A well paid, 8 week short contract at the end of the season, visa & GF permitting, may be an option. We should at least ask

Let's hope he hasn't got himself a full time job then or else that scuppers that idea,

Oscar Thomas, anybody?

No pre-season

No season

Hasn't played for a year

Whatever he has done for us I don't think that's a great idea.

If you work back from the M8s we have about three weeks to sign someone with any expectation of them being bedded in by then.

If Mullaney was still here he'd be out with a torn hamstring anyway. Great player, terrible injury record.
I would really like to see us line up with Campbell at 1, Gaskell at 6, Thomas at 7 and Addy at 13.
Not necessarily this weekend against one of the better sides, but certainly at some point during the regular season, and just see how things pan out.
Can it be any worse than what we've been seeing recently?

Those calling for Thomas at 7, surely he's not the right kind of player that we're after?

If Gaskell goes down injured, I fully expect Thomas will be his replacement. But Gaskell and Thomas as a partnership just doesn't work for me. You're still lacking that organiser, you're still lacking your game management. Yes Thomas may take the line on a bit more, but we already have plenty of individuals, we don't have someone who knits those individuals into a team while out on the field.

Anyone got a time machine to go back 10 years and nab Paul Deacon?

Things are so desperate I'd pop back 5 and get Ben Jeffries!

Are we desperate enough to take Marc Herbert yet? That's the ultimate acid test.

Actually if we had a timemachine we'd be better off going back to the reign of Hood and letting him know how effed up we've will become if he doesn't sort it the eff out! Maybe shake him by his lapels until his jowls wobble off.

And not sign Harris....

*ducks for cover*

I liked Ben Harris. Good solid hard working centre, similar to Scott Naylor.

I assume you mean Ben. If any other Harris played for us, it must have been wiped from my memory by that hypnotist I hired to halt my depression.

Not sure of the ins and outs of the situation whether it was Tony Smith or Patten himself, but Brian Smith tried to get him on loan at Wakefield before the start of the season and was turned down.

He was marginally better than Nick Zisti

We've had this strange debate before. Some people remember Ben Harris very differently from others. To me he was solid and I'd never be as cruel as to liken him to Zisti. He didn't have much pace but was defensively sound.

I did say he was better!

He also played for Australia, which many regard as some sort of recommendation...

Thought he was superb myself, brilliant defender and whilst he was never a top sprinter he was no slouch either. He could both find a gap for himself and put his winger into one. He left us to go back to a regular slot in the NRL, which is, and was then, a better league than ours, so I wouldn't take too much notice of people who slate him too much.

I probably do him a dis-service, granted.

The view of him is probably masked as we started to hit our decline, but yes he was solid and reliable.

And he scored half his career tries for us!

I don't think he did, did he?
Don't think he even played SOO?

I don't think he played for Australia either

I still yearn for the re-signing of Richie Hawkyard myself.

What a talent he was.

Etu and Walker gone to Dewsbury on loan.

Hopefully that paves the way for us to announce our new star 7.

Who funnily enough, I believe is now at Keighley too. I would say behind Adam Brook in the pecking order, but I believe Richie is a fullback nowadays.

Well what an inspired signing Johnny Walker turned out to be

Neither. NSW Country Origin team once. That was after he'd been with us and gone back to Australia. I forget what happened but he only did a couple years more before he was out of the game. Top flight at any rate. Still only 32 now, he could still be playing somewhere if he didn't quit because of injury.

He moved into the second row for a while and then retired because of injury iirc.