Daily Express today quotes that Semi has not benn given a new contract and that Ben Jeffries is off back to Wakefield, with the Bulls having signed 4 Aussies for next season : Hall, L'Estrange, Walker and the FB whose name escapes me.

Indeed, at least to a fair extent, although I do still think some allowance has to be made for him being rusty. But yes, Sykes has been a revelation at 6, and although Jeffries had some good games at 6 he also had some pants ones. In fairness, the Wakey lot told us that was what we should expect when we signed him, IIRC?

Well I think we all knew what we were getting when we signed Ben. He does have some very good games, but it's safe to say his overall game is inconsistent.

More importantly we were woeful enough down our right hand side defensively when he wasn't playing with Platt and Sheriffe.

When Ben came on he placed himself between the two - no wonder Salford looked like making inroads down that side. If we want to win on Friday and continue deep into the play-offs we can't have those three defending together.

Our defence has been woeful down that side all season though, with the exception of when Menzies has played centre. The biggest problem for me has been Sheriffe who, probably more so when playing putside Sykes, gets drawn out of position far too often for a player at this level. Platt has been OK for me, especially when you consider it`s not really his position.

Having Jeffries on our right side of defence with an inexperienced centre and a winger who's a bit dodgy positionally is asking for trouble. The better teams wouldn't have to work hard to create openings.

The side has better balance with Sykes at stand off.