Fev offered a little bit of Money for Murrell and although we are making cuts were still told no. Unless something has changed the answer is probably still no.

Im not sure if I saw it mentioned anywhere but obviously the Tangata deal is dead in the water with the player turning down any deal before it even got to the point of what players were coming our way in exchange.

Lumb is ready to be back up. He's not at OB's level yet but may be soon.

Both players are quite small but you don't need to be big to be effective at hooker. Cameron Smith is a titch by modern RL standards.

The amount of tackles Smith does in a match belies his physical strength also his playmaking skills and kicking ability are at a level those to can only dream to aspire too!

I think Cameron Smith's major strength is his decision making - he barely ever does the wrong thing, and with that he can turn sticky situations around and put the opposition on the back foot with a well placed kick or dart from dummy half. Add that to all of the above, that's why he is the best hooker in the world bar none.

Cameron Smith? Pfft. He's no Vila Halafihi is he?

And I bet he wakes up grateful for that every morning

Hamsterchops: could you please edit your first page post so its the latest squad list, your last update, that you can update and paste, is on page 17, then its easy to get at. thanks in anticipation.

Done.

And I've added Phil Joseph who's joined since. Don't think there's been any other updates?

Thanks, thats easier to find.

Well looking at the squad, there does seem to be less bloat and more balance. However I still think we're short of quality in a few areas.
The back line is solid and more than capable of scoring plenty of points
The halves, as long as they click, should provide enough attacking threat to get us moving.
The pack, however, is worryingly light in terms of LF and 2nd rowers.

Still, there's time enough before next season

No worries. If people want this to be the pinned thread for next season, I'm happy to keep it up to date as and when things comes out by the way.

(I've edited original post with some extra info now)

I really don't know why we aren't getting Tom Olbison signed up straight away. He obviously wants to stay, isn't getting any better offers, frankly, and is better than most of what is going to be around at this point.

It's difficult to know without being "on the inside" really. There's every chance he's asking for more money than the club / Rohan think he's worth. Or Rohan may just not rate him. Or Olbison may have told the club he actually doesn't want to be here any more. All total guesswork, but without knowing the reasons, it's difficult to understand why he's likely on his way out.

No, I don't get it either. The lad's a work horse who doesn't get the praise he deserves.
He was always slightly overshadowed because he came through at the same time as Bateman and Whitehead, but he's kept on and been a steady player

suspect in olbisons case we're working to a very tight budget and giving him a deal might not leave us with enough in the pot for someone higher up coaches priority list. Also think theres still 4 or 5 on books that arent really in our plans and we'd like to move them on or get them on season long loans which might free up enough extra to sign olbison on.

He supposed had a offer from Wakey on the table which they have backtracked on. So because he was wiling to leave we are playing hardball now.

I know hes homegrown etc but if im honest I like this attitude if its the case. Smith obviously wants players in who want to be at the club. If Olbison was prepared to leave its understandable Smiths hesitance in giving him a new deal

For me Olbison has to be on absolutely top form to get in my 17 and he’s had a bit of a year to forget. 2015 was his best season when he made more impact in attack than I’d seen before. This season he’s not showed any of that form. We’re currently lacking some big aggressive lads in the second row and if Olbison has to make way to bring them in then so be it. He’s a steady player who could still do us a job but the need to include some power in the pack is more important. We got bullied a lot last year and that can’t happen again or all the flair at halfback and backs will be to waste.

something I thought I'd never see typed on this forum

I think that's a bit harsh. Right now we hardly have anyone on our books who can play 13, and not many that can cover the back row forward positions like Tom can.
He's not been grabbing the headlines this season but can you pinpoint any specific instances of him having a particularly [ibad[/i game? Perhaps those where he was (imo wrongly) used as a prop.
You only have to look at the try he scored against Sheffield as a display of what Tom is capable of. I hope we keep him.

Joseph's been signed to play 13 and Haggerty can play there too.

It depends what you want from a 13. Do you want a ball handling throwback to the days of Harry Pinner and Dave Heron or a runner or extra prop as is increasingly the vogue in the NRL? Or some combination of the two.

It may be harsh but I don't see what Olbison brings apart from workrate. In attack he's made very little ground after the collision this season, nothing like last year. Often he gets dominated and it results in a slow PTB.

In defence he works hard but I can't remember him smashing an opponent to get us on the front foot.

He's capable of running some good lines but he's not an attacking threat like your Ben Currie or your Paul Medley. Nor does he make up for his lack of physical stature in strength like Bateman.

He's a steady eddie IMO and maybe there's a place for him alongside some forwards that bring "impact" into the pack. At present our only back rowers are Mellor, Walton, Haggerty and Joseph before you get to the young lads.

... which is the rationale, in my view, to look seriously at resigning Olbison. As things stand ,we are definitely a couple of players short for the back row - and where, at this stage, are we going to get anybody who is actually better?

The argument that we should show him the door because he had his head turned by an offer from Wakefield doesn't work for me. He showed loyalty by staying with us when we got relegated when, by all accounts, he had SL offers. Who can really blame him for looking favourably at a SL contract when he's been stuck in the Championship for 2 years and probably realises himself that he's got a bit stale.

I agree that he had a poor season in 2015, but it seems a bit daft letting him drift off to Batley (where he was doubtless have the game of his life when they play us) and then signing some random player to make up the numbers who doesn't bring anything much (and wouldn't be homegrown either...)

Hopefully he get signed up and gain a new lease of life for us.

Ryan Bailey and Jordan Cox both announced as being released by Warrington today.

Should they be players we ought to be looking at? Would we be able to compete for said players or are they still sought after by super league clubs?

I watched Bailey in the grand final and thought he still looked useful.

Either player would be a solid, older head to finish our front row recruitment off.

If Bailey was cheap id take him, adds some bite to our pack which we do lack, not sure about Cox dont know a great deal about him having not watched SL since we got relegated.

This is the thing for me. Olbison hasn't all the great of a season in 216, but then you could say the same about a lot of our squad. I can't, however, remember a time where I've come away hoping we drop him for next week. He's steady, is likely never going to set the world alight but will get on with the graft. You need players like that, workhorses, to let the Chisholms of the world take the spotlight.

I'd have him for next year. But then I'm not Rohan Smith. Maybe this is why I'm not a RL coach!