amor back from Wakey and Singleton up from the kids, leaving us with Bailey, Griffin, Moore, Amor & Singleton in the front row. Delaney, JJB, Ablett, Hauraki, Pitts & Smith in the 2nd row, Clarkson at LF. Start giving Ward & Briscoe game time in the halves, and look at moving either BJB to fullback (with Chisholm on the wing) or Hardaker to FB. If the latter, I'd love for us to go after Ryan Atkins as a new left centre.

We don't need Atkins tyke IF Hardaker is to move from LC(which i doubt) then it's either Smithy or give Normington ,Keinhorst or further down the line Jordan Harper the chance.

Get Dureau signed up from Catalans. Would be an excellent addition to the team.

+1

I thinks it's a difficult job faced in the future breaking in the new players and seeing a transition with the old guard. Also exciting times we seem to have alot of talented youngsters trying to break through

I think it's safe to say you got a bite there!

When Hood/Mcshane finally get the F/T no9 gig Burrow will revert to our 7 spot imo plus i doubt when Dureau finally leaves France it will be to another SL team unless he joins the Pies on big £££££ as Leuleui's replacement next year.

I can see hardaker occupying the 4 shirt for some time. The club have plans for him, if he follows the same plan as watkins ie fills out he can be world class.
Then we would have the best centre partnership in SL if not already, both have fantastic footwork and pace.
Once hardaker fills out a bit we could genuinley have the next keef, hopefully with out the gob.

I'm a supporter of bringing through youngsters and we have quite a few who sound like they have potential, just have to be careful because whilst some will exceed expectations (even the biggest Academy fans couldn't have predicted just how great the likes of Sinfield and JJB would turn out back in the late 90's) we've also had a few that promised much and didn't make it for whatever reasons (injuries, attitude, being Jordan Tansey) And you can't be sure which ones in which positions.
Losing Luke Burgess was a big blow for are front row future too.

Following Jamie Peacock signing a new contact our OOC players at the end of this season are:

Brent Webb, Ryan Bailey, Jay Pitts, Luke Ambler, Daniel Smith.
Retirement: Kylie Leuluiai

All the above are in the 28 man first team squad. Whose contracts would you extend and if somebody did leave (plus Kylie who is retiring) how would you replace them - internally by a good youngster coming through or is there an area where a quality signing, if one becomes available, might be beneficial? Of course there are other players who might also leave like Smith and Kirke! What would the first 17 look like?

Daniel Smith looks an absolute Monster, one to keep methinks.

I second you on that.

I would say adios to Luke Ambler

Funny how Frosties hasn't been seen since Ellis signed for Hull after posting on every board on the site nearly about him being nailed on for us. I'd imagine this Williams rumour can be treated with the same credibility.

I'm sure he meant no harm and had no reason to dis-believe what he'd heard.
I'll also add i'm sure most on here (Me Included) have been in the same situation at some point where they've been told something took it as truth and told others only for it to turn out to be wrong.
He's a decent lad and only posted what he'd been told plus he wasn't the only one who was posting what he'd heard re-Ellis no harm done this one turned out to be wrong various responses as to why but no need to lose sleep or start a witch hunt.