And yet we've just seen England play as well as they have in a tournament for years. So if the quality of the league is down, and the international team is on the rise, then the only conclusion to be drawn is that there are less decent imports coming over.

Isn't that what people wanted?

And fwiw I don't think the quality is down. St Helens 2006 were certainly a better team than 2014. As were Leeds 2007/8. However, whilst the quality of the top couple of sides might be down I personally think the bottom sides are improved. This makes it a better league.

I agree. The league is now more competitive, making for a more level league. However, the quality has been thinned out and is leading to increasingly poor quality of champion.

If we are being brutal, the only way to increase the true 'quality' of the league, under the present salary cap system, would be to cut the size of the top division to a maximum of 10, ideally 8.... Spread the quality among less clubs and obviously you have better sides?

It could even be argued that this latest idea of getting shut of the bottom 4, two thirds of the way through the season, is the next stepping stone to ultimately reducing the top division?

Nope.We want the decent imports.Fact is we do have less imports (a good thing) but most are of an average at best standard where in the past most clubs had at least one if not a few big names who had played rep footie down under and still had a few years to give and add to the quality of the league.

Wigans squad looks like being (after Mossop's arrival and Taylor's exit)-

Bowen
Charnley
Gelling
Sarginson
Burgess
Powell
Smith
Flower
McIlorum
Mossop
J Tomkins
L Farrell
O'Loughlin

Tautai
Patrick
Bateman
Crosby

Williams
Hampshire
Thornley
Manfredi
L Tomkins
Clubb
Pettybourne
Dudson (probably leaving as well)
Greenwood
Sutton
C Farrell
Lever
Gildart
Tierney
Lloyd

Hughes and Burke out on loan.

Some good depth with 6 or 7 lads with at least 15-20 games first team experience outside the first 17. I'd expect the three youngsters (Powell, Williams and Hampshire) to all get chances at stand off.

Greenwood showed last season that he could offer something to Wigan whilst on loan at the Broncos. Sutton was outstanding for such a young prop when he played last season. These two along with C Farrell, Hampshire & Williams will be looking to get bigger mins this season. Think they may struggle to get what they want with players like Pettybourne, Thornley & Clubb (one of our most impressive players last season) already out of your 1-17.

L Tomkins and Lloyd are going to struggle to make an impact.

Wane has got a real job on his hands keeping everyone happy, but we do have real strength in depth. I would think he will look to rotate all season long to ensure the players are rested at the business end of the season.

Morgan Escare
Michael Oldfield,
William Tonga,
Benjamin Pomeroy,
Vincent Duport
Todd Carney
Scott Dureau
Thomas Bosc
Jason Baitieri
Elliot Whitehead,
Zebastien Taia
Remi Casty,
Ian Henderson,
Olivier Elima
Eloi Pelissier
Gregory Mounis,
Jeffrey Lima
Julien Bousquet
Louis Anderson
Benjamin Garcia
Antoni Maria
Damien Cardace
Frederic Vaccari
Matthias Pala

We'll probably look like:

Russell
R Evans
Atkins
Bridge
Monaghan
Ratchford
Myler
Hill
Clark
Sims
Laithwaite
Westwood
Grix

Higham
Harrison
B Evans
Currie

O' Brien
England
Ormsby
Asotasi
Wood
Penny
Philbin
T King
G King
Walker
Patton

Castleford Tigers
1. Luke Dorn
2. Kirk Dixon
3. Michael Shenton - capt
4. Jake Webster
5. Justin Carney
6. Ben Roberts
7. Luke Gale
8. Andy Lynch
9. Adam Milner
10. Lee Jewitt
11. Grant Millington
12. Junior Moors
13. Nathan Massey
14. Scott Moore
15. Ryan Boyle
16. Oliver Holmes
17. Matt Cook
18. Frankie Mariano
19. Scott Wheeldon
20. Mike McMeeken
21. Ashley Gibson
22. Denny Solomona
23. Michael Channing
24. James Clare
25. Steve Crossley
26. Liam Finn
27. Jordan Tansey
28. Will Maher
29. Jordan Howden
30. Tom Holmes
31. Brandon Moore

Guys like Clubb and Pettybourne will get plenty of games with injuries and suspensions (obviously Flowers has a big impact on that) but I agree some of that next generation of young players could struggle for games this year. They'll have to put in some pretty special performances when given the chance if they want to hold their place but that's what we want I suppose.

