That was probably me. I'm not really interested whether other posters find my posts surprising or disappointing. I try to be reasonable and think that [iIF[/i the club has been aware of this for nearly two months they should have been looking for a replacement, either a like for like, or preferably (for me) a second rower or centre. If the news has been sprung on them relatively recently then it's fair for the club to start that work in earnest and be given time to find that replacement. The market won't be easy at the moment but that doesn't mean a useful player can't be found especially as Mikaele holds down a quota place.

Although the start to 2023 is far better than I expected and far better than last year I still have my reservations. History tells me to not get too excited. Watching the team this year I have flashbacks to watching the team with Sandow in it in 2016. We all know that we won the first 7 games but have a guess who we lost our first game to, yep that's right Hull FC. So after winning the first 7 we then only won one of the next 4. Very similar fixtures.
2016 will not go down as a memorable season as we fell at the final hurdle in both comps but when you look at the results even after Sandows injury and going off the rails we were still a decent team.
We look to have a far better squad than in 2016 but it just shows how you can look unbeatable one minute then something happens and the wheel nuts get a bit loose and then you lose that invincibility.
It might not happen but I am preparing myself for a wobble at some point.
We have passed all the tests so far.
But the one we have not had to deal with is falling in love with ourselves and thinking we are bigger than the Beatles.

As far as I can recall The Beatles never finished higher than 4th in the table, plus there was that shock semifinal defeat to Freddie and the Dreamers in the Challenge Cup.

And Ringo had 5 good games and then started to believe he was a starr and it all fell apart.

To be fair, The Beatles claimed they were bigger than Jesus, and some would argue they were right. Jesus turned the odd bottle of water to wine but more often than not would end up delivering a few loaves of bread and a couple of fishes. And that’s just not enough for a 5000-strong, success-hungry crowd.