If I had to pick a young player who could so that it would be Ryan Sutton. He looked a real prospect when he played last year and after a good off season he could force the issue.

Incorrect, not only did you get Zeb Taia's full name wrong but that isn't close to an accurate squad list, please stop pretending to be a Catalan fan.

You are as usual, all empty talk. You had the opportunity to fill in the missing squad members but are apparently incapable of doing so.



I have suggested most of the likely squad. The fact is that as of now the club has not yet officially released its squad list, so you obviously don't have an accurate list to offer as correction.

John Zebelon Taia is bored of your act Jean.

You have spoken to him have you?

Your dependence on Wikipedia for your knowledge of rugby league and its players is as transparent and almost as intellectually debilitating as guttersnipe's.



By the way, in the use of proper English people are "bored with" not "bored of." But keep up your lessons and you will eventually make fewer mistakes when you write.

Forgot Gary Wheeler on that list

Warrington have an outstanding front row, a good set of backs, but an uneven back row and a lack of quality depth almost everywhere. They will be in the top 8 for sure but I can't see them winning anything in 2015 to be honest.

Yeah, the squad hasn't been released yet, hence nobody has posted it. You just posted last season's squad without realizing that Frederic Vaccari left the club months ago and is now playing for Palau, you also admitted to having not heard of Gadwin Springer and thought he was German despite him being one of the hottest prospects in France for years and even playing Super League last season. You also got Zeb Taia's name wrong. It's a tired act, if you really enjoy pretending to be a Frenchman then at least provide accurate information.

The petty minded little nit picker from South Wales is wrong yet again!

I posted the names Todd Carney and William Tonga in the 2015 squad. You are apparently unaware that they did not play for Catalans last year, but they will in 2015.

Gadwin Springer is in the reserve squad, and plays in the Elite competition; so far he has not been named a member of the Catalans Super League squad.

Before you recklessly accuse others of not providing accurate information, you need to brush up on your own accuracy.

As our derby rivals and a major competitor for trophies, I've got to say that all of a sudden, I'm a bit worried about Wigan's pack. Adding Patrick and Tautai is a lot of muscle and if Mossop recaptures for he has shown in the past (I think he ended life at Wigan with his form fizzling out), then they'll be a real handful.

Tautai will be a monsterous revelation at Wigan, the bloke will wreak havoc with the likes of O'Loughlin, Farrell, Sarginson and Bowen around him.

Huddersfield squad numbers not announced yet but will line up something close to this

Murphy
Mcgillvary
Cudjoe
Wardle
Broughton
Brough
Ellis
Lunt
Crabtree
Huby
Ferres
Bailey
Taai
Kopczak
Mullally
Robinson
Lawrence
Wood
Connor
Hughes
Roberts
Johnson
Fairbank
Leeming
Mason
Dickinson

will be interesting to see a new how the new partnerships work, think Ellis and Brough will be half backs

Robinson moving to hooker to interchange with Lunt.

working behind a pack that now includes Huby with some exciting youngsters coming through too

It's looking like we've signed Patrick and Mossop in place of Dudson and Taylor which is an improvement IMO so I'm happy. Mossop and Taylor are of a similar standard but Patrick is a far better player then Dudson (a tackling bag would be a better option then Dudson). Add in Tautai for Hughes and we can be pleased with our lot.

We've got great depth and the quality is high as well. He's had some negative comments on the England tour but I think Joel Tomkins will be massive for us next year. He looked like he was really getting to grips with things on Saturday and we'll see the real Joel Tomkins next year.

With a slightly lesser team than that we got within minutes of Old Trafford so can't see any reason why we cant push on

Wigans backrow looks frightening!

I think negativity around Tomkins was fuelled by him getting selected after not playing much rugby.

I was quite happy when you re-signed Mossop. I don't expect he's come cheap and with his injury record and patchy form before he left, its a bit of a gamble. The fact I also rate Taylor highly means I was thinking you're in the red on that one, but then someone reminded me about Tautai and you've somehow got your hands on Patrick. There's a lot of meat, there.

Mossop played well in big games for Wigan. He's good when he's switched on and aggressive and poor when he isn't.

Adding some consistency will be his big challenge especially if he fancies a spot in the England squad in future years.